Ipad Air not charging, now not even starting up

Question

i have iPad air (first generation) slightly more than a year old (conveniently just out of warranty)
for the last few weeks or so, I've been having trouble charging the iPad.  sometimes it would charge normally, other times you would plug it in and it would show that it wasn't.  I tested with different power supplies, cables, and outlets, so i know they weren't the issue.  The only way i was able to get it charging again (and it was trial and error, no one way always worked reliably) was by, switching from the outlet to my computers USB port, (and then sometimes back again to the charger when that didn't work), and rebooting and then switching outlet. But it was very random.
At no point did I ever let the battery run all the way down... However, this morning it did before i realized and the iPad automatically powered down, and now I cannot get it to start without powering down again.  Whether plugged into an outlet or my USB port, I am stuck in a 'loop' - where i reboot the iPad (which used to work), it goes to the bright apple screen, then starts up to the home screen and shows 1% charge in the upper right - but doesn't indicate that its charging. Then i immediately get a message of "Low battery -  5% of battery remaining". Then the iPad automatically powers down after 30 seconds or so (or as soon as i try to do something with it). I get the screen showing the big battery with a little red, but it never charges to the point where it reboots on its own.  Then i reboot myself, and the cycle starts all over again.
I  have tried the method some have suggested elsewhere on this forum of "repeatedly rebooting" until i get a higher percentage of battery charge showing -- which hast worked so far.  But even if i did, how do i then get the thing to start charging normally?  It simply doesn't charge at all when its plugged in... ??
Is it simply a bad battery (after just a year)??   If so, does that mean they will install a new battery, or that i will have to trade in my personalized 1-year-old iPad for a 'refurbished' one??  Does this mean I will have to be without my iPad for any period of time- and that ill have to restore from backup (which could take over a day)?
Thanks for any and all help....

Answer 1

thanks for the reply
i have since called apple phone support and brought it into the apple store
both ran battery diagnostics and said battery was fine:  phone support blamed a potentially faulty power port.  apple genius was convinced it was the third party USB/lightning cables i use from monoprice, which I've used for months and the two i am currently using are brand new.  he rushed me through and strongly suggested i buy an apple cable (my 2 original apple cables for this and my iPhone frayed within months and were unusable).
Strangely, it seems to be working now. Though the two monoprice power cables now only work on one side, and not if you flip it  (if i use them with my iPhone, it doesn't matter which side, so i still suspect something is funky with the port.  Its out of warranty by a couple of months, so if i have to replace it it will cost like $300 plus the time to ship it in repair it and send back (1-2 weeks).