Airplane Flight Booster Seat?

[PrinceOfPeace]

Hello can anyone tell me what your experience is bringing booster seats for your children on an airplane? We need the boosters also for our car rental. So they are a must. Our kids are 4,6,8....younger two need boosters. We are flying on Alaska if that helps.

Thank you!

 

[uccats97]

Airlines will not let you use them on the plane unless they specifically state they are certified for use in an aircraft. Most airlines won't charge you to check them though.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

unless the seats have belts and not use car belts you will have to check them as they can not be used on plane. plus seat will have to have FAA approve sticker

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Your children don't need car seats or booster seats on the plane, and as stated, you cannot use booster seats on planes anyway. You can check them or carry on (if they fit in the overheads) if you need them at your destination.

 

[MelissaBee]

Yep, no FAA sticker, not allowed to bring it onboard. They will gate check it for free, but here's a tip: a lot of booster seats come apart (so they can go from backed to backless). Bring a bag, even if it's just a heavy mil plastic garbage bag, break the seat down and bag it before gate checking. Otherwise you might not get the whole seat back intact.

 

[bumbershoot]

The point of boosters is to bring the child up so the shoulder belt hits them correctly. There's no shoulder belt on a plane. So boosters aren't needed at all. And further they cannot be used.

I've seen people carrying low back boosters on planes so I don't think they are as strict to say you can't even being them on, but they are stored overhead, not used.

 

[MelissaBee]

I've seen people carrying low back boosters on planes so I don't think they are as strict to say you can't even being them on, but they are stored overhead, not used.

I'm sure if there is space they would let you stash it in an overhead bin, but with full planes and an overabundance of carry on items, it would be risky to make that assumption. Only once have we be allowed to stow a booster and it was backless at the time.
Twice we've been told we had to gate check because it was a full flight, we already had our max allowed carry-ons, and the seat would take up too much room in the bins. On another occasion I had a flight attendant get quite horsey with me over bringing it aboard even though I told her I was going to break it down and stow it. She kept insisting that I wasn't allowed to even have it in the cabin if it didn't have an FAA sticker.
I'd bring a bag just in case.

 

[murmer]

We have carried on our boosters on the flights we took last week just fine. We just put them in the overhead bin like a carryon. They cannot be used on the plan but I wanted no chance of losing them.

 

[Baklava]

We use a Bubble Bum for our largish 6 year old when we travel. Can't use it on the plane, but don't have to check it.

 

[MommyMK]

You can carry them on (backless ones) and place them in the overhead bins.

 

[Baklava]

You can carry them on (backless ones) and place them in the overhead bins.

Our flight was making people gate check them last weekend. I don't fly enough to know if that's common.

 

[sherry7]

My 6 year old uses a high back booster at home, but I bought a small backless booster especially for travel. It fits in a suitcase easily, and only weights about 2 lbs. It was about $12-$13 at Walmart.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Yep, no FAA sticker, not allowed to bring it onboard. break the seat down and bag it before ....

This is not true. As long as your seat fits in the overhead, it doesn't matter if it has a FAA approval or not. This only applies to car sear actually used on the flight.