Booster seat question on airline

[jacksonfarms46147]

Hello...we leave in a couple days and are staying off site so have to get a rental car. My question is should I bring our booster seat for my five year old from home, get one from the rental car company, or purchase one once we are in Orlando? We are flying AirTran and our rental car company is Alamo... I can't find much on the AirTran site and I believe they charge you by the day for a booster. Just wondering what everyone else has done..thanks in advance for the help!

Jodi

 

[JenLanDisney]

Hi,

You won't be able to use a booster on the airplane. Boosters are not FAA approved since there's no shoulder belt just a lap belt on the plane.

It will be a lot cheaper to bring your own or buy it in Orlando rather than rent from Alamo. Is your daughter big enough to travel from the airport to a store without a booster?

Florida booster seat laws are lax compared to Massachusetts:
http://babyproducts.about.com/od/statecarseatlaws/qt/florida_cps.htm

But you are the best judge of whether or not she needs a booster based on her size and comfort.

 

[ntink]

If you use the backless, you can bring it on the plane as one of your carry-ons and then you can store it in the overhead bin.

 

[nikkers]

You can also gate check a car seat.

 

[LittleDickensDesigns]

Do the airlines still let you bring a booster/car seat and check it but not count is as part of your baggage allowance?

 

[LlamaMamaof2]

I flew this week with a 3 and 7 year old to Florida. The law was either 5 and under or up to 5, can't say for sure. As you can't use the booster on the plane and we didn't want to carry it, we rented one with our car. I tried to pack the booster in a suit case, but it was too wide and the cost of the extra bag was almost the same as the rental price. Hertz charged $13 a day for a booster at the Miami airport. I think if you book with AAA and use Hertz, you can get a car seat for free. The booster was a high back Cosco kind. Good luck.

 

[jacksonfarms46147]

All my questions were taken care of...thanks so much for your help!

 

[BlondeAlligator]

If all three of us have a carry on small suitcase, can the backless booster count as my DD's "personal item"? I'll have a backpack and DH will probably have his briefcase. We're on American. Thanks!

 

[NotUrsula]

The criteria for a personal item is that it should fit beneath the seat in front of you.

IME with a Graco Turbobooster backless, that was only possible with the seat's arms either removed or lowered down as far as they could possibly go, but it did work as long as I did that.

 

[all4fun]

Hello...we leave in a couple days and are staying off site so have to get a rental car. My question is should I bring our booster seat for my five year old from home, get one from the rental car company, or purchase one once we are in Orlando? We are flying AirTran and our rental car company is Alamo... I can't find much on the AirTran site and I believe they charge you by the day for a booster. Just wondering what everyone else has done..thanks in advance for the help!

Jodi

I found this old post from last year which states in an email from Airtran that someone posted:

Car seats and strollers may be checked free of charge;

If all three of us have a carry on small suitcase, can the backless booster count as my DD's "personal item"? I'll have a backpack and DH will probably have his briefcase. We're on American. Thanks!

American allows child restraints to be checked "above and beyond" the general allowance, so you could just gate check the booster, if you want to.

Additional items that will be allowed above and beyond the restrictions listed above include:
#
Outerwear such as coats/wraps/hats
#
Book or newspaper
#
Small bag of food to eat on the flight - see guidelines for liquids
#
Approved safety seat for lap or ticketed child

hth