Booster seats on planes

[Lilacq]

Hi all,
We are (finally!!! ) headed to Orlando in October. Our 2 boys, ages 5 and 7, still use their booster seats in the car. When we bring them on the plane, do they count as carry-ons?
While I'm thinking of it, do they need any kind of photo ID? If so, where should I get it?
THANK YOU!

 

[DisFan331]

If you mean to use them on the plane, no they are not carry-ons. Be careful though, not all boosters are FAA approved. Check on the bottome of your seat or call the manufacturer to double check. If they cannot use them I guess they would be a carry-on. Have a great trip and welcome to the DIS

 

[kalamazoo]

We always checked our boosters. You don't need a booster on the plane (in fact they may not even let you put it on the seat) because the whole point of a booster is to make sure the shoulder strap portion of the seat belt lies in the right spot on the child's shoulder. Since airplane seatbelts only have a lap belt the booster would be useless.

 

[Priorityonecb]

No booster seat useage is allowed on a plane. We never checked ours though, because being thrown all over the place can ruin the integrity of the seat. We just dragged it with us to the gate and put it in the overhead bin.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just to stamp out incipient confusion, the FAA defines a "booster seat" as a carseat that does *not* have an upper-body harness built into it. (That includes high-back seats that have had the harness removed.) If there is no upper-body harness, the child cannot sit in it on the aircraft. If your seat has a 5-pt harness attached, it is not a booster in FAA terms. To use it on board the aircraft, it needs to have a sticker saying that it is certified for aircraft use.

If your child won't be sitting in the seat on board the aircraft, then yes, it counts as a carry-on. If by "booster" you mean a high-back seat that has no shoulder harness, be aware that it will *not* fit in the overhead bins, so it will have to be gate-checked or checked as baggage. Backless belt-positioning boosters will normally fit into the overheads or even under the seat in front of you (if the arms are adjustable, you should set them as low as possible so that they will fit under the seat.)

If it is not an int'l flight, you won't need any ID for kids those ages.