Booster Seats

[Dona Gill]

Question for those of you using booster seats.
We are flying Spirit airlines to Orlando for 3 1/2 days at Disney and then off to Fort Myers Beach. We are of course renting a car for the drive to Disney then Fort Myers. My question is: How do we bring a booster seat along? I thought that I read that you can not use booster seats on the plane and there is no way to pack it! Any suggestions????

 

[kathi29]

You read correctly about using the booster seats on the plane. They are not approved for airplane use because the boosters use the shoulder belt of the vehicle, which the planes don't have. You would have to have a regular harnessed car seat.

We flew over the holidays and simply boxed up the booster seat and checked it in. I know if you check a car seat they don't count it against your luggage allowance. We chose to box it and take the chance that it would be counted just to make sure it got back home in one nice clean piece. Some people use a car seat or large duffle bag for transporting them.

 

[megan2346]

You can not use the booster on the plane but you can check it. I don't think it counts as lugguge, so you are still allowed to check 2 bags plus the booster seat. My Sister-in-law did it in October, she had her bags and the booster and had no problem. Hope it helps.
Megan

 

[Tigge50447]

I have a booster seat that I secure in my back seat using the lap belt. It's still a 5 point harness booster seat. That will work on a plane right? Also those of you bringing carseats and boosters on a plane. Do you unbuckle them when the seatbelt light is off? or do you keep them buckled the whole trip?

 

[kathi29]

Yes, you can use that type of booster on the plane. As long as it has the sticker saying it is approved for airline use. Car seats used on the airplane have to have the internal harness. You can't use a belt-positioning booster as those are meant to be used with the lap/shoulder belt combination and airplanes only have lap belts.

As to the unbuckling on the plane, I try to keep my DD buckled the entire time, as we all stay buckled the entire time. It only takes one blast of turbulence to get things moving around. That said, I have given in and let her loosen her seat belt so she can lay down on me or get comfortable.

 

[CEDmom]

You can use the booster seat with the 5-pt harness as long as it has been approved by the FAA (most have). We used DD's on several flights w/o any problems. We leave her buckled in her seat unless she has to go to the bathroom. Even at 4 she's content to play with the things we've brought along and doesn't complain about staying buckled. We have one of those special car seat bags that works great. It holds the seat as well as DD's little backpack and all our jackets which makes getting on/off the plane much easier.