Canadian Car Seats in Car Rental

[BellyBaby]

Hi all, I was wondering if any other Cdns have taken their own car seat for the car rental and had any problems with a seat that was manufactured in Canada, and therefore not have the American Safety stamp or whatever thingy on it. I figured for $10/day rental at the car rental agency, x 9 days = $90, I could buy a used seat for that price locally and then after the trip put it in my parent's car as a convenience (we're in Wpg, hubby does not want to mess with taking in/out a car seat in -35 weather).

Also thinking of taking it on board with Northwest so that my 2 yr-old gets the msg that it's "travel time" a.k.a. "stay put!!". Any problems with Northwest and using a car seat?

Thanks, Canadians! We are first timers and are terrified of taking our crazy 2-yr-old traveling. So any info is very appreciated!

 

[AndyMcV]

Hi There

First off good for you for thinking about carseats with the flights and travelling down in the US. When we travelled for the first time with our DS3 at the time we flew Air Canada and had Tiffany Towncar take us to WDW. We took our carseat with us and had absolutely no problems. My personal opinion would be to bring your own carseat. I wouldn't trust what you'd get as a rental. Plus your child will be a little more comforted with her own one.

I'd also contact Northwest just to ensure that your carseat will be ok to bring on the plane. I think most good carseats are no problem but just make sure. Also make sure you talk with someone who is knowledgeable about it.

Andy

 

[belle1627]

We've have always brought our car seat from home, never had a problem.

 

[OntFamily]

The car rental company will not check your car seat for any certification stickers. You can take any seat you like.

We have both used the car seat in flight, and checked the car seat as part of our bags (when we didn't use the seat in flight).

I agree you should take a car seat with you (either buy a new one, or use your current car seat). The rental seats can be a little nasty (dirty) at times. Plus, who knows if the seat was involved in a car accident (as should have been replaced).

 

[cpbjgc]

We have always brought our own carseat when travelling and have never had a problem, nor has anyone inspected it. Many of those trips were on Northwest out of Winnipeg. The only thing to be aware of is that the flight crew will want you to set up the seat in a certain place (current favourite is the window seat, but we have also been told to use the aisle in the past) so check with the flight crew to find out where they want it, as they will make you move it (I speak from experience )

 

[mrs.explorer1977]

I'm pretty sure that Canada has stricter guidelines about carseats anyway, so IMO, Cdn seats may just be a little bit safer. That's why you're strongly discouraged to not purchase seats in the states. I think I may have heard it's even illegal to use a US seat in Canada?

 

[surfer_ed]

I'm pretty sure that Canada has stricter guidelines about carseats anyway, so IMO, Cdn seats may just be a little bit safer. That's why you're strongly discouraged to not purchase seats in the states. I think I may have heard it's even illegal to use a US seat in Canada?

Yes car seats that are not tested for Canadian Standards cannot be used in Canada. Also in the USA, they allow you to move kids to boosters allot earlier.

We always take are own, and it is a pain. Never experienced car seat installation in -35C but did have to install both of ours in -17C and blowing snow. Good thing DW and kids stayed in the airport while I did this since my use of language was questionable

Once we tried to use a car seat in the plane Since then we always check it in a bag. My kids are pretty good but they had a hard time staying in their seat that long. Three hours in a car seat flying on a plane tough. The car seat takes up allot of room. If there is no car seat there is more room to color etc.

Having the car seat installed in the middle seat rules out any bathroom breaks for the window seat. If the car seat is in the window seat it is better, but that leaves only one parent to deal with anything. If you end up with the child on your lap afterall, it gets crowed.

Also saw on Discovery Channel that Car Seats do not do much when the plane crashes...although I am sure that there is some use if you skid off the runway or something.

Car Seat/Plane thing didn't work well for us but YMMV (Your Milage May Vary)

 

[KerriMc]

I used a car seat for my youngest dd when she was 7 mos old (infant carrier) and then the following year when she was about 18 mos old. The next year at 2 1/2 yrs she was too tall to be in the car seat in the plane as she would have been kicking the seat in front of her. As well, you can't pull down the table to use for colouring, stickers, etc, which is really handy to have.

If you have three seats together, and she is a good size two year old, I'd be inclined to just check the car seat (either at the gate or with the rest of your luggage ... I prefer gate check as then it isn't as tossed around with the rest of the bags, but they actually put it on top of the other luggage at the gate ... although no guarantees!!!). We always gate check the stroller (although no stroller this year ... YAHOO!!! ) We do take along boosters, although for our trip we don't take oldest dd's highback booster (she's six) and this year we won't take youngest highback either (now 4 1/2yrs). I bought two of the backless boosters and they are both heavy and tall enough for them to use safely. They fit nicely into a duffle bag on the way down and then we just plastic wrap them for the way home.

Good luck with whatever you do

Kerri

 

[encinc]

I am a bit of a carseat safety nut, so my kids will travel in their carseats as long as they can. They may not help much in a crash, but they do prevent your child from becoming a projectile in turbulence. And, I agree, it does promote "staying put."

If you're looking for a seat for travel, I'd highly recommend the Radian carseat. It folds up to make carrying it through the airport easier. You can attach a shoulder strap (we used one from some luggage that we weren't using). What I love about the Radian is that it sits low on the seat so your child can still use the tray table. We traveled with two of them in January, and I wouldn't do it any other way. The Radian is available new starting at $199, I believe.

I traveled AirTran, and I was asked to show the sticker showing that the seats were FAA approved before installing them on the plane. Canadian harnessed carseats are all approved for use on airplanes. Because my seats didn't have the FAA approval stickers that the flight attendants were looking for, I showed them the line in the seats' manual that said that the seats were approved for use on airplanes. I didn't have any trouble, and on one of my flights the FA's commented on how knowledgeable I am.

If you do take your seat on board, ask at the gate if you can preboard with the seat. I have almost always been allowed to do that. My DH stays behind with the boys and they all board at the normal time. It is sooooo much easier to put the seats in without the kids climbing all over the place.

If you decide not to use your seat on the plane, but you still plan to take your own with you (highly recommended not to use rental seats - you have no idea of their history), I'd strongly suggest gate checking it rather than checking it with the baggage. I've heard horror stories of seats not arriving at their destination or being so badly damaged by poor baggage handling that they were no longer useable.

If you have any other questions, feel free to pm me.

 

[AndyMcV]

FYI... just more discussion about carseats on planes anyway....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1651662

I could be very wrong but it seems that more Canadians are concious of bringing their carseats on the plane, JMHO.

 

[Rachael Q]

We just got back from a 9 day trip. We took my nieces carseat with us. We checked it on the plane. She just sat in the regular plane seat - she's 3 and understood if her seatbelt was on, she had to stay in her seat.

For the rental car she was happy in her own seat. We also knew the seat was safe, clean and comfortable. I wouldn't buy a second hand seat. What if it's been in an accident?

 

[AndyMcV]

We just got back from a 9 day trip. We took my nieces carseat with us. We checked it on the plane. She just sat in the regular plane seat - she's 3 and understood if her seatbelt was on, she had to stay in her seat....

Hi Rachael

Have a look at my previous post with the link to the other discussion. When we first flew with our DS3 at the time I talked with Air Canada before going. They HIGHLY recommended having our son sit in the carseat on the plane. It's really the same as a regular car/van seat where it's built for an adult. The same is true for the airplane seat where it's built for an adult and really doesn't fit a child properly.

Andy

 

[mjf]

We just got back from a Christmas trip to WDW. We took our car seat with us and didn't have any issues.

Personally, I feel a lot more comfortable with our own car seat than one that we'd rent from the car company. Who knows what that seat has been through.

One thing that might be worth noting, when we flew down to Orlando from Ottawa, Air Canada would not allow us to take the car seat on board with us since our son is over 2 years old now. Also, they wouldn't let us take our stroller to the gate as they had in the past. So those two items count as checked bags now.

 

[AndyMcV]

...One thing that might be worth noting, when we flew down to Orlando from Ottawa, Air Canada would not allow us to take the car seat on board with us since our son is over 2 years old now....

Wow that's a total opposite of what we were told in 2005 when we went in June. However, I know the first words out of my mouth if the boarding employee told me I couldn't take our car seat on board with our child. I could see if the child seat was old and unsafe otherwise that's really out of line. Our son was 3 when we travelled with him and his carseat the first time. The second time he was 5 and our daughter was 1.5. Both times we had no problems with both their carseats.

 

[coastgirl]

I do remember being told by Transport Canada we'd need to prove our car-seat was FAA approved for flights originating in the states. I got an email from the guy at Transport Canada stating their guidelines have been deemed "equivilent" by the FAA, and I printed out that and some other stuff (sorry, it's a couple of years ago), as I'd been given contradictory info. I felt "ready for bear" and knew what to do if questioned, but the FA just sort of waved us on...

Now we check our boosters (the kids are 4 and 7), but we used the car seats for a long time in the plane. Just felt safer. Plus, definitely, it's familiar and helps make it more "routine".

 

[BellyBaby]

Thanks, everyone! Definately lots to consider! I'd better hurry up and decide.

 

[surfer_ed]

Just and FYI, I bought a new car seat (Evenflo) and the booklet specifically states it is not approved for Airline use.

 

[encinc]

Just and FYI, I bought a new car seat (Evenflo) and the booklet specifically states it is not approved for Airline use.

Which one? Is it a seat that converts into a booster? It was my understanding that all Canadian harnessed seats are approved for airline use. I'll have to start looking more carefully.

 

[Fellowship9798]

I think booster seats are definitely not for plane use, but most harness type carseats for smaller kids are.

For the record, I went with a 16 month old and 2.5 year old from Vancouver to Toronto to Orlando, both in their car seats on the plane (and in the rental car of course). Nobody said anything or checked anything on any leg of the flight to or from Orlando.

We were able to put the seatback tray table down just fine with my 2.5 year old son in teh carseat which was great for coloring on and putting a portable DVD player on.

The only difficult part was boarding the plane when we realized that Air Canada had assigned my 18 month old daughter a window seat in the exit row. Obviously that won't do since she might have a little trouble opening the emergency exit door on her own. They had also split up other infants from their parents seat assignments and double booked other seats as well. Sorting all that out made our plane leave an hour late and therefore we missed our connection in Toronto. Sorry to get OT, but it all just comes out sometimes.