Car seat rentals?

[gina_g]

Does anyone have any experience with car seat rentals? We're still on the fence of driving vs flying and car seats are one of the biggest reasons we can't decide. We will be staying off site so we have to have a car. We will have a 4 month old and almost 4 year old. I've heard horror stories about rented car seats (dirty, unsafe, etc) and they will add $100 to our rental for the week if we go that route. I have also heard that the airlines are rough on car seats that are checked. We would put them in bags if that helps. I know we could gate check them, but that seems like a lot of extra weight to lug through the airport. So I'm trying to decide if driving 15+ hours (and that's just the Mapquest time, not factoring in stops with 2 kids) is worth the hassle or if we would be okay using the rented seats. Can anyone offer advice??

 

[Tara]

I personally wouldn't feel comfortable with a rental seat. First, you have no idea what condition it will be in and there's no way to tell if the shell has been compromised at all. Second, it's likely a seat you are unfamiliar with, so getting a tight, solid installation might be tricky. Plus with a 4-month old, are you going to be using an infant seat and stroller that accommodates it? Either way, I'd recommend gate checking the seats as they won't be subjected to the same amount of handling. I'd also recommend bags of some sort to protect them from stains.

Another thought...will you be buying a ticket for the 4-month old? If so, it's a no-brainer - use the seat on the plane.

What type of seat is your 4yo in?

 

[gina_g]

I personally wouldn't feel comfortable with a rental seat. First, you have no idea what condition it will be in and there's no way to tell if the shell has been compromised at all. Second, it's likely a seat you are unfamiliar with, so getting a tight, solid installation might be tricky. Plus with a 4-month old, are you going to be using an infant seat and stroller that accommodates it? Either way, I'd recommend gate checking the seats as they won't be subjected to the same amount of handling. I'd also recommend bags of some sort to protect them from stains.

Another thought...will you be buying a ticket for the 4-month old? If so, it's a no-brainer - use the seat on the plane.

What type of seat is your 4yo in?

I keep trying to tell myself that no rental company would take on the liability of renting out a damaged seat, but I guess there are no guarantees. We aren't planning on buying the 4 month old a ticket so we can all sit together in a row of 3.

Undecided on the stroller also. I don't plan on buying a double stroller, so we are planning to rent one down there--not a Disney stroller so we will have it with us at all times. DD3 is small for her age. She's just under 30 lbs and the law where we live is 5 point harness seat until age 4 AND 40 lbs so it's unlikely she will be in a booster by our trip in September. Wishing she could be though...I'm sure that would be much easier to carry through the airport. Oh so many decisions to make for one little trip!

 

[MrsNick]

My sister planned to rent a car with a carseat once, and as it turns out, even though she reserved one, they didn't have it when they landed at the airport. Fortunately, at the last moment, she decided to bring her son's carseat from home or they would have been up the creek without a paddle.

We bought one of these to make it easier getting through the airport with DD (9 mos. when we travel):
http://www.google.com/products/cata...ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCgQ8wIwAg#ps-sellers

It turns your carseat into a stroller at the airport. Then, you can gate check (in your case since your DD is a lap infant), or use it on the airplane (in our case since we bought DD a seat). We bought ours at Babies R Us using a 20% off coupon, so paid $64 for it. We'll get a lot of use out of this since she's going to be in this carseat until 65 lbs.

We haven't decided if we're bringing our stroller and checking it with luggage, or if we're renting once we get there. Decisions, decisions!

 

[miprender]

Not sure how much luggage you are taking or which airline you are flying with, but Babies R Us sells a car seat bag that can be checked with your luggage. We have used it a few times now and it is actually big enough to squeeze in some extra items.

 

[gina_g]

My sister planned to rent a car with a carseat once, and as it turns out, even though she reserved one, they didn't have it when they landed at the airport. Fortunately, at the last moment, she decided to bring her son's carseat from home or they would have been up the creek without a paddle.

We bought one of these to make it easier getting through the airport with DD (9 mos. when we travel):
http://www.google.com/products/cata...ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCgQ8wIwAg#ps-sellers

It turns your carseat into a stroller at the airport. Then, you can gate check (in your case since your DD is a lap infant), or use it on the airplane (in our case since we bought DD a seat). We bought ours at Babies R Us using a 20% off coupon, so paid $64 for it. We'll get a lot of use out of this since she's going to be in this carseat until 65 lbs.

We haven't decided if we're bringing our stroller and checking it with luggage, or if we're renting once we get there. Decisions, decisions!

That is scary that they didn't have the seat! One more thing to have to worry about. I have seen those adapters before. Would've been perfect on our last trip if we had taken our car seat. With DD being almost 4 for our upcoming trip, I have a fear that she will have nothing to do with being wheeled around unless she is exhausted. She already hates the stroller, much to my dismay. And it won't work with our infant seat if we take the carrier and base. I lean towards taking that one because even rented strollers (from offsite companies) can be adapted to hold the carrier.

I'm so torn on the stroller decision. I'd like to have an option for DD if she gets tired, but hate to lug our own or spend money on a rental if she hardly uses it. I have a carrier for the baby if we don't have a stroller. No easy answers for that one!

Not sure how much luggage you are taking or which airline you are flying with, but Babies R Us sells a car seat bag that can be checked with your luggage. We have used it a few times now and it is actually big enough to squeeze in some extra items.

We're looking at Air Tran and Southwest right now. Waiting for prices to drop. I wondered about using those bags to carry the car seats to gate check. One of our car seats came with a bag so I'd only have to buy one. I can just see us looking like the Beverly Hillbillies trying to get through 2 airports with all that stuff!!

 

[miprender]

Don't worry too much.... when we flew SW two weeks ago we had 1 Single Stroller and 1 Double Stroller to gate check plus the car seat for DS2 to sit in on the plane.

TSA actually joked about all of our stuff.

 

[skiingfast]

I haven't flown with a car seat before. I've heard that some airlines allow it to be carried on and they stow it in the cabin for you. A lot like a stroller.

I'm sure if you use a standard rental company a carseat from them will be fine. Notice, they don't rent cars where the breaks are going out. The airbag is still in the steering wheel. The seats are torn and the dash isn't cracking. I'm sure if the carseat was recallled the company will have returned it because of liability.

 

[SalandJeff]

I would definitely bring your own car seats. It is hard enough to figure out how to get your own seats in an unfamiliar rental car (when it's hot and you're tired and trying to watch your kids and arguing with your spouse because he won't listen ).

My dd is now 6 and in a full back booster. We have brought a car seat or booster on every trip since she was 2 and never had a problem with damage. We usually fly Southwest or Delta and gate check it. We flew Jet Blue this year and checked it, wrapped in a heavy duty plastic bag secured with tape, and had no problems.

My other suggestion is to check with your airline before traveling about gate checking. Now that they are all starting to charge for bags and limit carry on bags, you want to know if they will count the car seats as "bags". You will probably be okay with Southwest.

 

[rdevine10]

We have flown with 2 carseats before. I recall this SAME dilemma. My solution....

bring carseats on the plane and have them sit right in them. Yes, it meant I had to pay for a ticket for my baby, but HONESTLY, she actually was the kind of kid who did MUCH better in a car seat than being held on an airplane (my 1st was the opposite).

I did rent a car seat once at MCO years ago (when I was younger with only 1 child).... it was the worst mistake I ever made. My DD HATED the seat... Literally she would SCREAM every time we put her in it... she just wasnt comfy (never mind the safety issues). Since then, I have always brought our own.

I would consider gate checking, or if you still have the box the car seat came in, box it up and bag check it. PS: the back pack carrier for the car seats was a life saver.... me and my DH had one on our backs at one point

 

[rdevine10]

PS: I just looked, and here is what FL car seat laws are currently....

http://sheriff.org/safety/carseat.cfm

you might be able to get a booster for your 4 year old and carry-on as luggage (not to use).... and then have the 4 year old sit in the convertible seat, and lap hold your baby.

HTH!

 

[maurene]

I really like having a stroller in the airport. (If you're an experienced babywearer though, then maybe you can do without though.) My older DS wanted nothing to with a stroller in the airport after age 2.5 or 3 - but I still liked having one in to hold our carry-ons and such (including his car seat which we used on the plane until about 3.5 yo).

I traveled with a 4 yo and 6 mo old back in February and this is what I'd do if I were you (and flying) and its probably the cheapest route: I'd take my baby's infant seat and the compatable stroller (Graco travel system, in my case) to the airport. I'd check the stroller and infant seat at the gate. For the nearly four year old, I'd take my travel car seat (a Cosco Scenera) as checked baggage. (You can get that seat for $43 now at Walmart and even check it in its orignal packaging.) Many airlines won't charge you for checking car seats and I've not heard of any airline that will charge you for gate checking stollers and car seats.

You can still rent a double stroller in Orlando, if you want and leave your stroller in the hotel room. Or what I'm doing for our upcoming trip is to use our single stroller in the parks but bring a baby carrier for the baby for those rare times DS (4.5 yo) wants to ride in the stroller. But, in your case, I'm thinking you might want a double stroller because your DD is a little younger and smaller.

 

[gina_g]

Wow! Thanks to everyone for all the great advice! Just this morning I talked to 2 people who had me convinced that driving was the way to go. Now I am back to being very confused, but leaning towards flying. Flying really is much easier if we figure out a way to get everything we need without having to pay for it all as checked baggage, and find a decent rental rate, but we'll worry about that another day. So far Air Tran is still letting you check car seats and strollers for free. Hopefully that will be the same in September. My car has 2 bucket seats in the middle row and I can only imagine how hard it would be to drive that far with 2 kids when I can't sit between them, especiallly when one of them will be rear facing. Of course, if I could convince DH to get a new car by then...

I really like having a stroller in the airport. (If you're an experienced babywearer though, then maybe you can do without though.) My older DS wanted nothing to with a stroller in the airport after age 2.5 or 3 - but I still liked having one in to hold our carry-ons and such (including his car seat which we used on the plane until about 3.5 yo).

I traveled with a 4 yo and 6 mo old back in February and this is what I'd do if I were you (and flying) and its probably the cheapest route: I'd take my baby's infant seat and the compatable stroller (Graco travel system, in my case) to the airport. I'd check the stroller and infant seat at the gate. For the nearly four year old, I'd take my travel car seat (a Cosco Scenera) as checked baggage. (You can get that seat for $43 now at Walmart and even check it in its orignal packaging.) Many airlines won't charge you for checking car seats and I've not heard of any airline that will charge you for gate checking stollers and car seats.

You can still rent a double stroller in Orlando, if you want and leave your stroller in the hotel room. Or what I'm doing for our upcoming trip is to use our single stroller in the parks but bring a baby carrier for the baby for those rare times DS (4.5 yo) wants to ride in the stroller. But, in your case, I'm thinking you might want a double stroller because your DD is a little younger and smaller.

I'm loving your suggestion because we have the same stuff! Graco travel system and our backup car seat for DH's car is the Cosco. We didn't keep the original boxes from either, but the Cosco did come with a clear bag for travel. I never used a carrier with my older DD, but I have one to try with Baby #2 just so my hands will be free sometimes. I plan on using it often in the parks, but I'd like the stroller as well in case it gets too hot for me or the baby. I can't remember at what age my older DD was able to sit in the Graco without the car seat, but I'm sure she was less than 6 months. I'd like to not have to take the car seat to the parks and just use the stroller and carrier. The hardest part of all of this is planning a trip around a baby who isn't arriving for a few more weeks. DD 3 was a great traveler as a baby and we just don't know what to expect with this one. Time will tell I guess!