car seats and airplanes

[Hawkeye68]

What is the best way to bring a carseat on the airplane? We will have a boosterseat with a back and a regular carseat (ages 3 and 5) We will need them once we get to Orlando.
Thanks!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

You will have to check them like luggage. Or MAYBE they will let you gate check them. Its really a pain to bring the car seats - so we take a taxi to the hotel without car seats, get the rental car at Downtown Disney Budget (I think), I then go to Walmart and buy two highback boosters for $20 each and then leave use them for our trip and either leave them with a family checking in at Budget or find a nice person on the DIS like I did last year and just set up a meet and gave them to her. I choose to do this because the rental car seats are nasty - and I hate to take them on the plane.

 

[momsully]

You can not use the booster on the plane so you should just check it. Depending on your child you can bring the regular car seat on the plane and let her sit in it. Once our boys turned 3 we started to just check the car seats as they both were good about sitting in the regular seat with the seat belt on. Just put them in a large trash bag or buy a car seat bag at Babies R Us or Target. They come back to you at baggage claim.

 

[Laurabearz]

Depends.. if your not going to use the on the plane you can check them with your other luggage. This could damage them and the airlines are not respponsable.... with that said I ahve never had any 'visable' damage. Some stress points can be effected without a noticable sign.

I would check the 5 yos and use the 3 yo.. just to keep em locked in. LOL

Another option is to rent carseats on the other end.

 

[Laurabearz]

double post

 

[loveysbydesign]

When we go for the 1st time ds will be 7 and dd will be 3 1/2. DS uses a booster w/no back, so I thought I'd stow it in a carry on bag, hopefully! DD uses a high back booster, 5 strap harness type, but she could use one with no back with the seat belt. I'm wondering if we should spend $15. to buy her one with no back, just for the trip. Or should we just use the highback one on the plane? I think the no-back ones would each fit in a seperate carry-on bags. Anyone ever done this before? It would save us $16. per day from the car rental place.

 

[beattyfamily]

I bought the carseat bag at Babies R Us for $20.

It fits one big carseat or 2 no back booster seats and I just check it with my luggage. I've never had any problems and I've even been able to store my extra souvenirs in it on the way home or our Halloween costumes and once a sleeping bag!

 

[susykt4]

I bought the cheap backless one for DDalmost 5 and carried it on and stashed it. They gave me no problem even though I also had a backpack. DS2 1/2 had a full-size carseat that I strapped in. It was HORRIBLE!!! He was way too big to be in that seat! I spent both flights trying to keep him from kicking the seat in front of us and he (who never had any problem in the car) just felt trapped. He's a little over 3 now and still uses the same carseat in my car but if we were renting a car for our upcoming trip I'd buy him a backless booster.

 

[seashoreCM]

Get an FAA approved child seat and you can use that both in the plane and in the rental car. (No car seats may be used on Magical Express and the seats will be stashed under the bus.)

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[MickeyMamma]

PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!! (refering to susykt4's post above and others who travel with backless boosters for kids under 4)

While I like to save $$ too, you really shouldn't put a child into a booster until they are 4 years old 40" tall and 40 lbs. On the off chance you are ever in an accident, you will be very glad you followed that.

And that is not me picking out statistics, that is the state law in alot of areas.

I am in the same position as you. I have 2 children and will need to take 2 carseats with me on my next trip. I plan to curbside check the seats and then I just get a luggage carrier when I get to Orlando to help me lug them over to the rental car.

Please be careful. It is far better to have your child safe then to have saved a few $$ or be slightly inconvenienced.

 

[slbeaute]

I get very concerned about safety, so DD 3 does use a carseat. Most airlines even recommend using them for safety. I had seen on the boards once that someone used a luggage carrier - the little folded metal one - to easily transport the car seat in the airport and plane. This did not work for us!!! The car seat barely fit on it and then had to be tied. At the security spot, we had to untie it to get it to fit through the x-ray. This was our smaller seat, by the way. Then I put it back on thecarrier. The carrier wouldn't fit down the aisles in the plane without hitting every seat, so I ended up carrying it anyway. I would say rent one of those little airport carts to hall it back and forth. Getting it in the seat was actually not a problem and DD was quite comfy in it. I think my daughter would sit in a regular seat, but I'd rather have the piece of mind. I wouldn't out her in a car without one, so why on a plane?

 

[znjmom]

We have checked them right as we were boarding the plane before.

 

[belle&beast]

We are going to WDW next week and our plan is to use our carseats on the plane for DS who will turn 2 on the 20th, and DD4. She is still in a 5 pt harness because she is not yet 40 pounds. We flew when she was 26 months and found that when we put her in the carseat, she felt very secure and she knew she had to stay in it. My DS has a different attitude about most things than she did, buit we are hoping that he will understand that it is time to sit when he is in the carseat. Plus we will need them for our rental car, so it is more convenient and less expensive than renting. Convenient only because the kids will be comfortable in their own seats!

 

[Hawkeye68]

Thank you for all the responses. I am rather picky and cautious about my carseats as well. We will be bringing them with us for sure. I wasn't sure what do about checking them. It would be nice if they would let me gate check them (That way I feel better about knowing they will be in Orlando when we get there!) I am not sure we will bring them onto the plane and have the girls sit in them though.

 

[MariDisney]

When we go for the 1st time ds will be 7 and dd will be 3 1/2. DS uses a booster w/no back, so I thought I'd stow it in a carry on bag, hopefully! DD uses a high back booster, 5 strap harness type, but she could use one with no back with the seat belt. I'm wondering if we should spend $15. to buy her one with no back, just for the trip. Or should we just use the highback one on the plane? I think the no-back ones would each fit in a seperate carry-on bags. Anyone ever done this before? It would save us $16. per day from the car rental place.

Last year, we just put a luggage tag on our no-back booster and checked it just like that. No problems from US Air.

 

[jodifla]

Does the 5 year old sit in a booster seat or a car seat? Boosters are not allowed on the plane.

 

[Hawkeye68]

The 5 year old is in a booster (high back) and the 3 year old in a car seat. I think I will check both with the baggage. (I am glad I found out ahead of time about not being able to bring a booster on the plane though). I just want them to have them when we get there. Thanks all!

 

[loveysbydesign]

The 5 year old is in a booster (high back) and the 3 year old in a car seat. I think I will check both with the baggage.

Now i'm not quite sure whether or not my dd's car seat is allowed or not. It's a highback car seat with a 5pt. harness, then when she's older I can convert it to just a booster by taking out the harness straps. Is this kind ok on planes?

 

[jodifla]

Now i'm not quite sure whether or not my dd's car seat is allowed or not. It's a highback car seat with a 5pt. harness, then when she's older I can convert it to just a booster by taking out the harness straps. Is this kind ok on planes?

If she uses the harness, that kind of booster normally can go on a plane. See if it has the FAA certification. But once they use the seat belt with the booster seat, it can't go on the plane.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I am very hesitant to check or gate check carseats, because I worry about invisible damage to the seat if it were dropped or otherwise abused. Until DS outgrew his 5 point harness he always flew in his seat. Afterwards I'd bring a backless booster and stow it in the overhead bin (I didn't bother to put it in a bag, I just carried it by one of the arms.