Car Seats from Car Rental Places

[Annette_VA]

I'm debating whether I should take my own car seats & check them on the plane, or just rent car seats along w/ the car.

Has anyone rented before? Do the seats seem to be in good condition - clean, recent models, etc?

Any input would be greatly appreciated

 

[CEDmom]

I haven't personally used them but I know people who have and they weren't happy with them. First off even though you reserve one it might not actually be available when you get to the rental counter. They aren't clean and from my understanding are all plastic which mean they're not very comfortable. I'd bring your own from home and either use it on the plane or check it through. Your other option depending on how long you are staying is to get one at Walmart when you arrive. One of you could stay at the airport with your child while the other one went to buy it. It's not the best option but it is an option.

 

[skippelm]

We decided to bring ours since you can never be 100% sure that the one you rent wasnt in an accident.

 

[KLAIT]

The last 2 times we were there, we have seen people extremely upset because the car rental companies did not have seats available although they had reserved them with the car rental. Both of these times were early December when there are very small crowds...I am not too sure I would count on seats when it was busy season.

 

[KLAIT]

The last 2 times we were there, we have seen people extremely upset because the car rental companies did not have seats available although they had reserved them with the car rental. Both of these times were early December when there are very small crowds...I am not too sure I would count on seats when it was busy season.

 

[riggins]

We rented a carseat once when my oldest was a baby and we won't do that again. The cover was not dirty, but looked like it had been washed a thousand times and was almost threadbare. It was a bare bones model that did not look very comfy. And like others have suggested, there is no guarantee that they'll have one. When we got to the counter, I had to ask for it and the clerk had to go search around in the back forever. She brought up an infant seat and said "this is all we have . . . is this what you want?" Fortunately, DD still fit in an infant seat, but if we'd had a bigger child, we wouldn't have had a seat at all. Not to mention, we paid $8/day for the rental seat. This was a short weekend trip to visit family, so it didn't cost too much, but if you're going for a longer trip, you could easily buy a new seat, of much better quality, for what you'd pay in rental fees.

 

[Annette_VA]

Thanks for all the replies!

I think I'm going to just bring ours. I was learning that way before, but this cements it!


Now, another question: I've heard that airlines can't count checked car seats against your # of checked bags limit. Does anyone know if that's true?

 

[NotUrsula]

It's not true. US-based carriers cannot count them against your carryon allowance *if* the child actually sits in the seat on the plane. If you check seats, they count against your checked allowance. (Some airlines *might* give you a bye on it, but I'd only believe that if I got it directly from the airline, and in writing.)

If you get a carseat satchel, you should be able to nest up to 3 seats inside one satchel.

 

[tinkerbell6]

How do they check a carseat? We're going to bring DD's booster--do they just put a tag on it, or do they throw it in a plastic bag? All of the previous times we've flown we had relatives meeting us on the other end who had a carseat for us to use.

 

[gw_lit]

I've flown on Southwest with our DS4's booster seat and checked it... we just did this back in February. They have a clear plastic bag they put the booster in and tie up the bag and then wrap their printed luggage tag around it. Worked like a charm. I can't vouch for how other airlines handle it. We're flying American for our May trip , so I guess we'll find out!

 

[NotUrsula]

Just FYI, they have the plastic bags at the main bag-check counters, and the skycaps have them, but they usually do NOT have them at the gate. If you are hoping to get a free seat to put a carseat in and do not get one, the carseat will have to go into the hold without a bag, unless you bring your own.