Car seats

[formie]

going to disney in november. we have been quoted nearly £80 for 2 weeks hire of a car seat which is shocking. We were going to take our own car seat but then the shop assistant in toys r us said that it would invalidate our insurance because it is only european standard and not US. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[T16GEM]

going to disney in november. we have been quoted nearly £80 for 2 weeks hire of a car seat which is shocking. We were going to take our own car seat but then the shop assistant in toys r us said that it would invalidate our insurance because it is only european standard and not US. Does anyone know if this is true?

I have never heard of this, we always take our own.

Maybe double check with your car hire company, they have certainly never ever told us this and I am sure that they wouldn't miss an opportunity to sell you hire of their seats if this were the case!

 

[orangetiggs]

not sure where you are getting your hire car from but when i looked into this with virgin holidays thier platinum insurances included car seats, we need two for our twins and i was weighing up taking ours or buying cheap ones when i get there but the car insurance includes it so i'm going to book with them for the car hire

 

[formie]

thanks for the replies. We have booked with Travel City direct and they said that they dont actually sell them but they request it from the car hire company to which their is a charge per day for hiring. Think i will contact Travel city again to double check as we purchased the top insurance that they sell.

 

[orangetiggs]

on virgin holidays they have a comparison table between the two insurances so thats where i saw it as everywhere else i read it was payable locally

 

[orangetiggs]

travel city use dollar from their website and virgin holidays now use alamo so that might be the difference and with dollar you might have to pay locally for them

 

[Clare D]

We took ours last year (a Maxi Cosi Priori) and had no issues using the 3 point seat belt to strap it in. The positive was that DH knew how to get it in so we weren't messing around trying to fit a car seat we weren't familiar with.
In the past I hired one and the quality was awful and it was filthy. I ended up stripping it when we arrived at the villa and washing it. It also took DH ages to work out how to strap it in.
We just left it at the gate when flying home and when leaving we left it in the oversized baggage area.

 

[dixonsontour]

I'd definitely take it with you. Most airlines carry it for free over any baggage allowance.

The ones I saw thrown in a heap on the floor of the car rental hut in the car park I wouldn't have put DD in (we took our own). Dirty, thrown around and you have no idea if they have been in a crash etc.

Also how would you safely know how to fit it - no instructions and just off a 9 hour flight?

I always thought european car safety rules weremore stingent than US.

 

[Cyrano]

We took booster seats with us last year and plan on doing the same again this year

 

[Dimplenose]

The ones I saw thrown in a heap on the floor of the car rental hut in the car park I wouldn't have put DD in (we took our own). Dirty, thrown around and you have no idea if they have been in a crash etc.

That's my experience with Dollar via Virgin too.

 

[dixonsontour]

I can't remember if it was Alamo or Dollar.

 

[SiBorg]

We spent a while looking into this for our trip at the end of April, a happy 4 hours on the phone in fact...

If you book platinum insurance via Virgin Holidays then you are covered for seats - but beware, booking platinum insurance of you hire the car through Virgin Atlantic (as we did) they aren't - despite the car hire being provided by to VA by VH! To hire the seats was going to cost £10 per day per seat, which was $280...just shy of doubling the hire cost for the car.

The law is different, a nice lady I spoke to at Virgin Flying Club sent me a link to a really useful page on the NHTSA website but I can't find it any more, and I cant post a link to their homepage yet. :| So, we found out our 4yo will just need a booster, as he's tall for his age anyway. This would have made hiring a little cheaper.

I checked with the Flying Club people that Virgin Atlantic carry car seats for free, but I was concerned about them getting damaged at Orlando International (they kindly wrote off a samsonite case for me between the plane and the terminal a couple of years back) so I've borrowed an old spare seat and booster from the in-laws. That way we can keep our recaro seats damage free!

In the end, since I had booked pretty much everything with different people I ended up hiring the car through someone else as well... £340 for a fortnight in a full size with all the insurance. Seemed OK to me...

Si.

 

[Elise79]

We have taken our own twice and the car hire people have never said anything about it.

VA carried it free and after the flight I can get our seat in the car in 2 mins and I would worry I hadn't fixed the hired seat correctly as they are not allowed to show or fit them for you.

Yes it is a pain but I would rather DD was safe.

 

[~Piglet~]

We are planning to take a booster seat too, do you just bring it to the gate along with your buggy and check it in last minute? we are flying with VA.

 

[paulfoel]

going to disney in november. we have been quoted nearly £80 for 2 weeks hire of a car seat which is shocking. We were going to take our own car seat but then the shop assistant in toys r us said that it would invalidate our insurance because it is only european standard and not US. Does anyone know if this is true?

Load of crap. Theres no difference.

In fact, we've bought cheap car sears from Walmart over there before for like $5. Completely basic.

Wouldnt worry. Take yours from home. Its a con hiring them.

Although saying that, we always used to with alamo and not hire a seat. Then they leave them in a pile in the garage so we just pick one up. Bit naughty.

 

[babystar]

We have always taken our own, from rear facing to just booster seats. The car hire companys have never offered me one of there car seats and never informed me of any insurance invalidations (they have always seen my DD as we get the car while DH gets the bags)

I would highly recommend taking your own though! Until you see the state of some of the car seats you would not believe it!!!

I saw my sister trying to fit two that she hired back in 2004 and appart from the filth that COVERED them, she was convinced that they were not fitted correctly (If I remember rightly we asked a american that was loading the hire car next to us to see if they had any idea) The rental agents were no help at all.

Not sure what age your child is, but if they are young like when we started travelling with our DD it is handy to know that they can sleep comfortably and that young ones are not sat bolt up right etc.

 

[formie]

thanks for all the replies. I think we will take our own car seat now after reading all these posts.

 

[DjdBrit]

I am pretty sure that the car seat standards here (I live in the US) are much more lax than in the UK. I would bring your own seats, for a few reasons...

1. Your kids are used to them.

2. You know how to install them.

3. You know the history (no accidents).

4. They will be cleaner and newer than anything you will hire


I fly back and forth to the UK with my car seats and always check them with my cases. I have never had an issue with them. I usually fly VA out of Heathrow and they either have big bags (just for car seats) or they walk them down to the baggage area.



Good luck and enjoy your trip.