carseats on plane

[kelleyrn2000]

This will be my first time flying with a toddler. My son will be 24 months old, and I purchased him his own ticket. We are flying Air Tran nonstop from Milwaukee to Tampa, then renting a car to drive to the Orlando area. We are staying offsite at a timeshare and will need our carseat in the rental. Anyways, we didn't choose seat assignments (for 5 of us it adds up).

I know I can gate check the carseat, but I was thinking my son might be better behaved if he is in his carseat (strange, I know), plus it is of course safer. My question is, will Air Tran let us board early to install the carseat, and will they be accomodating so that one parent will be with our kids when they assign our seats? My oldest dd has asthma, and will they let us board with her inhaler?

I'm just picturing a nightmare of trying to install a carseat when there are a bunch of other passengers already seated, since we all know how little room there is on these planes. I haven't flow AirTran before so I don't know how family friendly they are.

 

[kaytieeldr]

This will be my first time flying with a toddler. My son will be 24 months old, and I purchased him his own ticket.

Good, because once he turned two, you don't have a choice

NEVER expect an airline that charges for seat assignments to guarantee putting parents and children together, and never expect other passengers - who DID pay for seat seleciton - to move to accommodate you.

You can go online 24 hours prior to flight time to check in and pick seats, but there's no guarantee those seats will be together. AirTran may or may not allow preboarding; more and more airlines are getting away from it.

Respectfully, I'm not sure why you think your son would be safer in a car seat on a flight. Plane travel is astronomically safer than car travel, and car seats are designed to protect in the latter. Using a carseat on a plane is just a courtesy the airline allows; often it does keep the child calmer because they're accustomed to it.

By the way, the seat has to have a sticker indicating it can be used on a plane; otherwise, you'll have no choice but to check it.

Yes, you can board with your daughter's inhaler. It's more of an issue at security; have it in a separate zipper bag in a carry-on, and let the TSA person know. They may or may not ask to see it.

One more thought - if you do opt to pay for seat selection, and one of your children tends to kick, PLEASE consider putting another member of your party in the seat in front of that child.

 

[momofsamandeden]

Yes make sure that there is a sticker FAA approval on the car seat or they will not let you take it on. We have a sit n stroll which is FAA approved and used in airports often and they still check the side for the sticker. In fact the sticker is quite worn from three kids wiping it down and delta last time looked it up in their system to make sure it was okay to fly with.

 

[ancestry]

I would really like to stress that you may want to reconsider not purchasing your seat assignments. Air Tran has no obligation to keep all of you together which means your kids could be split up from you. Also other passengers are less likely to move to accommodate your family since they chose to pay for their seat assignments and Air Tran will not make them move.

We have flown Air Tran quite frequently. When I am flying with my younger children I always pay for the seat assignments. With the older children I don't worry about it because we can be separated and we usually are.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

Thank you for your replies! I thought that it was best to keep babies in carseats on the plane for safety (I guess for turbulence). I have been on flights where the turbulence was pretty bad myself.

I think the last time we flew with United and Delta, and they didn't assign us seats until we checked in at the gate. They split us up which was totally fine, since there was one adult with one child. It was never a big deal for them to find spots for us, even though we were put on one flight last minute after United cancelled our flight last minute. But, we've never flown Air Tran, so I realize this could be a different situation....maybe they aren't as accomodating...and I guess I won't assume them to be.

Thanks!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Safety factor aside, I think your child would be more comfortable in the seat and you will have a much more relaxing flight. If your child is used to sitting in his/her sea in a car, and knows he/she can't move around the car while it is in motion, doesn't it make sense that they will be more comfortable in their seat while moving in a plane?

 

[Mom323]

We ae traveling with our grandson, 3 yrs old. We will be using ME and will only need something for air travel.

Has any one used the Cares Kids FLy Safe harness on a plane? How difficult is to use? Were you pleased with it?

Thank you!!

 

[ratmaster]

We ae traveling with our grandson, 3 yrs old. We will be using ME and will only need something for air travel.

Has any one used the Cares Kids FLy Safe harness on a plane? How difficult is to use? Were you pleased with it?

Thank you!!

Yes. We've used the Cares harness. It was great. Didn't even need to bring the car seat at all. We rented from the car company but otherwise you can just check your car seat...no lugging it around the airport. If you get the cares, you should still preboard if you can. It has a strap that needs to be wrapped around the seat so you will need to go into the row behind you to install it but it only takes a few seconds. You have to lower the try table and the strap goes between the tray table and the seat. It does not bother the person sitting behind you at all. When we used it, we had so many people, including the flight attendants asking about it.

 

[Mom323]

Yes. We've used the Cares harness. It was great. Didn't even need to bring the car seat at all. We rented from the car company but otherwise you can just check your car seat...no lugging it around the airport. If you get the cares, you should still preboard if you can. It has a strap that needs to be wrapped around the seat so you will need to go into the row behind you to install it but it only takes a few seconds. You have to lower the try table and the strap goes between the tray table and the seat. It does not bother the person sitting behind you at all. When we used it, we had so many people, including the flight attendants asking about it.

Thank you very much for the quick reply! We traveled last fall with him and a car seat on the plane. What a hassle to say the least. I was excited to find the harness on their website. It looks easy, but then again it's their website. We won't need the carseat at all this trip and the thought having to deal with it again for just the plane was unpleasant.

Thanks again!

 

[kelleyrn2000]

Safety factor aside, I think your child would be more comfortable in the seat and you will have a much more relaxing flight. If your child is used to sitting in his/her sea in a car, and knows he/she can't move around the car while it is in motion, doesn't it make sense that they will be more comfortable in their seat while moving in a plane?

Yes, I think my son will be better behaved in the carseat. Usually if he is buckled in (carseat, stroller, or highchair) he doesn't try to climb out and he seems to be more relaxed. I think it would be better for the people around us too, to not have a squirmy toddler climbing all over the place (he's a good boy, just active lol).

 

[bavaria]

Just be aware that the vast majority of US carriers no longer permit pre-boarding for families, and even for those which do, they often suspend it on leisure heavy routes such as MCO.

I would not count on any preboarding. If it is permitted, fine, but don't expect it, and plan around that.

 

[Mom323]

Just be aware that the vast majority of US carriers no longer permit pre-boarding for families, and even for those which do, they often suspend it on leisure heavy routes such as MCO.

I would not count on any preboarding. If it is permitted, fine, but don't expect it, and plan around that.

We are using Southwest and have the Early Bird Checkin. We should be okay.

 

[bavaria]

We are using Southwest and have the Early Bird Checkin. We should be okay.

You may be, but the OP is not, and she specifically asked about preboarding and sitting together.

My question is, will Air Tran let us board early to install the carseat, and will they be accomodating so that one parent will be with our kids when they assign our seats?

The answer to both questions is 'there is no guarantee' and chances are that it may well not happen.

 

[Mom323]

You may be, but the OP is not, and she specifically asked about preboarding and sitting together.

The answer to both questions is 'there is no guarantee' and chances are that it may well not happen.

Well excuse me, but as you hadn't directed your reply to anyone in particular I replied. I am sorry I responded to your post.

 

[laughinplace199]

I know I can gate check the carseat, but I was thinking my son might be better behaved if he is in his carseat (strange, I know), plus it is of course safer. My question is, will Air Tran let us board early to install the carseat, and will they be accomodating so that one parent will be with our kids when they assign our seats? My oldest dd has asthma, and will they let us board with her inhaler?

I'm just picturing a nightmare of trying to install a carseat when there are a bunch of other passengers already seated, since we all know how little room there is on these planes. I haven't flow AirTran before so I don't know how family friendly they are.

If you can't preboard to install the carseat, you could try what DH & I used to do. DH would board with the carseat when our row was called. I would hang back with the kids, then get in line a few minutes later. By the time the kids and I got to our row, DH had the carseat installed.

 

[crashbb]

If you can't preboard to install the carseat, you could try what DH & I used to do. DH would board with the carseat when our row was called. I would hang back with the kids, then get in line a few minutes later. By the time the kids and I got to our row, DH had the carseat installed.

Actually, I would recommend that even with pre-boarding (actually, especially with pre-boarding).

If you have two adults, allow one to board with the pre-boarders to install the car seats and have the other hang out with the kids. It minimise the amount of time the kids need to spend on the plane and it is generally easier to install the seats without the kids underfoot.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

If you can't preboard to install the carseat, you could try what DH & I used to do. DH would board with the carseat when our row was called. I would hang back with the kids, then get in line a few minutes later. By the time the kids and I got to our row, DH had the carseat installed.

that's a great tip. Thanks!

 

[kelleyrn2000]

I went ahead and paid for the seat assignments. I could see myself stressing about it for the next three months, and our airfare was still a pretty good deal for all 5 of us. Maybe we will check less luggage.

 

[Halle]

I went ahead and paid for the seat assignments. I could see myself stressing about it for the next three months, and our airfare was still a pretty good deal for all 5 of us. Maybe we will check less luggage.

You were wise to do that. We flew Air Tran and they asked for volunteers to change seat assignments so a family could sit together. When no one volunteered they called DH and my name and told us, yes told us that we had to switch with this family. We had paid for our seats which I told them (we were travelling with 3 other family members) and the gate agent said you don't have a seat assignment. We showed our boarding passes that had
been issued at the BW. The agent told us that those boarding passes meant nothing and then said you rode in on LIAR EXPRESS didn't you? We stated that we rented a car and had not been transported by Disney. It wasn't until DH asked for the gate agent's name and badge number that he backed off. Never flew Air Tran again.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

You were wise to do that. We flew Air Tran and they asked for volunteers to change seat assignments so a family could sit together. When no one volunteered they called DH and my name and told us, yes told us that we had to switch with this family. We had paid for our seats which I told them (we were travelling with 3 other family members) and the gate agent said you don't have a seat assignment. We showed our boarding passes that had
been issued at the BW. The agent told us that those boarding passes meant nothing and then said you rode in on LIAR EXPRESS didn't you? We stated that we rented a car and had not been transported by Disney. It wasn't until DH asked for the gate agent's name and badge number that he backed off. Never flew Air Tran again.

Wow! My DH is pretty calm but that would have had him reaching across the counter....