checking baby car seat?

[Happiest mommy]

Hi all just a quick question for those of you that have traveled with lil ones under 1 yr lap child I have a snap and go and I am thinking of taking it with me we will be renting a car and need the seat, do you actually gate check it along with the car seat? what have you done differently? any suggestions I will also be traveling with a 4 yr old and taking an additional stroller which will also be gate checked oh jeez I just remembered I will also have a booster seat what would you do or have done? TIA

 

[mommy2princesses0309]

I don't know how this is going to work LOL but we are leaving on the 9th and are taking DD 8 mos. car seat as well as DD6 booster seat, I have a car seat bag and we are putting both (hopefully) in that and checking it. We have checked a car seat in it in the past and it's worked out fine. I just hope both seats fit and we can check it that way. If not, we'll probably have to rent a booster when we p/u the rental car.

 

[Derby]

Yes, you can gate check a car seat as well as the stroller. I have even gate checked a diaper bag! Make sure when you get the gate, you ask if they have any extra seats you could use for your baby. If they do, they will let you take the car seat on and you will get an extra seat. If they don't, they will give you the necessary tags for the stuff you want to gate check.

 

[puffkin]

We have travelled many times with a carseat and always check it with the rest of our luggage. I have a carseat bag for it. They tag it differently, I am assuming it gets loaded on the plane differently than the rest of the luggage. I have never had a problem with it.

 

[2binak]

We checked out carseat with our other luggage. We bought a padded carseat bag since the luggage gets thrown, bumped, dropped, etc. while going through the journey to and from the planes. The bag had plenty of room for extra items like a booster seat. If you got a carseat bag, you could then just gate check your strollers.

Here's the bag we got:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4698052

We had this bag for our stroller, which worked really well when we arrived home in a downpour. Our stroller was completely dry while other families could not use their strollers because they were soaked.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5652241&findingMethod=rr

 

[RangerPooh]

We have made countless trips flying wiht our girls and have had them as lap infants and seated passengers. When they were lap infants we would check their seats with the restof the luggage in a seat bag. There was usually enough rom left in it for "extras" like heavy winter coats that we didn't need on the flight. I don't bother with gate checking it whe flying on my lap as it's just one more thing to carry to the gate. I'd rather just pick it up with the rest of my luggage.

As for the stroller, we gate check that! There's no way that we travel through airports without it. Depending on the stroller that we have taken we have either placed it ina stroller bag or just left it tagged wihtout one. For our nice umbrella stroller we have a bag similar to the one the PP posted. Ouyrs is black with loads of padding. Plus the strap allows you to sling itover your shoulder for easier carrying. Our full sized stroller bag was cumbersome as we ahd to remove the handles from our stroller to even place it inside the bag. That bag didn't last more than a few trips due to damage and dfrsutration on our part. The only nice thing about it was that it had wheels, which when they worked correctly helped drag the thing. Just be sure to inspect your stroller upon receieving it. We have found a few of our nicer stroller s to be dinged, dented, broken, and stained upon landing at our destination.

Another reason to take your stroller through to the gate is to carry your things! Diaper bags, coats, snacks, place for sleeping baby to wait, we even stack our carseats on it to hewlp carry them to the gate, with me carrying a kid and holding onto the other. It might be a funny sight to see but it works well for us.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

We always check out car seat and booster with our checked luggage. They have never charged for it. They do put a special tag on it. We don't even bother with a bag, but I can see why someone would want to use one.

This year we were down to 1 backless booster. That should be our last trip with it! DS is finally getting taller.

 

[audrey13]

I flew last month with my 8 month old and had her infant car seat and a snap n go stroller. I gate checked both - you just need to get two tags from the gate agent because you will take the car seat out of the stroller to collapse the stroller. It is a bit of a pain going through security because you have to do the same thing - take the car seat off the stroller, collapse the stroller, send both through the security scanner, etc. A friend recommended bringing a Bjorn or other infant front or back carrier and putting the baby in that before you go through security so your hands are free. That was a great idea and a huge help.

 

[RangerPooh]

A friend recommended bringing a Bjorn or other infant front or back carrier and putting the baby in that before you go through security so your hands are free. That was a great idea and a huge help.

The downside to this is that they do expect you to remove the baby from the carrier. I have had to remove the baby, and send the front pack through the scanner, then walk through with the baby. Talk about frustrating! Really there should be a separate scanning station for families traveling with young kids. I know that when I have flown alone (just baby and i), trying to get everything onto the belt, collapse the stroller, hold onto a scquirming baby, and then collect everything again is a huge pain! Especially when no one helps you, they just complain that you are holding up the line.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yes, you can gate check a car seat as well as the stroller. I have even gate checked a diaper bag! Make sure when you get the gate, you ask if they have any extra seats you could use for your baby. If they do, they will let you take the car seat on and you will get an extra seat. If they don't, they will give you the necessary tags for the stuff you want to gate check.

Bad idea to expect this, or even to board the plane with slightest hope that it would be possible.

 

[Derby]

Bad idea to expect this, or even to board the plane with slightest hope that it would be possible.

I didn't say you should expect it, I said it COULD happen. I flew with DD by myself on a cross-country flight and it happened both times for the longer legs. It never hurts to ask. I would also much rather gate check a car seat than check it with luggage, but I am obsessively protective of our car seats.

 

[2binak]

The downside to this is that they do expect you to remove the baby from the carrier. I have had to remove the baby, and send the front pack through the scanner, then walk through with the baby. Talk about frustrating! Really there should be a separate scanning station for families traveling with young kids. I know that when I have flown alone (just baby and i), trying to get everything onto the belt, collapse the stroller, hold onto a scquirming baby, and then collect everything again is a huge pain! Especially when no one helps you, they just complain that you are holding up the line.

Orlando airport does have separate lines for those traveling with kids - best idea EVER!!!!! You don't feel rushed at all.

I didn't say you should expect it, I said it COULD happen. I flew with DD by myself on a cross-country flight and it happened both times for the longer legs. It never hurts to ask. I would also much rather gate check a car seat than check it with luggage, but I am obsessively protective of our car seats.

You're right - it could happen. It happened on both of our flights to/from WDW in November. On both flights, the row in front of us was empty and we were able to use both rows. It was so nice to have the extra space for us all to stretch out and the change of scenery (from one row & parent to another) was a nice way to keep DD occupied.

 

[stacy6552]

Skip the booster seat.

Yes take the carseat all the way to the plane. If the plane isn't full, you can ask to use an empty seat for the baby and carseat, which is absolutely the best way for baby to fly.

 

[Happiest mommy]

thank you all for your input it is so much stuff to travel with but it is all necessary for our girls I didnt think I could put both seats in one bag best suggestion ever thank you all again

 

[RangerPooh]

Orlando airport does have separate lines for those traveling with kids - best idea EVER!!!!! You don't feel rushed at all.

That's awesome! Since moving to the east coast last year we no longer fly the WDW anymore, so it's nice to see that they have added this. We always felt rushed and treated rudely when having to go through security with our kids (and all their stuff).

 

[dumbo_buddy]

Hi all just a quick question for those of you that have traveled with lil ones under 1 yr lap child I have a snap and go and I am thinking of taking it with me we will be renting a car and need the seat, do you actually gate check it along with the car seat? what have you done differently? any suggestions I will also be traveling with a 4 yr old and taking an additional stroller which will also be gate checked oh jeez I just remembered I will also have a booster seat what would you do or have done? TIA

i was just coming on here to ask about flying with a car seat! we are headed down next month with our then 7 month old DS.

OP - glad to see another bronx mamma on here!

 

[mtdk454]

so do they charge the fee, as with luggage, if you check your carseat bag with the luggage? My stroller is 3 pieces. it is the stroller itself, the infant seat attachment bar and a seperate stroller seat itself. I plan on gate checking the stroller with the infant seat bar attached, and the infant seat, but luggage checking the stroller seat part. Is it going to cost me anything to to this?

 

[Happiest mommy]

Hello Dumbo Buddy

 

[Happiest mommy]

I've been seriously thinking of just ditching the two single strollers (snap n go and Inglesina) and buying an inexpensive double stroller but I just dont want to spend so much money on a Maclaren double I wish there was a better alternative for a 4 1/2 yr old and a 8 month old that would'nt break my budget and would be confortable for both of them it would be great and less stuff for me to travel with

 

[Derby]

so do they charge the fee, as with luggage, if you check your carseat bag with the luggage? My stroller is 3 pieces. it is the stroller itself, the infant seat attachment bar and a seperate stroller seat itself. I plan on gate checking the stroller with the infant seat bar attached, and the infant seat, but luggage checking the stroller seat part. Is it going to cost me anything to to this?

I'm pretty sure it counts as a piece of luggage, so it would depend on that airline's luggage policies.