Checking car seats- how to I package them?

[PaddingtonBear]

We're leaving on Friday and we're planning on checking car seats for our two children. We really don't want to drag them through the airport and on ME (our car rental will just be for the last three days of the trip after we leave WDW and visit the beach, grandma, etc) and our children will do fine sitting in the regular seats with thier seatbelts on.

I'm wondering how other people who have checked car seats handle this? Do you just put the tags on the straps and send them through without being covered? If you cover them, what do you put them in? I've thought possibly of a plastic garbage bag, just to kind of keep them together? I know they make travel bags for car seats but I haven't found any locally and its too late to order them.

Advice please!

 

[Zeebs]

We have special bags for ours, not with padding or anything just to keep the dust and dirty off basically and to stop the straps getting caught in things.

I have seen them in plastic bags clear and black.

I put our name tags on but also a nice wee note saying Car Seat please handle with care thankyou. (whether this helps or not I am not sure but I hope that means they will not throw it around)

I hope this helps.

Kirsten

 

[all4fun]

You don't have to put them in anything but putting them in a bag will help protect them from getting dirty. I have checked mine on one trip in a car seat bag I bought especially for traveling. We also only needed it during the middle of our stay and were using DME and Disney Transport for the most part on that particular trip. I hate to baggage check car seats though because I feel that the risk of them being damaged is greater since they could end up underneath several 50# suitcases. At least when they are gate checked, they go in last. Also, the airlines have "lost" our luggage several times and I wouldn't want to deal with a lost/misrouted car seat.

Because of this, on our last trip, I used the bag again but we carried the seat thru the airport and gate checked it (it's a combo seat that's been converted to a booster for my now 6yr old). It was a bit of a pain but I felt it was less so than potentially not having a seat for him to ride in once we got off the plane (this last trip was to DL via Long Beach and we took a regular shuttle service from the airport).

FYI, if you change your minds and decide to gate check, and have them in bags, then don't put them in the bags until you are past TSA/security checkpoint as they do not allow them to go through the scanners in bags. Depending on what seats you have and what bag, you might find a bag that you could actually fit both seats in possibly. Some of the car seat bags out there are pretty generous in size.

hth

 

[Rita007]

We've done this twice. I've got 3 kids and that meant 3 carseats. We bungie-corded the little booster into one larger seat. Then the seat went into a clear plastic bag. I labelled it with our name, phone, and flight number. We never had any trouble.

My friend packed her daughter's potty in the car seat on a recent trip! I'm sure the baggage handlers have some tales to tell!

 

[deva]

Continental and Southwest have always bagged them for us - a large clear plastic bag that they tie shut. Southwest bagged the two booster seats together.

I put luggage tags around a handle or some sort of part of the seat where it cant slip off.

 

[snoopy5386]

you can get a carseat bag at babies r us if you have one near you.

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

Alaska Air provided us with a large thick plastic bag to put our seats into.

 

[Heard02]

you can get a carseat bag at babies r us if you have one near you.

that's what we did...ours is a black Graco bag and it works great!

p.s. I just realized we are on the same sailing!!!

 

[happymommy]

If it's only for 3 days, maybe you might want to consider just getting one from the rental car place? That way they won't be taking up all that space in your room. I don't know how old your kids are, and what the rules are in Florida, so can't comment on how neccessary they are (it's been years since my kids used car seats).

I never checked them before. I think when we needed them, the kids (2 and infant) used them on the plane also (and I was alone - ugh).

Good luck!

 

[PaddingtonBear]

I went to BRU yesterday and didn't find car seat bags . I do want to take the seats becuase a) its $10 per child per day to rent them, so that would be $60 and more importantly b) I don't trust rental car seats, they're scary to me.

I'm going to call Northwest and see if they supply bags.

Thank you everyone for your advice, very helpful!!

 

[jscott27]

I'm going to call Northwest and see if they supply bags.

NWA hasn't offered us a bag in the past, but it never hurts to ask.

I wanted a bag for gate checking our two boosters, and I found a decent list through Nextag when I googled "child car seat bag". I would post the link directly to the NexTag list, but I don't have enough posts yet to allow me to post links

I ordered one of the JL Childress gate check bags for car seats to put our two boosters in for our trip.

 

[ComparedforMe]

In this case I think it's important to compare online travel sites to get the best option. Some sites offer comprehensive reviews, you're bound to get useful info there.

 

[wmharley]

You don't have to put them in anything but putting them in a bag will help protect them from getting dirty. I have checked mine on one trip in a car seat bag I bought especially for traveling. We also only needed it during the middle of our stay and were using DME and Disney Transport for the most part on that particular trip. I hate to baggage check car seats though because I feel that the risk of them being damaged is greater since they could end up underneath several 50# suitcases. At least when they are gate checked, they go in last. Also, the airlines have "lost" our luggage several times and I wouldn't want to deal with a lost/misrouted car seat.

Because of this, on our last trip, I used the bag again but we carried the seat thru the airport and gate checked it (it's a combo seat that's been converted to a booster for my now 6yr old). It was a bit of a pain but I felt it was less so than potentially not having a seat for him to ride in once we got off the plane (this last trip was to DL via Long Beach and we took a regular shuttle service from the airport).

FYI, if you change your minds and decide to gate check, and have them in bags, then don't put them in the bags until you are past TSA/security checkpoint as they do not allow them to go through the scanners in bags. Depending on what seats you have and what bag, you might find a bag that you could actually fit both seats in possibly. Some of the car seat bags out there are pretty generous in size.

hth

We left ours in a bag through TSA.. they didn't require use to remove it..

I'd suggest gate check.. i've heard horror stories of rough handling through the normal luggage route.. i'd personally rather give it a gate check, to minimize rough handling. There isn't much to go wrong taking it down the stairs into the plane and back up.. compared to all the conveyor paths at the terminal... I loaded 2 carseats on our sit and stand to make it easier..

it still got a slight tear in the cover, because they didn't use the wheels.. imagine if more than that one person handled it.. ugh..

you can get a carseat bag at babies r us if you have one near you.

we got ours there.. was gray with wheels.. cost like $30....