HELP!! Flying with Booster Seats and Stroller

[Brady's Mom]

We are flying from SLC, UT and will have a rental. My two DS's are 5 and 3 and both still use booster seats in the car. I can rent them with the car (NOT) for $40 each. Which is more than I spent on both car seats. Or I can bring mine. I have never flown with car seats and a stroller before. I can't use the booster seats on the plane and I know I can check the stroller in at the gate. But what do I do with the Booster Seats??? One is a regular booster and the other is a high back booster (the back can come off). Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Shannon

 

[jemilah]

Look on the safty lable on the seats.........if they say FAA approved you can use them on board the plane. As for the stroller they will take it at the door of the plane and get it to you as you come off the plane like they do for wheelchair passengers.
If all else fails you can check the seats as if they were luggage.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

As the PP said, they have to have the FAA thing to use them on the plane (most new regular car seats do--not sure about boosters.) But if you do not want to check them as luggage (I'd worry about them getting lost myself) you can gate check them with your stroller.

--Lisa

 

[Brady's Mom]

Airline regs. won't let me use the booster seats on the plane. No over the shoulder harness. I am concerned about checking them since I know that luggage is thrown about with abandon. I am concerned that then they will have "crashed" by being thrown into the cargo hold of the plane. I have thought about taking them as carry-on luggage, but only one fits the size requirements at Delta. The other is too big, even if I take off the back and bungee it together.

 

[daffidyll]

We are flying American and their website says in addition to regular carry-on items allowed, strollers and child safety seats are also allowed so I am assuming (hoping) they will stow them in the front cargo section at the gate. It didn't say anything about having to put them through checked baggage but if you're not already over your baggage allowance then that is easy enough to do.


Forgot to add, are booster seat will be in wrapped and in the stroller bag with the stroller.

 

[MPHARJ]

You can check the booster seats when you check your luggage. the stroller you take right down the ramp until just before you get on the plane, they load up all strollers and wheelchairs then they are usually there when you get off or shortly there after. Have done this numerous times. Jut make sure you put a luggage tag on the stroller as well as the booster seats, they will also put on a luggage tag and it will count towards your luggage allowance.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Gate checking is typically safe for your stuff... you take it almost all the way onto the plane with you, and then they take it right at the door and put it in the hold. That's where all the strollers go... and when DD was a teeny one and we didn't have to buy her a seat we'd put her car seat there if there wasn't an open seat for it that they'd give us for free... never had a problem.

--Lisa

 

[victorandbellasmom]

From what I remember when my kids were in car seats and we flew a lot, boosters are not generally FAA approved. From what I noticed(my carseat & booster expereince), FAA approved means a carseat/booster has to have its own harness/buckle to buckle your child in. The seat belts in plane are only to secure your carseat/booster onto the seat, not to secure your child and your carseat/booster to the seat. Does that make any sense?

If your boosters aren't FAA approves, you can buy carseat & storller bags at Babies R Us and just check them in as luggage or you could also gate check the booster seats as well as your stroller. The check in counter of your airline should also have big pastic bags to put you boosters in as well.

Good luck! I am so glad I've only got one left in a booster seat.

Just wanted to add: We've gate checked carseats & strollers many times and have never had an issue with it. Just let the person giving you your boarding pass or the person at the gate know you need to gate check your items so that they can tag it.

 

[Brady's Mom]

I'm not really worried about the stroller. I have seen them gate checked and then when we got off the plane, there they were. Very easy and nice.

I am more worried about the boosters. I have a plane ticket for each of my kids and baggage allowance isn't a problem. Car seats and strollers don't count as luggage. Unfortunately I get different answers every time I call Delta. So I am unsure what to do.

I know I can carry on one of the boosters, it will fit in the luggage rack above the seats. The other one is the high back kind and even with the back taken off it is still too big (according to the airline). I am hoping I can gate check it, but nobody really seems to know the answer.

Thanks for all of your replies!!

 

[liz2d2]

You should be able to gate check the boosters. We gate check my daughter's carseat when there isn't an open seat for us to put her in, so I can't see why booster seats would be handled differently.

HTH!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Hi I'm another Shannon from UT ~ I'm a Cert. Child Passenger Safety Tech.

Yes you can gate check boosters, please do ~ what if your boosters get lost/damaged if you check them?

I'd love to see your 3 year old still in a harnessed seat, most children aren't mature enough for booster's till 6 yrs old.

My 4 (5 in July) year olds travel seat is the Cosco Scenera ~ she uses it on planes, I secure it in the stroller using the latch attachments while walking to the gate (a little annoying to seperate at security but not a big deal) so I don't have to carry it (it is light though and the tether attachment can be hooked so you have a carry strap). She sits in the car seat and off we go. A great site for all car seat ?'s incl. traveling with kids is www.car-seat.org
*My almost 8 yr old is still in a harnessed seat in my car
*My 4 yr old was rear facing till her 4th B~day

Let me know if you have any ?'s

 

[liz2d2]

Ditto what Shannon said about your youngest being safer in a 5 pt harness still. I didn't know much about this until my friend's son died in an accident when he was 3 and in a booster seat. Then I found the Kyle David Miller foundation (www.kyledavidmiller.org), a website dedicated to a little boy who was also killed in a booster seat. That sad is very sad but also has lots of great information about when to make the switch to a booster, and when not to.

My daughter is 21 months and will be rear-facing to the limit of her seat. She'll be in a harness for as long as possible.

--in loving memory of Manuel...

 

[jenjersnap]

We gate check our car seats in a car seat bag we purchased. Also, we are huge fans of the Costco Scenera which we have just for travel too. I will be so sad when my 4-year-old reaches the size limit for it!

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Even though our Britax is a heavy carseat to lug around, I am glad we have a 5-pt harness car seat for all of our trips...

And this thing is a lifesaver... http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=363756&cmSource=Search

Its a "pac back" that I bought at one step ahead dot com. It turns any car seat into a back pack without putting it into one of those cumbersome bags... and it makes the car seat really easy to carry... we use it on all of our trips!

--Lisa

 

[tkitty]

Last time I flew with my 5 year old grandson, they told me that if the seat is not FAA approved on the lable, that , since it was a small booster-type one, I could just put it under the seat in front of us. That worked fine. I'm sure I could gate check it to.

 

[kellymom]

I say try to take it on and see if it will fit in the compartment. I would NEVER check my daughter's carseat with regular luggage. They are manhandled and not properly taken care of. That puts the seat in jeapordy. I watched them just toss the carseats on the belts and then watched them tumble down the ramp at baggage claim. Not good and so sad. It is just like being in a car accident. If you get in a car accident you need to replace the seat ASAP. I would carry it even though it is difficult having 2 little ones, it is their safety in the long run that is in play and just not worth checking them IMO. And like the others said, I would put the young one back in a 5 point seat. Good luck.