OT: Can You Check A Carseat? Need to Know ASAP!

[antmaril]

I have a colleague who is returning home to South Korea tomorrow with a one month old baby. The baby does not have a seat on the plane, but, of course, they will have a carseat with them for the drive to the airport.

Since they don't need the carseat for the plane trip, can they check it? If so, do they have to have it contained in any way? In a box or wrapped somehow?

Any experience?

Thanks in advance!

 

[beattyfamily]

Yes, you can check a carseat. I've done both; just given it to the skycap and they put it in a plastic bag for me and I later bought a carseat bag from Babies R Us and checked it in that. I liked the Babies R Us bag because it protected it well, it had a address label, it had a handle and a strap as well.

 

[lucky1]

Yes you can, but it counts as a piece of luggage. Some airlines will wrap it in a plastic bag for you others will just through it on. Make sure you have them buckle all the straps and tie up all the loose straps.

 

[antmaril]

Thank you for your quick responses.

 

[jodifla]

Yes you can, but it counts as a piece of luggage. Some airlines will wrap it in a plastic bag for you others will just through it on. Make sure you have them buckle all the straps and tie up all the loose straps.

Have them bring it to the gate. If there's an extra sight, the flight attendants will let you bring it on the plane. If not, they'll gate check it, and it won't count against your luggage.

 

[NotUrsula]

Depending on what airline they are flying, they might not be able to gate-check it (though they can always check it as baggage.) Because US carriers are required by federal law to allow carseats on board when there is a seat for them, in the US, US carriers will accept seats as gate-checks, but that is not always true of overseas flag carriers or when boarding in other countries.

For example: I know that in Italy you will have an extremely hard time getting a carseat past security unless the baby has a purchased seat, and then only if the flight is on a US carrier. This is because Italian carriers ban the use of carseats on board.

 

[mdhkitten]

I've checked mine a couple of times on Southwest (which I realize that they aren't flying), and they put both of them (one was an infant carrier, the other for an older child) in a plastic bag. When it was the infant carrier, the material on the seat was torn in transit pretty badly, but fortunately it was the last time we were using it as she had about outgrown it. I'm not sure if the Babies R' Us bag that the previous poster mentioned would offer better protection than the plastic bag (I'm sure the plastic bag is more to protect it from getting wet), but they may want to consider that. I know that when I've checked it they've made me sign a release saying that they aren't responsible for damage as it's something that's generally not considered "luggage".

 

[Tara]

Yes you can, but it counts as a piece of luggage. Some airlines will wrap it in a plastic bag for you others will just through it on. Make sure you have them buckle all the straps and tie up all the loose straps.

This is airline-dependent. In most cases with US carriers, a checked car seat does *not* count toward your luggage allowance. For instance, from Delta's website:

You may check child restraint seats and fully-collapsible strollers. They won't count toward your allowance of two checked baggage items.

 

[lucky1]

Just another comment; make sure your carseat has a nametag and address. Once our carseat did not make it to baggage and after filing the report, the airline offered us one of their loaner carseats to use until they located ours and delivered it. I believe most domestic airlines will do this as well.