Rental Cars and Car Seats...??

[elmo2wdw]

We are renting a car from Thrifty and also renting a carseat. My DS is 2. We were planning on just buckling him in on the plane and then using the rental in the car but now I am having second thoughts on this.

Any advise or experiences with this??? Should I just bring my own for the plane and the car? Are the rentals clean or gross?

Thanks!!!

 

[tlbwriter]

Sometimes the rented seats are perfectly fine. Sometimes they are really gross. Sometimes they are damaged. Sometimes you show up and they don't have a rental seat for at all. There's a recent thread about this topic on the Disney for Families board.

 

[DemoBri1]

We have brought our 2 car seats each of the last three trips. I went online and bought two car seat bags, and we put the car seats in those and check them. I have a 5 yo and 3 yo and we simply buckled them into the plane seat.

I'd feel more comfortable with the kids in their own seats than relying on a rental.

Brian

 

[beattyfamily]

I'd save money on renting and have less worries by bringing your own. Since your DD is only 2, IMHO, I'd bring it on the plane too. She'll be more comfortable and probably more behaved in her carseat. It's what she's used to. Once (between our trips to Disney) we went to Paris. We didn't need a carseat in Paris so I left the carseat home and my DD was 2. It was the worst flight ever with her. She wanted to play musical chairs and constantly take her seatbelt off. She was fine a few months before and a few months later on our trips to Disney with her carseat.

I kept my girls in their carseats on the plane up to age 3 as it made for a more relaxing flight.

If you decide you don't want to bring it on the plane, then just buy a carseat bag at Babies r Us for $20 and then you can check the carseat with the rest of your luggage.

Good luck deciding!!

 

[tjmw2727]

The rental car companies charge 8-10 per seat per day and won't always guarantee they will have one or have an appropriate one for your child. We rented a carseat through Hertz and that was the first and only time we did that. We used it just long enough to get to the wallmart and bought a new seat (ended up in DH's car anyway!). It was old, dirty and the plastic was cracked.

With a 2yo you may want to consider using the carseat on the airplane. Both the FAA and the AAP recommend using a CRS for air travel.
Here is a link with some good information ~
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/5/1218

Either way babies r us sells a great carseat bag with wheels so you pack the bag and then use it onboard, gate check it or check it with the luggage.

HTH
TJ