Renting a Carseat?

[DreaGirl]

Has anyone ever rented a carseat from a car rental company?

We are renting a car, but don't want to lug our very heavy Britax Marathon with us. We have one of those flysafe harnesses for the plane.

 

[HeatherSue]

Yes, my mother-in-law rented a car seat for ous once, I believe it was from Avis. They gave us a recalled, very old, very beat up car seat!!! I would never rent a car seat. You never know what you're going to get. Bring your Britax with you. We brought a Britax Regent and a Britax Boulevard with us on our last trip and it wasn't a big hassle.

You can bring your stroller right up to the gate of the airplane with you. So, we just put the car seat (not the Regent because it isn't airplane approved) in it and then just take it onto the plane with us.

 

[mygirl]

we lugged our britax marathons last sept, and it was no trouble whatsoever. we bought carseat travel bags which comfortably turned them into "backpacks" and then checked them with our luggage. i would never trust renting a carseat - who knows what those things are gonna look like and what they have been through...

 

[DreaGirl]

Thanks for replying. We brought our Marathon with us last time in October. We have one of those backpack/roller type carriers and I don't think it is that big of a hassel. DH is the one who doesn't want to bring it with us.

I think I'll feel better having our own seat with us. I know how dirty DD's seat gets and I can't imagine the car company sanitizing the seats. The yuck factor is enough for me to say no.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Take your own seat. You never know what you are going to get when you rent. You don't know the history of the seat. You can't be 100% sure it has not been recalled, it's not expired, it hasn't been in a crash, straps submerged in water. Plus, you are not familiar with it so you will be installing it with no knowledge of the seat. Just never a good idea imo.

How old is your child? You could consider a more lightweight travel seat depending on age/size. We have traveled with our marathons. Big and bulky, kind of a pain, but not too bad.

 

[DreaGirl]

Our DD will have just turned 2 a few days before our trip. I have seen some great travel carseats, but that just isn't in our budget right now.

I think I have made up my mind to just take ours. I'll just wheel it behind me and let DH worry about the other carry-ons.

You can gate-check a carseat, right?

 

[LoveKermit]

My sister-in-law has a car seat/stroller she used. She was hooked in the rental in about 1 minute, compared to us. We were still in the "bucket" and base infant seat. We might be going in Oct. I'm getting the 22 month old (by then) her own plane seat, bringing the Britax and renting a car.

When we went to WDW last Aug., the rental companies couldn't even guarantee us a seat. And since there are TONS of kids in Orlando, we didn't want to risk it. Imagine....you survive the plane ride only to have to have one guy run to Target to buy a new seat you may never use again while the other guy waits at the airport with the growing-more-impatient baby. So, your early so-we-can-go-to-the-parks-today flight has turned into an all day adventure itself.

Yuck. Don't risk it. Buy the $30 (or so) Eddie Bauer travel bag for the thing. Check it, or use it on the plane, and forget it. Same for strollers.

 

[gracefor5]

plus I think they rob everyone who rents from them.. $10 a day rental fee. Ridiculous!!!

Kim

 

[DreaGirl]

For those that have checked carseats, are you worried about damage to them? I have seen how they handle the luggage and the thought of our expensive carseat being thrown in the bottom of the plane covered by heavy luggage gives me a cold chill.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Do you have a seat for her on the plane? If so, bring it on the plane and install it on the plane. If not, gate check it. We have checked ours with our luggage with decent luck but I really prefer not to do that since the last time we checked our stroller it was damaged. I think you would have better luck gate checking.

FWIW, the cost of renting a seat from a car rental company would be the same (or more) than buying something like the Cosco Scenera ($40) or Evenflo Chase ($60).

 

[DreaGirl]

Do you have a seat for her on the plane? If so, bring it on the plane and install it on the plane. If not, gate check it. We have checked ours with our luggage with decent luck but I really prefer not to do that since the last time we checked our stroller it was damaged. I think you would have better luck gate checking.

FWIW, the cost of renting a seat from a car rental company would be the same (or more) than buying something like the Cosco Scenera ($40) or Evenflo Chase ($60).

We do have a seat for her. But the Marathon is HUGE! Last time it took me forever to get it installed properlly and then the person in front of her couldn't recline because of her carseat.

We found this online....http://kidsflysafe.com/ so we are going to try it out on the way down.

I've decided to just gate check our carseat and call it a day.

Thanks everyone!

 

[ujpest_doza]

Take your own, its no hassle, you check it in with your suitcases and it doesn't count towards your luggage allowance.

Hired one once from Alamo and its was horrible.
Completely different to the Mamas and Papas one we were used to and was also filthy.

 

[caitty13]

I rented once and at $10/day it can add up. For me though I would rather pay a little extra than carry that thing through the airport. With one child I have enough to carry as it is.

 

[Minniemouse07]

We do have a seat for her. But the Marathon is HUGE! Last time it took me forever to get it installed properlly and then the person in front of her couldn't recline because of her carseat.

We found this online....http://kidsflysafe.com/ so we are going to try it out on the way down.

I've decided to just gate check our carseat and call it a day.

Thanks everyone!

I wouldn't check a car seat...even gate check it...if I could use it on the plane. I would be too afraid of it being damaged in the cargo hold. If you really want to check your seat, I would pick up a $40 Scenera...that way if it is damaged it isn't your pricey Marathon! Plus, the Scenera is lighter than the Marathon to carry anyway!

And I definitely wouldn't rent one... you don't know it's history, the condition it is in, does it have all it's parts, directions...etc. Too many things to go wrong!

 

[all4fun]

I also wouldn't rent ... here's a website that shows what you may be faced with at a car rental agency:

http://www.deliciousbaby.com/journal/2007/dec/22/advantage-rent-cars-frightening-car-seats/

I second the recommendation for buying a $40 Scenera w/5pt harness to travel with. If your dc is too big for rear facing, then another option that has taller top harness slots, is the Evenflo Chase ($60). Both are airline approved, fairly lightweight, and easier to travel w/than a big Britax seat.

Having said that, it IS possible to travel with a Britax and they do fit. The trick to installing them on planes is to get a seatbelt extender, OR at least make sure you flip the buckle over once before latching it so that it's easier to undo at the end. I also personally found that reclining the airline seat before installing the car seat and then putting it back upright after tightening the seatbelt as much as possible snugged it right up.

hth

 

[HeatherSue]

I also wouldn't rent ... here's a website that shows what you may be faced with at a car rental agency:

http://www.deliciousbaby.com/journal/2007/dec/22/advantage-rent-cars-frightening-car-seats/

I second the recommendation for buying a $40 Scenera w/5pt harness to travel with. If your dc is too big for rear facing, then another option that has taller top harness slots, is the Evenflo Chase ($60). Both are airline approved, fairly lightweight, and easier to travel w/than a big Britax seat.

Having said that, it IS possible to travel with a Britax and they do fit. The trick to installing them on planes is to get a seatbelt extender, OR at least make sure you flip the buckle over once before latching it so that it's easier to undo at the end. I also personally found that reclining the airline seat before installing the car seat and then putting it back upright after tightening the seatbelt as much as possible snugged it right up.

hth

Thanks for the link! The car seat my mother-in-law got when we rented a car seat in 2005 was that 1985-1995 model Fisher Price seat on the website! Thankfully, we had brought our own seat and didn't need to use it!

We tried the "flip the buckle" trick with our Britax Boulevard and we spent 15 minutes trying to get it out of the airplane seat! My husband said he'd cut the seatbelt before leaving a $280 car seat on the plane! Next time we'll ask for a belt extender!

 

[dstiles]

We rented a car seat when we travelled to WDW last December and our daughter was 6 months old. We rented from the WDW Car Care Center and could not believe how bad their selection of seats were. Many of them were in a really bad state and lots did not have the correct fitting instructions with them. The first one that I tried actually had parts missing.

I cannot believe how they can get away with this, especially for the prices that they charge for renting seats.

Next time round we've decided that we're going to buy a seat when we get there, as we don't fancy bringing our seat over from the UK.

 

[two-foxes]

I am not sure if anyone posted this already, but the Graco Comfort Sport is supposed to be a great "travel only" seat. It weighs a mere 11 lbs and the base model is on sale right now at albeebaby.com for $69. Baby Bargains recommends it being narrow enough to fit in most airlines idea of a comfortable seat! We will probably get one for travel as we won't want to lug our Roundabout or Marathon around. 5 lbs is alot when you are lugging it around airports!

 

[tanyaandallie]

I am not sure if anyone posted this already, but the Graco Comfort Sport is supposed to be a great "travel only" seat. It weighs a mere 11 lbs and the base model is on sale right now at albeebaby.com for $69. Baby Bargains recommends it being narrow enough to fit in most airlines idea of a comfortable seat! We will probably get one for travel as we won't want to lug our Roundabout or Marathon around. 5 lbs is alot when you are lugging it around airports!

I would not recommend the comfortsport as a primary or travel seat. It is the smallest seat on the market. Outgrown very early on. It has the shortest top harness slots and many kids outgrow it by the time they are 2 or 2.5. VERY early. For $40 you can get a cosco scenera that actually lasts longer than the comforsport, both rf and ff. Most kids will make it to 3 or 3.5 in the scenera.