Talk to me about <<gasp>> checking our carseats with luggage

[njpsteacher]

Ok so we are flying to disney and then flying off to family in a different state and then flying back to Orlando for our layover and flying back home. <<smh, I'm tired already lol>> my idea is to check our luggage and carseats since we are not using them on the plane and have 2 babies under 3, stroller and carry on, oh and I'm pregnant lol. What do I need to know to do this. What bag do they go in, bubble wrap them? Are the considered free on JetBlue? I'm not interested in opinions about gate checking or how "bad" checking them is, thanks.

 

[4kids4karen]

Ok so we are flying to disney and then flying off to family in a different state and then flying back to Orlando for our layover and flying back home. <<smh, I'm tired already lol>> my idea is to check our luggage and carseats since we are not using them on the plane and have 2 babies under 3, stroller and carry on, oh and I'm pregnant lol. What do I need to know to do this. What bag do they go in, bubble wrap them? Are the considered free on JetBlue? I'm not interested in opinions about gate checking or how "bad" checking them is, thanks.

Are you going to need the carseats in Disney? If you only need to carseats to visit family, why not mail the carseats to their address so they are there waiting for you?

If you are not looking for opinion son gate checking or how bad checking them is, what are you looking for? If you just want to know how to pack them or if they are free, call JetBlue directly. Will they be check-in free? I have never flew JetBlue but I highly doubt it, unless you get xx amount of bags free and are under the limit. What bad do they go in? Well, what kind of carseats are they? Some carseat companies do make travel bags. Should you bubble wrap them? Well since you already know how bad it is to check them, place them into the styrofoam container and original box they came in... if you still have them. That would be the best way to check them in.

 

[stacy6552]

Get carseat dufflebags and carry the carseats to the plane. Its the safest way for your children to fly. If you have seats for them, they should fly in the carseats, which will also be comfortable for the children. If you did not buy tickets, but there are open seats, the airline will let you use them. Worst case, there are no extra seats and you gate check them.

 

[lizaisabel]

In the past I did jet blue and the car seats and strollers are not considered baggage and were check in free. I bought a cover for the car seat to protect it from impacts and it has wheels. I bought it through amazon and was about 20 and really work due to the wheels. In the Jet blue page you may see the list of items not considered baggage.

 

[kom1977]

I check our car seats all the time! I'm normally pretty conservative about my car seats, but when you have to get a family through the airport, checking the seats is so helpful!!

We have a big red drawstring bag that we got from amazon that we use to put the car seat(s) in. Ours is a pretty flimsy bag, you can most likely get nice ones from the car seat manufacturer. We just take them up to the bag check, but we have had to tell the agent that we have car seats before we complete check in at the kiosk. The agent will manually check your car seat so you aren't charged.

Oh, also, they might come off the baggage carousel in the "oversized" baggage area. That happened to us and we couldn't find out bags for a while

 

[njpsteacher]

I check our car seats all the time! I'm normally pretty conservative about my car seats, but when you have to get a family through the airport, checking the seats is so helpful!!

We have a big red drawstring bag that we got from amazon that we use to put the car seat(s) in. Ours is a pretty flimsy bag, you can most likely get nice ones from the car seat manufacturer. We just take them up to the bag check, but we have had to tell the agent that we have car seats before we complete check in at the kiosk. The agent will manually check your car seat so you aren't charged.

Oh, also, they might come off the baggage carousel in the "oversized" baggage area. That happened to us and we couldn't find out bags for a while

Thank you! I've seen the red bag but it says for gate check only, is that the one you're talking about? Also, since we are using magical express do they still go straight to our room even though they might be in the oversized luggage area?

 

[njpsteacher]

Get carseat dufflebags and carry the carseats to the plane. Its the safest way for your children to fly. If you have seats for them, they should fly in the carseats, which will also be comfortable for the children. If you did not buy tickets, but there are open seats, the airline will let you use them. Worst case, there are no extra seats and you gate check them.

Thank you for your opinion but as I said I'm not interested.

 

[ChitownFamily]

Are you going to need the carseats in Disney? If you only need to carseats to visit family, why not mail the carseats to their address so they are there waiting for you?
.

This. If you are not using the seats in Disney, could you borrows seats from the family you are visiting or their trusted friends? For example, I'm a car seat advocate & am a perfect person to borrow a seat from. While transitioning to combo seats, I had 3 rear facing/forward facing convertibles sitting in my garage.
Just a thought

 

[msmama]

I pack mine in the box it came with (I usually put extra jackets or something around it, swim stuff maybe, or for you, anything you don't need for the orlando part of your trip). Then I put the whole box in a carseat carry bag that I got from BRU. It has little wheels and backpack straps.

So for me, I get the ease of the carseat bag, but the padding of the original box it came in.

I like the idea of borrowing them, too, though!

 

[darnheather]

Meh, I always drag them to the counter and they put them in a bag with all the labels. Never had a problem and have flown all over the world. However, if you can borrow from family I'd do that. When I came to the states with D as an infant my family got a loaner infant seat from the highway patrol as I didn't have one. Can't wait to hear the germaphobes reaction that one.

 

[kom1977]

Thank you! I've seen the red bag but it says for gate check only, is that the one you're talking about? Also, since we are using magical express do they still go straight to our room even though they might be in the oversized luggage area?

That's the bag! It says gate check on it, but it isn't gate check only, if that makes sense. I think it says that because a lot of car seats are gate checked. We've checked ours through many times and its been fine. I've seen the airport put big plastic bags over car seats when they were checked too. I don't think it's an exact science - whatever keeps it protected. I just think that bag screams car seat so it hopefully gets handled properly.

I have no idea about magical express and oversized bags. Sorry! We avoid car seats on our disney trips

 

[PartOfYourWDWorld]

We just bought two padded carseat bags to check ours into is October. We're in a very similar situation as you... need the seats but can't handle the logistics of getting them to the gate. These bags get great reviews, so I'm crossing my fingers. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009RNXNA/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[natandscott]

Our kids are 4 and 2 and we just travelled with a car seat and booster seat with Westjet Airlines. We checked our car seat and booster at the gate and the airline put them in a plastic bag. That`s all the protection we had for them--we were willing to take the risk in having the seats banged up because they were in pretty bad shape already, but they came out absolutely fine! There weren`t even any tears in the plastic bag that they were put in. My husband works for the airline industry, so I`m well aware how they `treat` the checked baggage, but our little one is almost out of the car seat so we didn`t think it was worth it to invest in the car seat bag.

 

[princessK30]

We just bought two padded carseat bags to check ours into is October. We're in a very similar situation as you... need the seats but can't handle the logistics of getting them to the gate. These bags get great reviews, so I'm crossing my fingers. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009RNXNA/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We bought this bag and just got back from a trip to Vero Beach. Worked perfectly!!!! It's nice and padded, and we even put a pack of diapers and swim diapers in with our carseat which saved us valuable luggage space! Our baby is still in her infant carseat and it fit with the base in the bag. Our convertible carseat fits too (we tested it).
Also - I can honestly say in all the times I have flown I have NEVER seen someone gate check or bring a carseat onto the plane...I think bc it's such a hassle to lug it along with all your other kid stuff & carry-ons!

 

[chimommy]

I only read your op... so sorry if this response is a repeat.... We are in the same situation as you... last year we went with 2 kids under 3 and now this year Im pregnant.. anyway. We used these bags..
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009RNXNA/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
the are nice because you can wear them as backpacks (but they are large)... you can either check them as luggage or gate check them... both are easy to do. not sure if we are even going to bring our carseats with us this time. because I might just rent them with are transport cars and we are staying on site. you might want to think of that if your onsite. Goodluck. It can be a challenge getting through the airport with all the baby items. =) when we went last year we rented a double stroller in orlando but brought our umbrella stroller with us in the airport (but the kids didnt even use so it ended up being one more thing we had to dragg around the airport). =)

 

[eyeblaura]

We have this same padded bag. We can fit a convertible seat and a backless booster in it. My husband throws it on his back and off we go and check it with the luggage. We've flown with it on several trips over 7 years and it still looks new.

 

[2binak]

We've checked DD's carseat at the counter in the padded bag mentioned by the PP's for the last 5 years. It's a great bag!