To rent a carseat or not

[mabley]

Hi, for those who have small children and have rented a car would you recommend renting a car seat or bring your own. My DD will only be 14 months so will not have her own seat on the plane. If we bring her car seat it will have to be checked as baggage which could get thrown around. But I've heard that rental seats can be old and unsafe. Any advice? TIA

 

[hannahdrewmom]

We have never rented one before... but my husband did say when we picked up our rental car this time and saw them laying there... that all he was sorry about complaining about lugging the two big seats through the airport because they looked so terrible.

That's big cause he was NOT happy about dragging our seats around. They did look rather old and raggedy. YMMV but I'd bring my own.

 

[ah1126]

You should be able to gate check your carseat. I have done it on 3 trips so far and haven't had any problems. We just covered it with a garbage bag and taped a paper that said carseat and had our name and number on it.

I have never rented one, so I can't help you there.

 

[snorkelfool]

Bring your own seat. If the one you use on a daily basis is a bit cumbersome, you can get a Cosco Scenera for under $40. I have a Britax in my car but use the Scenera when traveling. It is lightweight, well-rated, and easy to install (I recommend the seatbelt install as it is quick and I have better luck with a tight fit). Gate check the seat as you don't want it being tossed around with the rest of the luggage. I personally would not trust an unknown seat from a car rental place.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Bring your own. I once thought about renting, and even found a rental location at my destination offering seats, but for the heck of it- I called before travel and found out they were actually out of seats. So, aside from safety concerns with rental seats...I almost learned the hard way that you can book a rental seat and it actually may not be there.

I have checked my seats several times. I've never gate checked a carseat beyond the girls' infant carrier style carseat, but I have checked full sized convertible car seats and high back 5pt harness boosters. I do a few things to protect the seat - 1) cover it in a large plastic garbage bag 2) pack it in a large piece of soft sided luggage or a bag designed for carseats 3) pack some clothes in around it to pad it from the bumps and bangs. *I also haven't done any of this since 2010, so the airlines may now frown upon or just not permit #3 since they may try and say it's extra baggage and not just a carseat.

 

[blessedby3]

When we have flown and rented a car....I have always brought my own car seat...even when I didnt need it on the plane because dd was a lap child. I just dont trust what the car rental places have to offer

 

[adventure_woman]

I second just buying the cosco scenera instead of renting. NO WAY would I rent a carseat. (but then again, I am ANAL about my carseats and safety, etc) if you wanted, you wouldn't even have to check it on the way back - just leave it there if you want.

 

[jlr9882]

I second just buying the cosco scenera instead of renting. NO WAY would I rent a carseat. (but then again, I am ANAL about my carseats and safety, etc) if you wanted, you wouldn't even have to check it on the way back - just leave it there if you want.

I have had the scenera as a back up seat too. I have a Safety 1st uptown now to use in friend's cars or when my son gets sick in his main seat. I am the same way about carseats as you are, and no one around me (except my RN mom) gets it. My son extended RF and at almost 6 years old is still in a 5 pt harness. He has Graco Nautilus in my car. He has never been on an airplane, but if he does he will be in his carseat there too. It is so much safer, and the child is use to be in their seat. I have also seen what has happened to luggage that was not taken care of, so I wouldn't trust what would keep my son safe to the airline.

http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/
http://www.thecarseatlady.com/airplanes/airplanes.html

There use to be an youtube video about what happened to the lap babies during bad turbulence/emergencies that was a true story from an airplane attendant, but it was removed from the site. But here are 2 news stories:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21536397/ and http://ashsd.afacwa.org/docs/Jan Lohr NTSB Brief.pdf.

 

[BeveMom]

Bring your own. Besides the safety concerns, they can be awfully gross. My SIL rented one for her little guy and when they got to the car rental place, the seat they were given was wet. From what? I don't know, but still... ewwwwww!

 

[ElenaRN]

I rented one in December. We had no complaints at all. It was so clean it looked brand new. The fabric was spotless, the straps weren't frayed or dirty at all. No cracks in the plastic. We did a thorough check before we took it.

I think we rented from Dollar.

 

[dragonfly08]

So, aside from safety concerns with rental seats...I almost learned the hard way that you can book a rental seat and it actually may not be there.

This happened to a friend of mine. She'd requested a seat and got to the agency to find that they were out...they apparently will not *guarantee* that your request can/will be honored. Her husband was just about to take the rental car and head to the nearest store and buy a seat when, fortunately, someone returned a car with a seat in it.

I have also heard that even when they do have a seat, they are often out of date and/or in poor condition. Personally, we always took our own if we were going to be using a car at our destination.

 

[osu2k1]

We were planning on renting them (boosters) but when I saw that it could be $120 to rent them (2), I am changing my mind. I would rather haul them through the airport and gate check them (is it free?!). I have a carseat bag from when we went to Disneyland 3 years ago, so I think I can fit 2 boosters in it. Plus it has wheels.

I know my hubby will be irritated with schlepping them through the terminals, but at least they will be in seats that I know are OK.

 

[HWY20RIDE4MYSON]

i rented one when got my car at Alamo, it looked brand new and worked fine, i did sprayit down with lysol, but it sure beat dragging around his Graco... depending on where your renting from and how long your using the rental if its worth bringing one from home...

 

[dhardawa]

Never, ever, ever rent a car seat. You don't know the history of the seat and it could have unseen damage that could cause it to fail in a crash. Also, it is not uncommon for them to be filthy, expired, assembled incorrectly, missing parts, or the wrong type of seat for the child (i.e. an infant seat for a 3 year old). Take your seat or pick up a cheap Cosco Scenera for traveling. If you can get a seat on the plane for your daughter, I highly recommend it for safety reasons. If not, take your seat to the gate and see if there are empty seats on the plane and if you can use it. Worst case scenario, they won't let you use it an you gate check it. Don't check it with your luggage. I have personally witnessed a car seat fall off the luggage cart, get run over by the cart, the guy stopped, tossed it back in with the luggage, and drove off.

 

[Nanu57v]

We always bought seats for our infants so they rode in the carseat, but I'm fairly certain I read you could gate check infant seats. I also read recently on usair (I think) that if there is a vacant seat next to you they will allow you to put a carseat there for your infant.

 

[sparty7798]

We rented one when our son was 5 months for him and for our toddler and both were fine. In fact, they let me pick which one I wanted to use. I did not have to pay for one because I have triple aaa so if you have that, it is a great deal.

 

[Gorechick]

I have 7 year old twins that are about 48 tall and 50 lbs. We use backless boosters at home. Do I need to bring them for our rental?

 

[kmb584]

As others have said, I wouldn't chance a rental -- there's no way of knowing the car seat's true history.

In 2010 I couldn't fathom toting my then 15-month-old, her stroller, her car seat, her diaper bag, and my purse through the airport, onto a flight, through another airport and onto another flight. We were heading to WDW and my best friend was accompanying us, thankfully she lives just 2 hours from Orlando. I ordered a Costco Serena (I paid $39 for it online and on sale at Sears, plus shipping) and had it sent to her apartment. Had I not had that option, I still would have ordered the seat and checked it as DD was a lap child that trip. It's an incredibly lightweight seat but comes with very high safety ratings. I actually got another 2 years use out of it as an extra seat in my Mom's SUV / Dad's Jeep after BFF drove up for a 2-week visit the week after we returned home!

 

[dawnn12]

I have 7 year old twins that are about 48 tall and 50 lbs. We use backless boosters at home. Do I need to bring them for our rental?

yes I would bring the booster seats with you and you can gate check them(I have in the past)

 

[mummabear]

Personally I havent been happy with the rented car seats the two times we did it in fact one of the times we were given a booster not a car seat and she really wasnt big enough for it yet but thats all they had, we always bring our own now