travel with a 8 month old car seat question

[septimuswigley]

evening all

we're trying to sort out our up coming holiday (can't wait) lots of thanks to those who have posted back on previous threads

we are now debating whether we should hire a car seat or take ours or buy a cheaper version for the holiday. Our DD will be 8 months when we travel

we go in october but the father in law is really wanting to sort out the car hire. we initially planned on hiring a car seat with the car but we've seen so many bad reviews and experiences about this. Has anyone hired a car seat and what was your experience?

I am concerned about taking our normal car seat as i don't want it to be damaged by going in the hold - has anyone's been damaged and what happened? we are flying with virgin.

our latest thought is to buy a cheap car seat (like those in the tesco or asda baby events) but I'm starting to think that it would be a waste given that we already have a car seat!! plus cheaper versions never seem to get great reviews. Has anyone bought a cheaper second car seat to reccommend?

any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated

 

[Elise79]

We always take our own car seat - we have 2 though (one in each car now as i got fed up moving the car seat!) but was happier taking our own as we know how it fits and works. However I always leave on in the car here and then take one.

My reasoning behind this is if it got lost or damaged on the way out we could hire one Nd on the return we already have one in the car.

Also first time we took DD at 9 mths old she was still rear facing and they have to in Florida until they are year or reach a certain weight which DD didn't unlike here it is the law and not just recommended. Our car seat is a group 0+/1 seat so could rear or forward facing.

ETA 3 trips which Virgin and it's been fine.

 

[dixonsontour]

Take your own.

If you don't want to take yours if it is heavy/bulky, buy one for the trip. We did that when DD was 23 months as her isofix one was not practical to take.

Asda had seats in today for £20 - narnia. I don't know how they rate but they must meet safety standards.

It will be alot cheaper than hiring and you'll know it is clean and undamaged. You'll also have the instructions and can do a test fit before you go.

Dollar at MCO - their car seats were thrown on the floor in a heap in the garage - dirty and looked very old. Also you have to fit yourself tired after a long flight.

I wouldn't have put my DD in one.

 

[kristieuk]

I agree, take your own. It's cheaper and easier. We have never had one damaged, and don't even bother putting it in anything anymore (we take the one from the grandparents car as it is lighter, cheaper, and ours is a bulky isofix) but if you are worried, the Asda £20 Nania is a good bet (currently in stock online for free store delivery, dont' forget Quidco!), or you can buy travel covers from Amazon. or just get a strong bin bag.

 

[PJB71]

I agree with the other posts, don't hire one, they are awful

I'd either take your own, or buy a cheap one from Walmarts as they are really cheap

 

[theminx08]

Hi we took our own and it was fine when our DS was 6 months. I too have heard bad reports about the hire ones out there x

 

[giggler]

hi,

if you dont want to take your own, you could always hire one for 1 day, go to Walmart on your 1st day and purchase a new one for a fraction of the cost of hiring one (and loads cheaper than in the uk). return the hired 1 to the nearest rental company (there are loads scattered around so you seriously wont have to go far)
then you only have to put it on the plane for the journey back(even if it gets damaged youve still saved money over renting)

hope that makes sense

giggler

 

[septimuswigley]

thanks for all your advice everyone!

we've decided that we're going to buy one in the current tesco offer - it means that it's free! we never used the tokens anyway and taking a car seat seems a lot better than hiring one for the hassle.

the only downside is that checking virgin baggage allowance now says that you are only allowed one 'free' child item, whether it's a carseat, pushchair or bassinet.

has anyone managed to get both car seat and pushchair on virgin for free over the last year? if so, how did you do it? if not, how much did it cost?

thanks again