Airport logistics

Sarah and I are taking off for Pittsburgh on Thurs. Leaving aside my anxiety at flying on the busiest travel weekend of the year... I'm wondering how I can manage all our stuff.

The last two times I flew alone with a child, I had the GoGo Kidz thing, so I pushed her in her carseat with one hand, pulled a suitcase with the other, and wore our carry-ons on my body.

Unfortunately we lost our GoGo Kidz. :shok: Yet I still have to bring a carseat (even though we're not using it on the plane) because my parents don't have one. So how do I get at least from the shuttle parking lot to the check-in counter with the following:
- a rolling suitcase
- a carseat in a travel bag
- a 4-year-old who doesn't like to walk
- a stroller I can't push very well with one hand, and
- a carry-on?

Any ideas? Do I have to ditch the stroller and just drag her by the hand? Or is there some way to strap the carseat to the top of a rolling suitcase?

ETA: Here's my best thought -- I make her walk at least to the counter, while pulling the stroller with the carseat riding in it with one hand and pulling the suitcase with the other hand. Then after we check the seat and the suitcase, she can ride in the stroller...?

 

How big is she? Have you thought about having your parents buy you a car seat? If she is over 30 pounds, you can just get the Graco turbo booster seat. It is about $45 at target and walmart. This way it will be one less thing for you to worry about in the airport.

 

You could rent one of those push carts for luggage at the parking lot. All the ones I've seen have a seat in front for a kid (like in a super market). I've flown ON turkey day and its been COMPLETELY dead so don't worry about traveling that day. Not sure when you are flying back, but on thursday you should have no issues in the airport.

 

Can you get DH or a friend to drive you to the airport? That person can get a pass from the ticket counter to help you to the gate...I did that many times when I flew alone with Nadia.

Or, can your parents borrow a car seat? Buy a cheap one?

If not, can you get a backpack bag for the car seat? That way you can carry it on your back, leaving your hands free for everything else.

Hmm, still brainstorming...

 

I did it, and you can too!! :Clap: I had two 2.5 year olds, a double stroller, suitcase, duffle bag, 2 carseats, and 2 carryons (backpacks). It was horrible, but somehow I did it.

Does your car seat travel bag have shoulder straps? If not, I would say put as much as you can in the stroller and try and convince her to walk just a bit.

Or, is someone dropping you off at the airport? You can do curbside checkin for the luggage and then it's an easy solve.

Good luck, you can definitely do this!! :hug:

 

Wow, Michelle, you are superwoman! I don't know how you did that without an extra set of arms. :clapping:

Leighann, I hope you're right about it being dead on Thursday. It's been so long since I've flown on a holiday, I wasn't sure if it would still be that way. I did fly on Thanksgiving Day once in college and it was surprisingly busy, but that was a morning flight on the East Coast (i.e., I got home in time for dinner) -- this is right smack at turkey time, which is the only reason we could afford it.

Anyway, good news -- I found the GoGo Kidz. It was just buried at the back of a closet. So now I can use the carseat as a stroller in the airport and just gate-check it before our flight. (There isn't anyone to drop us off -- it's not worth making DH and Amy get in the car at 7:30 a.m.)

FWIW, it turns out the carseat bag also has wheels -- so if I hadn't found the GoGo Kidz, I could have strapped the stroller to the carseat bag and pulled that with one hand while pulling the suitcase with the other.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone! I was really leaning towards having my parents buy a cheap seat, but I hated to spend the extra $45 (especially since I also just shelled out $70 for a CARES harness, since I forgot to rent one ahead of time).

 

I've had the twins sit on the luggage cart on top of the suitcases with the stroller folded across while pulling the car seat ... the Chinese love it!

 

We were denied this option on US Airways when I flew alone with the twins recently, :angry: so beware of relying on this as an option. They can (and sometimes apparently DO) withhold this "luxury". Just FYI.

What we did to avoid the hassle during that recent trip was have my parents buy some cheap car seats on overstock.com. This one is only $40, normally $95... so maybe something like that might work? Their shipping is really cheap, too. Like, $2 per order or something! You can't even rent a carseat for much less than $40ish per week.

Good luck figuring out the logistics and travel safe!!

 

Oops - I just read that you found your GoGo Kidz! Yay!! :Clap: Hope your trip is great!!

 

Oh heck no! Just determined!
I'm so glad you found the GoGoKidz!! :Clap:

We were told by one airline that it was up to their discretion as to whether or not they allowed someone to go by security to help. I'm so sorry they denied you!