Flying with car seats

Hi ladies!

I desperately need your advice on how to handle flying with 2 car seats. Last time I flew with the kids, my mom and I had them on our laps and we rented car seats along with the car. That was a disaster. The seats were garbage and next to impossible to install. Some kind rental agent finally took pity on me and helped out, but they're not technically allowed to do that. So, this time I plan to drag along our own seats. Unfortunately, they're seriously heavy and I have no idea how to get them, the kids and our luggage onto the plane. Do I just pay a porter to help lug our stuff? Is there an easier way? Do I just rent again and hope the seats are better?

Any advice would be REALLY REALLY appreciated!!!!

Thanks,
Jenny

 

I flew 4 times with my girls last year and each time we brought our car seats. I would have my husband stop at the curb and take the girls out of the seats and put them in their stroller. I would then take the seats out of the car right at the curb. We would walk everything over to curbside checkin and from there they put them in a large plastic bag and checked them. It was a juggling act, but by far the easiest way we found to do things. One time we parked, took the seats out there, put them onto the stroller (also a juggling act) while the girls walked with us. Kind of a nightmare but doable.

Good luck!!

 

Yes, we always use curbside check in. Even if we are going to leave a car, I have DH drop us with the scenario above and he goes and parks the car and meets us at security.

 

Forgot to add that part. :good: We do the same.

 

The only way to guarantee that the seats arrive at your destination with you and that they get there unharmed is to bring them on the plane with you. If you have seats for the kids, having them sit in the car seats on the plane is also a really good way to keep them still on the plane and possibly even get them to sleep. We've brought our car seats on the plane with us 2 different ways:

1) We put the car seats in the stroller. At points in the trip when the girls needed the stroller, we put the seats on our backs and hooked our carryons onto the stroller or carried them on our fronts (we have Radian car seats which you can buy straps for to turn them into backpacks, but you can also buy backpack bags for other car seats). If your car seats don't fit perfectly in your stroller, you can always secure them with bungee cords.

2) We put the car seats on a luggage cart. I got a heave-duty luggage cart and I put the first car seat right side up on the cart and then put the second car seat upside down and backwards on top of the other seat (so they were sort of nested), then I secured the two seats to the cart with a couple of bungee cords. We had to un-do it to go through security, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Then we would also take the seats off the cart to board the plane (rather than trying to wheel the whole thing down the aisle and undo it once we were on board. It really worked out fine. We wore the rest of our carry-ons on our backs and could still carry children for brief stints and wheel the seats through the airport at the same time.

You can also look into the Go-Go Kidz Travelmate, which basically acts as a luggage cart that the car seat hooks to and your kid can ride in the car seat through the airport. I've heard good things about this, but it's relatively expensive. Another similar (and much cheaper) product is the Traveling Toddler which allows you to hook a car seat onto a wheelie bag and the kid can also ride in the seat. I think, however, that the Traveling Toddler works best with smaller kids and car seats and very strong luggage. The downside of each of those, is that you need two of them and two adult hands will be occupied with wheeling car seats at all times. However, you won't need a stroller if you are wheeling the kids in their car seats. There are also a slew of bags out there that allow you to carry or wheel your car seat.

Good luck! It seems like a huge hassle, but it can be very doable.

 

We check our seats as well. They don't usually charge you to check car seats like they do with regular luggage but check with your airline.

 

We have never checked our seats, but if that's an option I'd say go for it. It will certainly make your life easier.

I am the one woman traveling freak show. Seriously. 2 kids, 2 car seats, a stroller, and at least 2 carry ons. It's nuts.

I travel by myself with the boys at least twice a year, sometimes more. We need the car seats on the other end and my litle houdini's won't stay in anything without a 5point restraint which makes the plane seats really kinda useless. Not to mention that the plane for at least one leg of our journey is never bigger than 2 seats on one side, 1 on the other making it impossible to cage them in.

If you decide to take the seats on the plane, my biggest advice is to make sure the flight staff know you need to board early and why (gestures to the chaos and mountain of stuff is generally enough to ensure their cooperation) and take all the help you can get. I am terrible at accepting help, but this is one place that I have learned if someone volunteers - let them. And if they don't - ask. Yes, you CAN make 3 trips and do it yourself, but it isn't worth it. It's much easier when there are 2 of you, and 2 of them but it is still a lot of stuff. Depending on your airport you can also ask for transport which can make getting to your gate a relatively painless process. I have done the 44 gate walk with all the stuff and it's doable, but riding in the golf cart is so much nicer...

 

We travel quite frquently and always take along our own car seats. I bought 2 Cosco Scenera car seats for traveling which came in a travel bag and are inexpensive, lightweight yet have a good rating. We usually check the car seats in (airlines don't charge for car seats, btw) and use a cart to get them to our rental car, etc.

 

Just flew with A&R in March, and we checked our seats, and rented the CARES harness. Best decision. It was a PITA to get them to be checked in out of Dulles, but super easy on the way back, it all depends on how far you have to travel with them outside of the car. Curbside checkin is a wonderful thing.

 

Thank you all SOOOOO much for the advice. I am thinking of just picking up 2 inexpensive seats for the trip (I'll definitely check out the Cosco Scenera. Were they easy to install?). We have 2 Britax booster seats and they are wide and tall (especially with 2 cup holders a piece). I will have a second set of hands with me, but it will be my 65yo mom and not my DH. She won't be able to carry a thing, but she can work as a toddler trap. It may just be easier to check the seats so that she doesn't have to help lug one through the airport. Though, I would like to have them in the seats for the flight. Hmmmmmm. . .

Bex, we will also be flying out of Dulles. What was your biggest problem so that I know what to look for? Should I just get there super early?

Thanks again!!!

 

Ours was traffic getting there. You just never know if there is going to be and accident on the Washington Beltway. Oh, and security was a total hassle there too. I have flown many times out of many airports with the kids. Dulles is my least favorite.

 

#1 Security and #2 getting to the airport from the parking lot. You know, we live 10 miles away, left 4 hours early, got food, and still was late getting on the plane. You know the jerks that they have to open up the door for, who of course get on with two kids and there's no seats? Yup, that was us!

We parked in economy, if you do--plan on it being at least 30 minutes before you see a tram and another 20 minutes to get to the gate. Then there's only one line for security, and of course it's huge. And everyone is in it. Then it's up/down/up/down/up/down through a series of trams and elevators/escalators and lots of walking. Absolutely worst experience in an airport ever. I would suggest getting there at least 3 hours early, and to check as much as possible.

The Cares harnesses are great though. We rented ours from a vendor on ebay.

 

I second getting the CARES harnesses for the plane and checking your car seats. We've done that several times and it's so easy. Nothing big to lug on the plane, and the kids are securely fastened in with more than just a seat belt.

 

Flying with car seats can be a hassle, but it's definitely doable. Consider using a service like Lugless to ship your car seats ahead of time. It saves you from lugging them through the airport. Another option is to invest in a travel cart to easily wheel the car seat around. Safe travels, and I hope everything goes smoothly!