convertible carseat - width issue with airlines seats

hi all,

I posted a couple days ago about getting help for which convertible carseat to pick, thank you all.

I found a website that compares all sizes of different carseats, always to confirm with websites that sell product though...

http://www.carseatdata.org/cnt/resources/C...ts#convertibles

now, my problem is, the airline we're flying to switzerland is swiss, and the website says the seats in the airbus340 are 17,3" wide....the only convertible carseat I can find online that is 16" wide is the evenflo tribute V....and even this one, how do you know for sure that it will really fit?

so I guess I am looking for somebody that traveled with the CONVERTIBLE CARSEATS, and how you did proceed, how do you confirm the exact width of carseat before buying and how do you get the exact info from airline? do you have to add some "leverage" as well to make sure it will fit?

I just don't know, do I have to buy a convertible carseat just to work inside swiss flights? or should I not bring the seats at all? kids will be 1 1/2 years old by then, smaller side...they are now almost 14 months and about 19lbs each.

I just don't want to show up in airplane with 2 huge seats and then they don't fit, ha! also, our choice is not big and we can't really pick a seat we love and has good reviews.

any good ideas?
thank you all...
alexa

 

You can call SwissAir directly and ask them the maximum width for car seats on the exact plane you'll be flying. Then, check online for the dimensions of the car seats you like and compare. There's no need to add in any extra, if the car seat is less than the width the airline says you can use for a carseat, it will fit. If not, no luck.

If you can't get a car seat that fits, how about the CARES harness? That's what we're using for our flights this summer. We'll check the carseats and use the harness to keep our girls secure.

Edited to add info.

 

thank you for the CARES tip, I will look into it.

I know that the swiss width of seats is 17,3" (as per their website)....so it is very hard to find anything good that fits....

I check out more reviews on the CARES but have not read that much great stuff....so...maybe I still find a good seat.

hopefully more ladies will respond that have experienced flying with convertibles or without at what their solutions were.

thanks again,
alexa

 

The only problem I can see with NOT having car seats is Im not sure they will allow the children to sit in their own seats. I wanted to take my LO on (who had a purchased ticket) without a car seat becaue he and his sister could sit up and sit together in the seat and it wasnt allowed. We had to ahve a carseat for them which meant one sat in the car seat, and the other became our lap baby literally.

 

I don't know how you check this but could you find out if any of that type of airbus are flown here in the US? If so, any FAA certified carseat would fit. I've only flown with Snugrides and the Britax Roundabout (both forward and rear-facing) and I've never had any trouble installing the carseat. It fit right in the seat.

 

I have the Costco Scenera car seats that we bought for DH's car and for travel. But when the girls were 17 1/2 months old we flew with them without the car seat. They just sat in the seat with out the car seat (we only got one girl a seat, but for most of the flight they sat in the seat together)

 

thank you all....I will call swiss again....I did check online, it says 17,3" maximum width....but I searched some carseat forums and they all say that 99% of carseats ar wider, but that the very bottom part/base is always not as wide and always fits. for the wider part, you could always lift the armrests and it's usually not a problem.

I am pretty sure I'll fly with carseats, my kids will still be little and it is a 12 hour nonstop flight, thank godness we have 2 bulkhead seats and 2 right behind it.

I'll post more once I talked to airline.

 

We flew with ours to South America when they were about 20 months. We took the car seats - Evenflo Triumph - but it was a big pain. The worst part is that sitting in the car seat, they didn't have enough leg room. They were so cramped that I regretted bringing the seats on the plane. And they kicked the seats in front of them, which our fellow passengers did not appreciate.

 

ok for anybody who is interested in the airline's response:

maximum width and length of BASE of carseat: 15.7" x 15.7"...good I called because website said 17.3"

I have 2 bulhead seats for 2 and 2 behind it, hoping by the check-in, we'll get the whole bulkhead row...they won't give the 2 others to me now, they are blocked until check-in at airport. so in the bulkhead, the kicking in the front row would not apply, neither the legroom problem

so with the new info of the 15.7", our choices for conv carseats are wider, yeah!!

I think I am going on some carseat forum website as well, see if anybody is experienced on swiss flying with 18months olds in carseats...

thanks again,

 

I traveled alot with my singleton. We never used a car seat. He was a lap baby, and nursing so it worked well. Granted we never stayed on a plane for more than 5 hours. So in turn cheaper, i ticket, one lap baby and away we went. Best of luck.

 

We just got back from vacation with our 1.5 year olds. We decided to buy them a seat and bring thier carseats (Britax Roundabout's). I was worried that if they were sitting on our laps they would want to get down and walk around (which would not work on a airplane). I was happy we brought the carseats and would do it again in a heartbeat. They did get a little fussy at the end of the flight, but that was to be expected.

Good luck on your journey!