Would you trust checking a carseat on an airplane?

[britfish]

I am going to visit my sister and will be loaning her my MA to use, would you trust checking it on the airline? It is replacement so it is only a few months old, I am worried they will be tossing it around or they might drop it or something. What do you think?

[atsuydam]

Do you still have the box? I would trust it in the box and from what I have read the airlines only cover it if it's in the original manufacture box.

[jhomuth]

I flew with my 5 year old and almost 3 year old at the time, back in August. All we had were Marathons, and there was no way, without help, that I could wrestle even one of them on board with both kids and our carry-ons. Yet, I needed the carseats since I didn't have access to any at my destination, and was wary of getting them from the car rental place. Of course, the original boxes were loooonnnnggg gone...

So dh and I improvised. :) We went to UHaul and got two big boxes, with the original intent of boxing each up by itself. But we realized that we could put the two boxes together, one inside the other, and fit both seats in the one larger box. We put the first in, then the second in on top, upside down and turned around, like a puzzle. Worked like a charm and fit perfectly. I was taking beach towels and inflatable beds with us, so I stuck those in the box too, and used the towels as padding around the sides. When we got to the airport, we had the box taped and ready to put the seats in. At first the lady at check in wanted to charge us because it was oversize, but a supervisor quickly corrected her, and confirmed that it was free to check carseats, even packaged as they were. When we landed, the box was a little worse for wear, so before I left for home, I had my dad take me back to UHaul for two more boxes. That box survived well, so we stuck it in the attic in case we were ever in that position again.

So yes, I did trust the airline with the seats, but only because they were boxed. I would not have checked them just in one of those aftermarket carseat travel bags.

FTR, on board, we used CARES restraints and they were awesome, and got lots of great comments from the FA's, most of whom had never seen one, only saw pics of them in training.

[miraclebabies]

I didn't check mine with my luggage but gate checked it. We carried it to the plane door, it was the last thing on and the first thing off. Waiting for us at the plane door. It was so nice, I didnt want to ship it with the luggage, our friends shipped there scerena but that is alot less expensive than our MA. I would just use the original box or get a different one, if it makes you feel better.

[ShannaLeah]

I gate checked a Marathon when we flew and it was fine.

That said, I once dropped the same marathon off a shelf in the garage. I called Britax to ask if it was still ok to use even though the plastic was scuffed (it was apart for cleaning) and they said it was fine as long as there were no cracks.

I figured that would apply for checking at the airlines as well. No cracks and the seat's fine to use.

[The Bjorns]

I love putting 2 MAs in box with lots of padding. Great idea.

If I wasn't going to use the seat on the plane, I would prefer to gate check my seat(s). I've done that with my stroller and it was a breeze. As the PP said, MA's puzzle very well together and strapped together with a bungee cord on a luggage rack it's not hard to go through an airport. We did this with a MA and a Radian folded up and it was simple.

[britfish]

Thank you all for your suggestions!