We just flew Indianapolis to Orlando for a Disney vacation. My daughter will be 3 in May (less than 2 months from now!) and is about 35 inches tall and 30 pounds. We flew Southwest Airlines the whole trip.
On the way down we flew first from IND to BWI. The plane was a 737 and we sat at about row 8. We set the seat in rear facing and it fit. The car seat barely touched the seat in front of it so it could not recline, but it wasn't pushed forward either. The seat in front of her was empty when I installed the seat. As a man approached that seat I nicely let him know that it would not recline as her car seat was installed there. He was very nice and said no problem. I just told him I wanted to make sure he knew that while there were still seats available. The flight attendant approached and told me that I couldn't install the seat in that direction. Before I could say anything my mom jumped in (mouthier than I would have liked) and said that is how it goes. That is how she rides in it in the car. The flight attendant said "But you can't buckle it in that way, can you?" When I said yes and showed him that the seat belt was holding it in he kind of huffed and walked away making a comment about how he would hate to be in the seat in front of it because it couldn't recline. As we were taxing for take off another flight attendant approached and asked if the seat faced that way in the car. I said yes and she said "ok. we were just checking. my kids are in college and I don't know." That was the end of the discussion for that flight and the flight went smoothly.
Our connection was way too tight. We walked directly from one plane to the next with no stops, but by the time we arrived they had boarded all groups. This plane was also a 737 and we were near the front. We nicely asked the flight attendant on the way in if there were two seats together so I could sit with LO. She said probably in the back. We walked all the way to the back and there was no where with 2 seats together. We walked back up to the front and asked if anyone would trade me. No one said they would. Eventually the flight attendant offered a free drink to anyone who would give me two seats together (but had to be a window and middle). Two people eventually agreed and moved for us. By this time I had decided to install the seat forward facing to avoid more arguments and making a bigger scene. I have never used the seat forward facing and was somewhat embarrassed and stressed. I forgot to flip the boot to the forward facing position, so the seat was pretty reclined. One flight attendant approached and said I would need a seat belt extended to install the seat. I had read that I might need one if I forward faced it, so I took the extender. Once I got the belt through, I couldn't tighten it enough with the extender. The other flight attendant told me to take it out (no kidding). Then I had to reinstall it. Once I got the belt through and buckled, I had trouble getting a hold of the end of the belt to tighten it. The other flight attendant came back and told me that I was just going to have to check the seat as it was taking too long to install it and we needed to leave. I did NOT want to do that. I asked the man in front of her if it was ok with him if I turned it around as I had installed it easily that way on the last flight. He said it was fine. The flight attendant had asked if she could try and was able to get it tightened while I was asking the man about rear facing it. We stuck LO in and took off. This was her first time ever riding forward facing anywhere and she asked lots of questions about it. It was very hard to keep her feet off his seat. It would have been better if I had flipped the boot the other way first, but I am sure it still would have been tight.
On the return flight we had a nonstop flight from MCO to IND. We were seated more toward the back this time (about row 16 or so). We were just at the back side of the wing. This was also a 737. We set the seat in rear facing and it would not fit. It couldn't sit flat on the seat without really pushing the seat in front of it forward. I turned it around to be forward facing again. This time I remembered to flip the boot forward. After it was installed I was concerned about how upright it was and I really needed my sleep deprived two year old to nap. I uninstalled it and returned the boot to the rear facing position but installed the seat forward facing. Is this allowed? I buckled the seat in and no one said anything about it. I buckled her in and we were off for our flight and she slept almost the entire flight!
So my lessons learned when flying Southwest with a True Fit:
- In seemingly the same airplanes there are differences. I don't know if it was the different rows or different planes, but on one flight I had no trouble installing the True Fit rear facing and on another flight it would not fit. I would not take a True Fit on commercial flights with a child less than a year old when forward facing would not be an option.
- Not only be prepared for questions yourself, but warn anyone you are traveling with that there will probably be questions and that they need to be very carefully about getting huffy when answering.
- I preferred having her rear facing. There may or may not be safety advantages in an airplane, but it was much more comfortable. She is used to riding rear facing and certainly noticed the difference. It was much easier to interact with her rear facing and things didn't get dropped. Forward facing she wanted to play with the tray and it was hard to keep her from pushing on the seat in front of her with her feet.
- Especially on Southwest, be wary of tight connections. Even though we had A boarding passes, we were among the last to board and sitting near my child became an issue.
On the way down we flew first from IND to BWI. The plane was a 737 and we sat at about row 8. We set the seat in rear facing and it fit. The car seat barely touched the seat in front of it so it could not recline, but it wasn't pushed forward either. The seat in front of her was empty when I installed the seat. As a man approached that seat I nicely let him know that it would not recline as her car seat was installed there. He was very nice and said no problem. I just told him I wanted to make sure he knew that while there were still seats available. The flight attendant approached and told me that I couldn't install the seat in that direction. Before I could say anything my mom jumped in (mouthier than I would have liked) and said that is how it goes. That is how she rides in it in the car. The flight attendant said "But you can't buckle it in that way, can you?" When I said yes and showed him that the seat belt was holding it in he kind of huffed and walked away making a comment about how he would hate to be in the seat in front of it because it couldn't recline. As we were taxing for take off another flight attendant approached and asked if the seat faced that way in the car. I said yes and she said "ok. we were just checking. my kids are in college and I don't know." That was the end of the discussion for that flight and the flight went smoothly.
Our connection was way too tight. We walked directly from one plane to the next with no stops, but by the time we arrived they had boarded all groups. This plane was also a 737 and we were near the front. We nicely asked the flight attendant on the way in if there were two seats together so I could sit with LO. She said probably in the back. We walked all the way to the back and there was no where with 2 seats together. We walked back up to the front and asked if anyone would trade me. No one said they would. Eventually the flight attendant offered a free drink to anyone who would give me two seats together (but had to be a window and middle). Two people eventually agreed and moved for us. By this time I had decided to install the seat forward facing to avoid more arguments and making a bigger scene. I have never used the seat forward facing and was somewhat embarrassed and stressed. I forgot to flip the boot to the forward facing position, so the seat was pretty reclined. One flight attendant approached and said I would need a seat belt extended to install the seat. I had read that I might need one if I forward faced it, so I took the extender. Once I got the belt through, I couldn't tighten it enough with the extender. The other flight attendant told me to take it out (no kidding). Then I had to reinstall it. Once I got the belt through and buckled, I had trouble getting a hold of the end of the belt to tighten it. The other flight attendant came back and told me that I was just going to have to check the seat as it was taking too long to install it and we needed to leave. I did NOT want to do that. I asked the man in front of her if it was ok with him if I turned it around as I had installed it easily that way on the last flight. He said it was fine. The flight attendant had asked if she could try and was able to get it tightened while I was asking the man about rear facing it. We stuck LO in and took off. This was her first time ever riding forward facing anywhere and she asked lots of questions about it. It was very hard to keep her feet off his seat. It would have been better if I had flipped the boot the other way first, but I am sure it still would have been tight.
On the return flight we had a nonstop flight from MCO to IND. We were seated more toward the back this time (about row 16 or so). We were just at the back side of the wing. This was also a 737. We set the seat in rear facing and it would not fit. It couldn't sit flat on the seat without really pushing the seat in front of it forward. I turned it around to be forward facing again. This time I remembered to flip the boot forward. After it was installed I was concerned about how upright it was and I really needed my sleep deprived two year old to nap. I uninstalled it and returned the boot to the rear facing position but installed the seat forward facing. Is this allowed? I buckled the seat in and no one said anything about it. I buckled her in and we were off for our flight and she slept almost the entire flight!
So my lessons learned when flying Southwest with a True Fit:
- In seemingly the same airplanes there are differences. I don't know if it was the different rows or different planes, but on one flight I had no trouble installing the True Fit rear facing and on another flight it would not fit. I would not take a True Fit on commercial flights with a child less than a year old when forward facing would not be an option.
- Not only be prepared for questions yourself, but warn anyone you are traveling with that there will probably be questions and that they need to be very carefully about getting huffy when answering.
- I preferred having her rear facing. There may or may not be safety advantages in an airplane, but it was much more comfortable. She is used to riding rear facing and certainly noticed the difference. It was much easier to interact with her rear facing and things didn't get dropped. Forward facing she wanted to play with the tray and it was hard to keep her from pushing on the seat in front of her with her feet.
- Especially on Southwest, be wary of tight connections. Even though we had A boarding passes, we were among the last to board and sitting near my child became an issue.
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