ff marathons on plane

my friend is taking 14 hour flight with her husband, a 4 yo and 18 mo. both kids are FF. the kids have marathons, buying a travel seat is not an option. i know installing the marathons can be difficult on a plane, so can someone tell me the tricks? she was initially going to check the seats, but i think i can convince her to intall the seats on the plane for the kids to ride, if it wont be too terribly difficult.
thanks!

The Marathon is not difficult to install on the plane. She might want to ask for a belt extender so that she can take them out easily at the destination.

I have gotten my MA stuck on a plane, but it's easy to avoid by flipping the latchplate over, and buckling it upside down.

Maedze said:

The Marathon is not difficult to install on the plane. She might want to ask for a belt extender so that she can take them out easily at the destination.

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i thought there was some twisting of the belt that was needed? or does the extender take care of that problem? i have never installed a marathon on a plane.

When installing the marathon on a plane, you follow the instructions for a lap belt installation (there is no latch on the plane). They probably should read through those instructions prior to using it on the plane. What I do when installing the seat on the plane is put the carseat on the airline seat. Recline the airline seat. Put the lap belt through the belt guides on the carseat and then buckle the seatbelt. Tighten the buckle by pulling the strap. Return the airline seat to a full upright position (remember I put it in recline to install the seat).

When buckling the seatbelt, make sure that the lever release on the seatbelt is facing down (this will mean you have to turn it over from how it typically would be if you were buckling it on yourself). When the seatbelt is tightened on the britax seats, the buckle release lies really close the carseat shell. When it gets time to get the carseat off the plane, if the buckle release is too tight against the carseat shell, it is really hard to get it unbuckled. By flipping the buckle upside down, the release is easy to get to so you can unbuckle the carseat easily.

If you have a seatbelt extender (that seatbelt piece the flight attendants use to demonstrate the seatbelt during their safety speech), this helps get that buckle portion out of the belt path on the marathon, so if your friend can get that piece, it should solve most problems. If they can't get it, make sure they flip the buckle as I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

An Aurora said:

I have gotten my MA stuck on a plane, but it's easy to avoid by flipping the latchplate over, and buckling it upside down.

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I wish someone had warned me about that before I took my MA on a plane...LOL. I got mine stuck on a connector flight so most of the people who were on the plane stayed on the plane. They all watched as I pulled and yanked and embarrassed the heck out of myself. They almost had to call maintenance but then I finally got it out..my hand looked like I had beaten someone up.

agurlsride said:

I wish someone had warned me about that before I took my MA on a plane...LOL. I got mine stuck on a connector flight so most of the people who were on the plane stayed on the plane. They all watched as I pulled and yanked and embarrassed the heck out of myself. They almost had to call maintenance but then I finally got it out..my hand looked like I had beaten someone up.

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Same here!! But the maintenance guy had to actually take the seat belt apart so I could get my blvd. out

be sure when using a belt extender that one buckle is on the side OUTSIDE of the belt path so you can lift the lever to unbubkle. i didn't do that the first flight & OMG it was horrid. the flight attendants were thinking of slicing the seatbelt to get it out.

When I had mine I used the seatbelt extender AND flipped the extender upside down. No issues at all. For the extender: shorten up the adjustable buckle fixed to the seat all the way; attach extender (I put it on upside down); pass through belt path and buckle the other end; pull the tail on the extender to tighten down. I did not find I had to recline the plane seat to install and got a good install, though maybe it makes it easier. Make sure to ask for the extender either ahead of time at the gate or as you are walking onto the plane - at times it took a while for them to find it and get it to me, so I found on one leg of our trip, even with preboarding I was finishing doing up my second seat as they were starting to taxi out to the runway! Other than the trick to not get it stuck the MA makes a lovely travel seat, very comfy. I chose to install the MA reclined on the plane even though DS1 was over 33lbs since I felt it was a low enough risk and I wanted him to sleep more comfortably (which he did). I could even attach the headphones under the edge of the shell, and recline the airline seat a bit once we were in the air with the MA installed to get him even more comfy:

Here was my experience traveling with 2 kids in case it offers some tips (like, take LESS carry-on! and make your seats easier to unstack for security):
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=102030