Cosco Scenera or Safety 1st Avenue for AIR TRAVEL?

Hi

We'll be travelling with our 1 yr old 22.5 lbs daughter in a couple of weeks and after much research decided to take a carseat with us as opposed to renting one. We currently have a Marathon which my daughter LOVES, but would be too bulky to take along. So I thought that we could buy a smaller car seat for travel, which would also serve as a second carseat in my husbands' Corolla (it would be used there sporadically).

I read some older posts here and quite a few people suggested the Scenera and the Safety 1st Avenue for travel. I was leaning on buying the Scenera, but I read quite a few reviews that stated it is VERY DIFFICULT to install RFing, and also not very comfortable. I'm afraid to buy it now, because we're not very experienced on installing the carseats. We usually take them to the fire station or to the police, since I'm always too nervous about installing it incorrectly!

I also saw that the Scenera is only 9 lbs, while the Avenue is 14 lbs. I will also be travelling with my daugher alone later this year and want to get something which will be easy for me to carry, specially considering I'm only 5 feet tall!

So which one do you suggest I get? Or is there any other carseat I haven't looked at that might be a better option? Sorry for the long question.

Thank you so much for your help!

In your shoes I would get the Avenue. It is not difficult to install (although i recommend bringing a rolled up towel or pool noodle to get a comfortable angle in most vehicles).

It's quite padded and comfortable, and very lightweight and easy to carry

It also has a taller shell and taller top slots than the Scenera. Because your daughter isn't a newborn and doesn't need the bottom slots of the Scenera, the Avenue will be a longer-lasting choice

the Safety 1st Avenue is on sale at the Safety 1st website (with free shipping $60).

They're both about the same in terms of difficulty to install, in my opinion (and in my opinion, neither is extremely hard. You'll need a rolled towel or pool noodle(s) in most cars, and you'll want to pull up the cover to access the belt path.)

They take up about the same amount of space, but the Avenue lasts longer, has nicer covers (mostly) and has EPP foam. I'd probably go for the Avenue for bang for the buck (and for the record, I have both. )

Also practice installing it before you go. It's never fun to get your rental car and then spend an hour trying to figure out how to install a car seat!

Thank you so much for your advice. I'm going to take my daughter to try both seats, but I'm definitely considering buying the Avenue. Will let you know!