air travel

2009mama

New member
Please help settle an argument...
11month old, 23lb, 28" daughter & I are traveling via airplane next month. We were supposed to be going via car and therefore, would have had our own car seat. A friend has recommended that we 'rent' a car seat from a car rental company (I did not know that they even did that) so we don't have to lug ours around.
My husband wants me to check the seat as luggage (sunshine radian xtl). I'm hesitant to check the seat for fear of what could happen to it (I love this seat!) but don't relish the thought of carrying my 23lb daughter and a 20lb car seat also. Any suggestions, thoughts or information on why checking our car seat would be a bad or good idea? Thanks.
 
ADS

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
It's a terrible idea to check a carseat. Baggage handlers are not known to be kind with luggage and packages, and if your carseat is tossed or dropped onto the tarmac you may not know it until your daughter flies by you in the middle of a collision because it failed fatally.

It also may end up in Toledo when you're flying to Columbus.

Also, your daughter needs to use it on board in her seat. The lap belt only is not safe for her, and being a "lap rocket", as the flight attendants call them, is not safe for her. In a 150 mph collision (say the landing gear fails on touchdown) she will have the force of 3,450 pounds. I can't hold onto 3,450 pounds, and what she hits will be hit at 3,450 pounds of force, and she will feel the impact as 3,450 pounds. Also, when the smoke clears and you have 10 seconds to get off, you'll know she's safely next to you if she's strapped into a carseat.

Then there's the comfort issues. You don't need to deal with a squirming baby for the entire flight. She knows her carseat is where she sits until you take her out. She'll be comfortable in a seat that fits her properly, and during smooth flight you'll have the option for her to sit on your lap, or sit in her seat (as with any air passenger, she shouldn't sit without moving for a long flight, but she should sit buckled when seated).

Also, as a ticketed passenger, she gets a baggage allowance. Handy since people like to give babies things, and you may come home with more than you left with.

To answer the other half of your question, using a rented seat means that you'll be using a seat that you don't know if it has all of its parts, if it's ever been misused or in a collision, and is not uncommonly very old and/or expired or recalled. We never recommend renting a seat.

If you cannot travel with a seat for her, have a trusted seat on the other end. Have someone go and buy you a Cosco Scenera for $45 and have it waiting. But that's far less safe than having her strapped into a seat on the plane. In fact, buying a Scenera and taking it with you on board means you're carrying a nine pound seat, not a 25 pound seat. You can look into a luggage trolley to wheel it through the airport, getting a carseat backpack for it, or using a Traveling Toddler to strap it to your wheeled luggage. Some people put it in the stroller and wear their baby (gate check the stroller). Another option is to get backpack straps for your Radian and carry it on your back. Twenty five pounds on your back is really not noticeable. The straps are very comfortable and the seat is easy to wear.

HTH

Wendy
 

etoilech

New member
We checked our radians for the last flight we made. We removed the car seat from our car and packed it in a box with bubble wrap to protect them. We checked them with our luggage and we had no issues. A pain, but less of a pain than lugging 3 seats and three kids through the aeroport and on the plane. We did bring one radian for the baby with the strap attached. If you just have one, it's no big deal if you're going with your partner.

Rental seat are gross at best and dangerous at worst in our experience. I would not rent one.
 

veggiegirl228

New member
As Wendy said, baggage handlers don't treat out luggage with car why would they do any different with a carseat. You may not see the damage that is done placing your daughter at risk. As far as rental seats go, no way no how. You don't know the history of the seat and often times are the same price as buying a seat that you could resell once home.
 

Maedze

New member
We checked our radians for the last flight we made. We removed the car seat from our car and packed it in a box with bubble wrap to protect them. We checked them with our luggage and we had no issues. A pain, but less of a pain than lugging 3 seats and three kids through the aeroport and on the plane. We did bring one radian for the baby with the strap attached. If you just have one, it's no big deal if you're going with your partner.

Rental seat are gross at best and dangerous at worst in our experience. I would not rent one.

Again, though, this is not recommended. If you have a child under 40 pounds, that child needs to be in a child restraint on the plane...even if it's a 'pain' to do it.

And even if your child is over 40 pounds and doesn't need a harness or booster, that restraint should still not be 'checked'. It should be carried on board. If it's a harness, as long as the child still fits in it he can use it. If it's a booster it can be put in an overhead bin.
 

Evolily

New member
If you absolutely must check it I would gate check it, and hopefully there would be an extra seat open where you could use it.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
If you HAVE to check a seat, in a sturdy box padded with bubble wrap is the "best" way to do it. But that's a third-choice option (after carrying the seat on the plane and using it-- far and away the safest option on several counts, and not using a seat on the plane but having a trusted seat waiting with a friend/relative, preferably bought new for the trip, or buying a seat as soon as you get there, before the child is transported in the car.)
 

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