Airplane Travel w/ Chicco Nextfit

I will be traveling alone with my 11month old next month. I currently have her in the Nextfit and I love it and she is comfortable in it. I am debating bringing it with us as I need a car seat for the plane and also at our destination or purchasing a lighter car seat such as the Evenflow Sureride.

Has anybody traveled by plane with the nextfit? Any tips?

Thanks so much!

Hi,

In September we'll be taking 2 long-haul flights with our 12mo in her new NextFit.
Did anyone in here do this already? Any advice on seat choice etc?

Best regards
JK

Hi

We're about to do an international flight in December with the Chicco Nextfit and I was wondering how it worked out for you? What was it like lugging it through the airport and was it a hassle to fix onto the seat?

Thanks!

I am also interested in finding out if travel with nextfit was practical?

Bump -- any experience? New poster here, planning to travel in Dec. 2014 on Virgin American and United with my Nextfit. I'm wondering if I should buy another seat that is less bulky, just for the trip ... would prefer to stick with the Nextfit of course.

I haven't travelled with this particular seat, but I'm bumping up the question so hopefully it'll catch the eye of someone who knows.

I've previously posted this question and the consensus was that the NextFit isn't really a good flight seat...too heavy and cumbersome.

I was told to look at the Cosco Scenara, the Safety First Guide, and the Evenflo SureRide.

I personally went with the SureRide, since I am used to how my daughter is in the NextFit (with the sides that come up high).

They are decently cheap so that's a plus.

Here's a link to my post asking about flying with a NextFit:

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=261956

it fits on most air craft of normal size, like boeing 737, 757 etc. dont know how it fits on smaller air craft.

my dh's cousin flies frequently with her son in his nextfit.

its def not the easiest seat to travel with but if you want to take it along with you it works.

If you're not planning to fly more than about once a year, then personally I wouldn't bother buying a travel seat. Really the hassle in traveling with kids is bringing all their equipment and tending to them the whole time and interrupting sleep schedules etc... Having a car seat that weighs 10 pounds more than another is not high up on the list of inconveniences for me. I've never flown with a Nextfit though - just a few times with Britax convertibles, which are big and bulky.

It'll fit, unless you are flying on a TINY airplane (think turboprop or if the airlines get even smaller with the space between the seats), but it's a PAIN to lug. It is big, heavy, and hard to carry down the aisle.

We haven't done it ourselves (although we have a Nextfit at home as it is DS's regular seat), but we saw 2 other parents trying to do it and helped them after they kept hitting people in the head with their giant lug of a carseat.

I wouldn't rec traveling with a Nextfit, but it can be done if you absolutely must. Put the carseat in the window (usually required by the airline anyway) and if you are going on a long flight, splurge for the extra leg room or "plus" seats if you can. It will make everyone more comfortable. Use the multi-recline settings on the Nextfit to put your LO at a comfy angle for sleeping (but make sure it is still in the acceptable angle range) and hope s/he falls asleep during take-off (it is heavenly when they do this; my DS slept one whole 4 hr flight this summer, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!)

If you want a travel seat instead, we fly with a SureRide. (Before that, we flew with an Avenue) We love it! Light, easy to install and fits easily on planes. Easy to carry even when we had no carry-ons to attach it to for pulling through the airport. I can't rec this one highly enough.

Let's also look at it this way:

Flying by myself (and my daughter), I could only DREAM of taking her NextFit (really I love this seat)...but just not doable with managing her and the diaperbag and that heavy seat.

Had hubby been flying with me each and every time that me and my daughter have flown, I would have CONSIDERED it then. Even hubby thinks it's too heavy to fly with, BUT it would have been much more doable with both of us. He could have managed the seat while I carry our daughter and the diaper bag.

I guess it is about circumstances, but I also considered this...since I had to gate check my seat a few times, if it were to get damaged, would I like them to damage a $300 seat or a $40-80 seat? They don't take responsibility for it...at least not Southwest...they have a disclaimer right on their site.

I might take it after she's 2, which means we'll also have to buy her a seat, which guarantees us to not have to gate check it...but then again...only if hubby is along.



It's all about what's important to you, but the general consensus is that it's not the best seat to travel with. I swear the aisle down the middle just gets narrower and narrower, and I'm sure if I tried taking the NextFit, I'd be one of those people that almost knock people out with it trying to get down the aisle and into a seat.