Checking a seat in a suitcase?

kaharris83 · Sep 5, 2013

Would it be ok to pack a convertible in a suitcase and check it? We always buy our DC seats on the plane and they use car seats every time. But I am thinking about flying on a 2 hour flight alone with my 3 year old and my 1 year old. We are probably flying with the Foonf for the 3yo and the thought of dealing with 2 little ones and the beast of a Foonf is a bit overwhelming for me. It will be a flight home so if by chance my suitcase is misplaced we will have a seat on arrival anyway. If I pack it in a suitcase and pack clothes around it it would it be ok? I'm thinking of all the seats that ship in just a cardboard box that must get thrown around by shippers constantly. My 3yo is 39" and 31ish pounds and still rear facing. I haven't been able to find a travel seat that works for him. Well the Sureride does but the harness issues make me very, very, very hesitant to use it so that leaves us with Foonf and NextFit. Both very heavy options.

1mommy · Sep 5, 2013

I think I'm a little confused, you want to pack the foonf in a suitcase?? Would it fit?? As for the SureRide the harness issues are only with forward facing so you should be fine as both your lil ones are rear facing? Or are you worried about using it after you turn your 3 year old? Also maybe you could consider a Scenera for the 1 year old?

kaharris83 · Sep 5, 2013

Sorry my question is all over the place. Yeah I'm pretty certain I can fit the Foonf and some clothes in our biggest suitcase so basically I'm wondering if there is anything wrong with checking a seat in a suitcase.

As for the Sureride issues being only FF, I just worry the RF issue may not come to light until the harness fails in an accident. The thread here reporting the issue started the last day of our last vacation and I was worried the entire ride to the airport when DS1 was in the Sureride. I took it right back to Kohl's when we got home. I explained why it was it being returned and that it was used and they had no issues with taking it back. I just don't know that I want to deal with the anxiety using that seat causes me.

My youngest is in a CCO so no need for a Scenara.

LISmama810 · Sep 5, 2013

Even if you can fit the foonf in a suitcase, the weight of that, the suitcase, and anything else you put in it might cause it to be considered an oversize bag, meaning you'd have to pay extra, depending on the airline. Might be something to keep in mind.

Brigala · Sep 5, 2013

Would the Guide 65 work as a travel seat for your 3 year old?

Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Foonf is the only seat available which specifically forbids checking it on a plane unless it's packaged in its original shipping carton. Plus, as was mentioned above, it might be hard to pack a Foonf in a suitcase without having to pay astronomical "oversize" luggage fees.

Generally speaking, I would feel comfortable packing a car seat in a sturdy suitcase. My son works for UPS and I know a little about how packages are handled in shipping - pretty much exactly like luggage. And a suitcase has got to offer at least as much protection as a standard cardboard box.

But the Foonf... that is a different story in my eyes.

kaharris83 · Sep 5, 2013

Brigala said:
Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Foonf is the only seat available which specifically forbids checking it on a plane unless it's packaged in its original shipping carton. Plus, as was mentioned above, it might be hard to pack a Foonf in a suitcase without having to pay astronomical "oversize" luggage fees.

I read the manual and totally missed that if it is in there. Which makes sense because I'm sure I thought why the heck would someone ever check the Foonf. *Sigh* I was thinking I'd pack the seat in one suitcase and the base and bar in another. Our suitcases are lightweight for how big they are but knew I'd be close to 50lbs.

I think he's outgrown the Guide 65 rear facing already.

Guess I may just have to wrestle with it and the two kids on the plane.

Eclipsepearl · Sep 7, 2013

My son works for UPS and I know a little about how packages are handled in shipping - pretty much exactly like luggage. And a suitcase has got to offer at least as much protection as a standard cardboard box.

No, it's not the same at all. UPS and other shippers don't have NEAR the time restraints that airlines do. The reason baggage handlers are throwing things around is because there's a planeload of passengers who want their bags to get there when they do. There's no "matching" going on with normal shipping.

Also, when car seats are shipped, they're usually together. They don't have other, unrelated (perhaps heavier) stuff thrown on top of them. The box is also designed to transport a seat, whereas a suitcase isn't.

If the car seat shipment arrives at the store in bad shape, there will be an angry customer on the phone. Perhaps a passenger gets upset about a bag too, but they don't have much to fall back on. The airlines have made sure they don't have to take responsibility for car seats. It even says that on American's site. You check at your own risk.

So it's not really valid to compare the two.

The oversized bag is a good point. The airlines are now making major money off of people going over their weight limit. When I flew United, an overweight bag was $150!

Rebekah · Sep 7, 2013

Eclipsepearl said:
My son works for UPS and I know a little about how packages are handled in shipping - pretty much exactly like luggage. And a suitcase has got to offer at least as much protection as a standard cardboard box.

No, it's not the same at all. UPS and other shippers don't have NEAR the time restraints that airlines do. The reason baggage handlers are throwing things around is because there's a planeload of passengers who want their bags to get there when they do. There's no "matching" going on with normal shipping.

Also, when car seats are shipped, they're usually together. They don't have other, unrelated (perhaps heavier) stuff thrown on top of them. The box is also designed to transport a seat, whereas a suitcase isn't.

If the car seat shipment arrives at the store in bad shape, there will be an angry customer on the phone. Perhaps a passenger gets upset about a bag too, but they don't have much to fall back on. The airlines have made sure they don't have to take responsibility for car seats. It even says that on American's site. You check at your own risk.

So it's not really valid to compare the two.

The oversized bag is a good point. The airlines are now making major money off of people going over their weight limit. When I flew United, an overweight bag was $150!

I would definitely beg to differ. My husband worked for a shipping company as a truck loader for about six months. He said that people would cringe if they saw how packages were handled. There were two people assigned to each truck and they were each to load at least 300 boxes an hour, so 600 boxes were thrown into a truck in an hour. This is not accomplished by treating a box with any sort of care. Not to mention the holiday seasons when 300 boxes an hour wasn't enough to keep up and packages would back up and fall off of the conveyor belts.

As for carseats being shipped together, this may be true for manufacturer-to-store shipments, but a large number of seats are shipped directly to the customer and would be subjected to the same treatment as every other box being shipped across the country. Also, since carseats are both bulky and heavy, they would most likely be used as the bottom of a wall of packages and have quite a bit of weight stacked on top. Carseats checked on airlines are probably only at greater risk because they are usually thrown in without so much as a bag to keep dust off, much less a box for actual protection.

thepote · Sep 7, 2013

I have nested two car seats together in a stroller and wheeled the stroller to the plane door. A flight attendant carried one seat, I carried another while wearing smaller child on my back and leading the older child. Stroller got gate checked.

It was do-able... You just have to find a combination of seats and stroller that it will work with.

If I had to suitcase check a seat I'd do a folded radian.

Good luck!

kaharris83 · Sep 7, 2013

Rebekah said:
As for carseats being shipped together, this may be true for manufacturer-to-store shipments, but a large number of seats are shipped directly to the customer and would be subjected to the same treatment as every other box being shipped across the country. Also, since carseats are both bulky and heavy, they would most likely be used as the bottom of a wall of packages and have quite a bit of weight stacked on top. Carseats checked on airlines are probably only at greater risk because they are usually thrown in without so much as a bag to keep dust off, much less a box for actual protection.

Yeah I was thinking of my Sureride from Kohl's that got shipped directly from Evenflo in a cardboard box. It was dropped and the box was smashed. I figured a suitcase would offer more protection than that.

I used to be a flight attendant too so I know how baggage gets handled. I just assumed a suitcase with clothes packed around it would be some protection.

I will probably just suck it up and take the Foonf onboard. On the way there I'll have DH with me so I will only have to deal with it by myself once. We aren't taking a stroller but the luggage cart worked fine for the Sureride and CCO last vacation.

Rebekah · Sep 8, 2013

Do you have a hard-shell suitcase? I don't have a Foonf so I don't know if it would even fit in one without being over weight. A hard-shell packed with clothes might work well, but I would be wary of putting anything that expensive in a suitcase- carseat or not- and would be even more worried with it being a carseat.

Eclipsepearl · Sep 9, 2013

It says 34 pounds so that's under the 50lbs limit on luggage. That leaves about 16lbs for the suitcase and clothes.

There are also parameters on how big the bag is but I've pushed this many times. As long as the weight doesn't top over, they probably will fudge with the size of the suitcase.

It's a slim seat but doesn't fold, right? You might want to measure the base.

Do you need it right away when you arrive or is there a Plan B if it isn't at baggage claim?

BTW, I don't want to argue about shipping details since one poster is the designated expert on this but if there were damage to the outside of a box that my car seat came in, I'm not sure if I would accept that and not buy that seat. As a customer, you have the right but as a passengers, some airlines say outright they won't cover damage to checked car seats (American?)

Just be aware...

kaharris83 · Sep 9, 2013

I would only be checking it for our nonstop return flight home. We have a seat in our truck that would be picking us up so it wouldn't be a big deal if the suitcase didn't show up.

But I think I'll just suck it up and use it on the plane. The more I think about it, the more I know I can handle it.

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