Checking car seat at the gate, safe?

Hi,
We will be traveling by plane next May with 2 children: one has a paid seat, one is a baby traveling on our lap.
We have to rent a car at our destination, and renting 2 car seats is quite expensive I find (it pretty much double the price of the rent), so we were thinking of traveling with the Marathon for my eldest. For my youngest, I was wondering if you think it's safe to give the car seat at the gate, when you usually give the stroller? I wouldn't check it in with the luggage.
Thanks!

The safest option, when flying by air, is to buy a seat for each child and bring a child restraint for children who are too small to fit properly in the lap belt on the airplane (generally smaller than 40 pounds). So if your budget can handle it, I would encourage you to look into buying a ticket for your baby, and bringing and using his/her car seat on the plane. Definitely do bring car seat for your older child and use it on the plane (and then again in the rental car).

If buying a ticket for the baby is not an option, then the next best choice is to bring the car seat with you and gate-check it. If there is an extra seat on the flight, you might be permitted to bring it on board and use it for your baby (though this can vary depending on the airline). Even if not, gate-checking is a better choice than checking with luggage, and both are better than renting a car seat from a car rental company.

If you have someone meeting you at your destination and if you are reasonably sure that the flights will be full (i.e. no extra seat for the baby), then you could take only one car seat with you (for the older child) and have the person at the destination meet you with a car seat for the baby. It doesn't sound like this is the case for you, though.

For your older child, depending on the child's age and size, you might consider buying an inexpensive "travel" seat that would be lighter to carry, especially if it would be useful in future trips or in a secondary vehicle, grandparents' cars, etc.

Thanks for your reply.
Buying a seat for the LO is unfortunately not an option.

As far as I could see, the flight was not full. But we are flying with Air Canada, so I doubt they would give us a seat for free!
What do you mean by "Even if not, gate-checking is a better choice than checking with luggage, and both are better than renting a car seat from a car rental company. "?

At destination, we will have to do with what we have, nobody can take care of an infant car seat.
What brand has a light weight car seat? We also have a Diono RXT that we could use, but it is far from being light!

jenny08 said:

Thanks for your reply.
Buying a seat for the LO is unfortunately not an option.

As far as I could see, the flight was not full. But we are flying with Air Canada, so I doubt they would give us a seat for free!
What do you mean by "Even if not, gate-checking is a better choice than checking with luggage, and both are better than renting a car seat from a car rental company. "?

At destination, we will have to do with what we have, nobody can take care of an infant car seat.
What brand has a light weight car seat? We also have a Diono RXT that we could use, but it is far from being light!

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Gate-checking is better than checking with luggage because it's less time that your seat is in the hands of the baggage handlers, so less chance of the seat getting lost or damaged.

Renting a car seat from a car rental is a total gamble. Some people have had great experiences where they are given a brand-new seat, still in the original packaging. But more often, you are given a seat that has been used and whose history is completely unknown. It may have been in use during a crash (and thus considered unsafe); the straps may have been "disinfected" with harsh chemicals that compromise their strength; it might be a seat that is completely inappropriate for your child's age and/or size.

As for using an extra seat for your infant on an Air Canada flight, I haven't flown Air Canada in many many years (not since having kids), so I don't know what their typical practice is, though you can certainly ask in a separate thread for people to share their experiences with that particular airline.

If you tell us your older child's age, weight, and shirt size, we can recommend lightweight, inexpensive travel seat options. Are you in Canada?

Oh, I've never thought of the rented car seats that way!
In all honesty, it is also the first time too that we are renting a car with car seats. And yes, I live in Canada, and we will be travelling within the country.

My eldest is 5 years old, turning 6. She weighs 17 kg for about 110cm. She just switched to a 6 year old size. She's definitely is on the small side, and still easily fits in her Marathon.

Thanks a bunch! I will also follow your advice and ask the question about Air canada in a separate thread.

I am not as familiar with Canadian seats for your 5 year old. Unfortunately, with being <40 pounds, she must be harnessed, and so the suggestion on the other thread to pack a booster for her and use a convertible for her on the plane and the baby on the ground is not going to work.

I'll see if I can find some travel seat suggestions for Canada. (Maybe the Evenflo Sureride? ETA: Looks like you have the Evenflo Maestro available for less money; that is probably the best option. If not, maybe a Canadian will weigh in here and correct me.) But in general, seats are more expensive for you (compared to the seats in the US), and so it really might just work out better to bring your marathon. Honestly, I find that the real hassle is in bringing a seat at all, and the extra 10 pounds (or whatever) of a "big" seat vs a "lightweight" one doesn't make much difference in the end. I just thought I'd throw that option out there in case you were considering another seat purchase for some other reason, but it sounds like that is not the case.

Thanks for your help!
Indeed, car seats (and other things) are more expensive in Canada than in the US.
Actually, your reply was quite helpful because it reminded me that we also have another car seat for our 5 year old. It is a Nautilus (and is currently in my in-laws car, that's why I forgot). I will have a look and see if it is more practical to carry around. We already travelled with the Marathon a while back, so we could probably do it again.
Thanks a bunch!

You're very welcome. Personally I would prefer to travel with a marathon instead of a nautilus - but it is a good idea to check all your options.

good to know! thanks again!