Car seat for travel (air and rental car)

My son is currently rear-facing in a Britax Boulevard. We will be flying and renting a car in the U.S. in August, just before he turns 3. I am hoping someone could recommend a good car seat that will fit on the plane (FF) and install reliably and relatively easily in a rental car (RF). The Boulevard is so large and bulky that I would prefer not to travel with it. He is probably a little over 30 lbs now, so he is close to the RF limit for the Cosco Scenera, which I have seen some people recommend. Would the Diono Radian be a good option? I've seen some people post concerns about installation with the seat belt being difficult in some cars.

Thanks for your help!

I might be one of those people who mentioned the more difficult installation with the Radian. For that reason, our Britax is my first choice if I don't know what kind of rental vehicle or taxi I'll end up in, especially overseas where there may not be LATCH. It's just so reliably easy to install.

That being said, for a domestic trip, and for what you are looking for, the Radian is also a pretty good bet. It's heavy (25 lbs. or so) but it is narrow, can be folded & worn as a backpack, and sits low enough that the child can use the airplane tray table.

It doesn't have a no-rethread harness, so if you're going back and forth between FF and RF you'll have to rethread the shoulder straps. That's another point in the Britax column.

There are some Evenflo convertibles that are lighter and less expensive, but you'd have to double check their RF limits, especially for height. The Cosco Scenera is often recommended as a travel seat, but is also often described as difficult to install RF without one or more pool noodles... not ideal for you. It also maxes out at 35 lbs RF so you may not get much additional use out of it, though it's quite inexpensive to begin with.

Honestly, unless you travel often (several times a year) or otherwise would get lots of use out of a travel seat, I would just stick with what you have. The hassle in flying/traveling with kids is having to take a seat (and the rest of their gear/toys/etc) to begin with. Trading out for a slightly smaller car seat is not going to lower the annoyance level very much. If you are already planning to take a stroller, then you can use it as a luggage cart to transport all of your carry-ons and the car seat (bring a couple of bungee cords). Then the only time you "notice" the size of the car seat is when you're loading and unloading it from the stroller - when you first get your stuff out of the car at the airport, when you go through security, and when you get on the plane.

I think the Britax is not as difficult to travel with as you might think. It will fit practically anywhere, FF or RF, is easy to install in both airplanes and vehicles, and weighs less than a Radian. To transport through the airport you can lengthen the harness and wear it like a bag/backpack, or you can tighten the harness around a suitcase roller handle. I'd probably stick with the Britax rather than buying a whole new seat just for the travel.

I thought it was bad practice to use the harness to "wear" the car seat.

Personally, I found it easier to skip the stroller and just use a metal, folding luggage cart. They sell carts for this purpose but honestly, they're overpriced luggage carts like you can find at Kmart or Target.

You might need an extra bungee to secure it and then your child can ride in that if too tired to walk. At age 3, you shouldn't need a stroller in the airport unless you have a really long layover with jet lag and need somewhere for him to sleep, like if you're coming from India. Sometimes passengers have to wait in Europe 7, 8 or 9 hours for their connection.

Avoid rollaboards with children. Not a good mix! You need something soft that can go at your feet like a duffle or backpack. Throw it in the car seat when your son is walking.

How I survived 11 1/2 hour flights with connections, alone with three children!

I loved the Radian for this age but we fly a lot. Your call if you want to spend the money. Depends on if you travel a lot and/or planning on more children.
There might be other low-profile toddler friendly car seats. It's nice when they can use the tray table on long flights.