Air travel with two Britax Pinnacle 90 - check them?

U

Unregistered

Guest
Hi all, we are traveling to Hawaii soon and need to bring the kids' high-back booster seats as we will be renting a car and want them to be in five-point harness especially when traveling in a new area etc. They both have the Britax Pinnacle 90. I also don't want the seats to get damaged. We have connections on our flights, too, and not sure the chances of them getting lost, etc. What should I do? The kids are 6 and 7 years old. Thanks!!
 
ADS

littleangelfire

Well-known member
Hi all, we are traveling to Hawaii soon and need to bring the kids' high-back booster seats as we will be renting a car and want them to be in five-point harness especially when traveling in a new area etc. They both have the Britax Pinnacle 90. I also don't want the seats to get damaged. We have connections on our flights, too, and not sure the chances of them getting lost, etc. What should I do? The kids are 6 and 7 years old. Thanks!!

Welcome! You use them on the plane, definitely don't check them. Just make sur eyou use them in harness mode on the plane and you're good to go.
 

jjordan

Moderator
While the Pinnacle is approved for aircraft use in harness mode, I would encourage you to reconsider your plans. If I were you and I was traveling with a 6 and 7 year old, I would most certainly bring boosters instead of harnessed seats. Many people are under the impression that children are ALWAYS safer in a 5 point harness compared to a belt-positioning booster. However, we don't actually have any evidence telling us that. The truth is that, for children who are at least 4 years old (for skeletal maturity), weigh at least 40 pounds, and can use a booster seat properly (i.e. it positions the seatbelt well and the child is old/mature enough to not wiggle out of position or move the seatbelt out of place), as far as we know, a booster seat and harness are equally safe. Again, this is as far as we know. It is possible that there are some crashes/vehicles where a harness might have a safety advantage, and on the other hand there may be some crashes/vehicles where a booster might have a safety advantage. But IF the child is old enough, big enough, and can use a booster properly, it's just speculation on which is safer. In light of that, I personally would be perfectly comfortable having a 6- and 7-year old in boosters for the trip. You can't use them on the airplane, but you can pack backless boosters in carry-ons or just carry them on as-is.

Of course it is completely up to you what you do, but I just thought I would offer an alternative to hauling two Britax Pinnacles on a big trip that involves several flights and a lot of hassle.
 

Kecia

Admin - CPST Instructor
Of course it is completely up to you what you do, but I just thought I would offer an alternative to hauling two Britax Pinnacles on a big trip that involves several flights and a lot of hassle.

:yeahthat:

Honestly, I've traveled with kids and carseats multiple times when my boys were younger (once I even traveled with 2 carseats for ONE child! And yes, my husband was sure that I had lost my mind but I had good reasons). But even I would never consider hauling two Pinnacles on a plane. That's just madness. Lol.

I liked the Harmony Dreamtime booster for traveling when my DS2 was about that age. I gate checked it in a travel bag and it was always fine. I would recommend gate checking in some sort of protective bag over checking with luggage so there is less chance of the seats being damaged and almost zero chance of it being lost.

HTH!
 

littleangelfire

Well-known member
Listen to the two of them, lol, I gave you a straightforward answer to your exact question but they gave you a better one thinking outside the box! --says the mama who rarely flies.
 
How big are your kids? If they're over 40 lbs and you'd be at all comfortable with having them in backless boosters for the trip, I'd recommend picking up a couple of BubbleBums and packing those in your carry-on luggage.

A lot of people like to travel with TurboBoosters. You can carry the lower parts on the plane (but not use them until you get to Hawaii). Personally, if I was checking other luggage as well, I'd wrap the upper portions together in lots of bubble wrap, label it well as "CHILD CARSEAT PARTS", make sure to attach something that makes it easy to carry, and check it at the ticket counter. There's a chance the backs might not make it given your connections, but they probably would, and if they didn't you'd at least have the bottom parts until the airline found the upper parts and delivered them to you. If I really wanted to bring high back boosters, wasn't checking other luggage, and didn't want to deal with the ticket counter or weren't comfortable checking the top portions, I'd carry them through the airport and gate check them.

I wouldn't want to travel with two Pinnacles, esp. not with connecting flights.
 

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