G
George_unregistred
Guest
Hi there,
hopefully someone can help me with my issue:
We're about to take our son on vacation to Florida, he'll be 20months then and is quite small and light (29" and 20lbs @ 13mths)
Being from Germany, we'll be using CARES for the flight to the US, but as EU-Car seats are not allowed in the US and vice versa, we'll need a car seat for the rental car. Based on all the horror stories regarding rental car seats, and being quite pricey, driving around with one of those the entire stay is not an option.
I know, that AAA-Members are eligable for a complimentary seat when renting a car from Hertz, but I guess they're also not really a safe option (anyone any experience? better than Alamo/National/whatsoever, or all pretty much the same). Nevertheless, we need to get from the airport with the kid secured in the rental car...leaving mommy and son at MCO while I race to a Walmart, install the seat and drive back is not really an option after a long international flight with the immigration hussle in ATL and actually travelling 6hrs back in time...making it 2am arrival time for us (guess that can be very interesting with the kid anyway).
Also, we plan to take the seat with us back on the plane and use it for further flights, at least from/to the US using US-airlines (foreign airlines are pretty picky when it comes to carseats...everyone emphasizes safety but then they start all the exclusions: "must fit between armrests (16.5")", must fit on 17"x 17", "has to be FF while entire flight" "can be used RF while taxi, take-off and landing but has to be FF while flight because of interfering with the reclineability of the seat in front" and so on...)
Long story short:
We're looking for a RF carseat/convertible which can be used in RF as long as possible, booster mode is not really of interest, as long as we can't use it on the plane (as far as I understand, CRS are only allowed when using a 5-pt-harness?)
Seat should be comfy, (ideally multi-) reclinable and have cupholder(s) (can a 2yr-old use them or are they just for older kids?)
IF there is a seat, which might meet those stricter regulations e.g. width less than 17", that would be of high interest, as we could use that seat on other flights as well (but from all I've found, I doubt it a bit)
Price is a factor, but not a big one...of course we prefer a bargain over an overpriced fancy seat (who doesn't), but if the price is reasonable for what we get regarding safety and comfort it's fine for us.
And: If you have any ideas/recommendations on how to handle the first drive from airport to vacation home, please let me know...what would you do? Take a rental seat for the first night and then get a new one the next day? (how would that work with the rental company? book an overnight car and then book another without the seat for the rest of the stay?)
any feedback is highly welcome
best regards
George
hopefully someone can help me with my issue:
We're about to take our son on vacation to Florida, he'll be 20months then and is quite small and light (29" and 20lbs @ 13mths)
Being from Germany, we'll be using CARES for the flight to the US, but as EU-Car seats are not allowed in the US and vice versa, we'll need a car seat for the rental car. Based on all the horror stories regarding rental car seats, and being quite pricey, driving around with one of those the entire stay is not an option.
I know, that AAA-Members are eligable for a complimentary seat when renting a car from Hertz, but I guess they're also not really a safe option (anyone any experience? better than Alamo/National/whatsoever, or all pretty much the same). Nevertheless, we need to get from the airport with the kid secured in the rental car...leaving mommy and son at MCO while I race to a Walmart, install the seat and drive back is not really an option after a long international flight with the immigration hussle in ATL and actually travelling 6hrs back in time...making it 2am arrival time for us (guess that can be very interesting with the kid anyway).
Also, we plan to take the seat with us back on the plane and use it for further flights, at least from/to the US using US-airlines (foreign airlines are pretty picky when it comes to carseats...everyone emphasizes safety but then they start all the exclusions: "must fit between armrests (16.5")", must fit on 17"x 17", "has to be FF while entire flight" "can be used RF while taxi, take-off and landing but has to be FF while flight because of interfering with the reclineability of the seat in front" and so on...)
Long story short:
We're looking for a RF carseat/convertible which can be used in RF as long as possible, booster mode is not really of interest, as long as we can't use it on the plane (as far as I understand, CRS are only allowed when using a 5-pt-harness?)
Seat should be comfy, (ideally multi-) reclinable and have cupholder(s) (can a 2yr-old use them or are they just for older kids?)
IF there is a seat, which might meet those stricter regulations e.g. width less than 17", that would be of high interest, as we could use that seat on other flights as well (but from all I've found, I doubt it a bit)
Price is a factor, but not a big one...of course we prefer a bargain over an overpriced fancy seat (who doesn't), but if the price is reasonable for what we get regarding safety and comfort it's fine for us.
And: If you have any ideas/recommendations on how to handle the first drive from airport to vacation home, please let me know...what would you do? Take a rental seat for the first night and then get a new one the next day? (how would that work with the rental company? book an overnight car and then book another without the seat for the rest of the stay?)
any feedback is highly welcome
best regards
George