Am I crazy? Carrying 2 Radians on tiny planes with stairs?

T.O. Twins

New member
My husband and I are flying from Toronto to Des Moines, IA on Wednesday with our 3 year old twins. The trip will involve two 26 seater planes which we will probably have to board using the stairs on the tarmac, and we will have a one hour lay over in Minneapolis. We've never brought our car seats with us before, but this time we are planning to. Usually, we have a huge double stroller (mountain buggy), two backpacks, and a small duffle for carry on. Then we have two 33 pound kids who don't want to ride in the stroller for very long but often want to be carried.

Is adding two Radians to our load just crazy? We have the shoulder straps for them and can hopefully put them in the stroller when the kids aren't using it and can hook most of the rest of our luggage onto the stroller handle, but I'm worried about getting everyone and everything on and off the plane (up and down the stairs). Since the Radian is so narrow, I'm assuming it will fit in the plane seats (they are supposed to be 17.1 inches wide), but I'm worried that the seat belts won't tighten enough for a good install (I've run across plane seatbelts what were too long to tighten enough to fit snugly on my kid's laps, and it seems like the Radian would need to be tighter than that).

Please let me know if this is really no big deal or if there are some really important things I should know about travelling with Radians.

The other option we have is to quickly order 2 safeguard go's for my sister to bring to the airport to pick us up (we have CARES harnesses we can use on the plane, if we do that), but she's bringing my Grandma's 2001 domestic (Chrystler?) minivan, and I'm worried it may not have top tethers (it does, I undersand, have stowable seating, if that gives anyone a clue as to whether there are tether anchors). I'm also annoyed that I waited this late to think this all through and I'd have to pay $120 in shipping to receive the seats on time!

Sorry this was so long, I'm a little stressed at the moment.
 
ADS

Maedze

New member
I would absolutely go with option 2 in that scenario (CARES on the flight), seats at the destination.

A Chrysler 2001 minivan, if memory serves me correctly, has top tether anchors all over the place (I don't have a latch manual on me at the moment). However, the seat waiting at the destination could easily be something else, that didn't have that particular installation quirk :)
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Shoulder straps makes them super easy to carry. :thumbsup: I fly from a little airport where almost ALL flights you have to go up and down stairs. Even to the big planes! Don't worry about tightening; if you have to, twist the seatbelt down as much as you need to to get it tight. Don't worry about the 3 twist rule that is for cars, because a plane is a very different situation; the seat's main job is to keep your kids in their seat if there is sudden turbulence or, say, a temper tantrum. ;) The forces are not going to be the same, at all.

Or, option 2, if that's what you'd rather.
 

T.O. Twins

New member
I would absolutely go with option 2 in that scenario (CARES on the flight), seats at the destination.

A Chrysler 2001 minivan, if memory serves me correctly, has top tether anchors all over the place (I don't have a latch manual on me at the moment). However, the seat waiting at the destination could easily be something else, that didn't have that particular installation quirk :)

I was thinking the Safeguard Go because then the issue of carrying cumbersome carseats through the airport would be solved for the next little while (until we outgrow the GO - the girls are currently just a smidge above the next-to-top slots in their Radians, for reference). We ususally rent cars or are picked up by my parents who have latch in their cars. However, if there is another seat we might consider, I'd be open to that. At 33 pounds (naked) is it too early to move to the RideSafer Travel Vest?
 

Maedze

New member
Oh, I get it...you intend to take the seats back with you, not leave them there.

I wouldn't bother with the RSTV. It's a great product, but even for kids who meet the bare minimum weight requirement, it tends not fit great until they're older and bigger.


If you want them to be your commuting seats, the SG-Gos are ideal (presuming you'll always be going places with top tethers at the destination!)
 

T.O. Twins

New member
Thank you so much for your responses! Just one last thought... My sister has a couple of cosco summit high-back seats that she could bring to pick us up at the airport. When we last used the seats 8 months ago, the girls' shoulders were just about at the top slots. I think those slots are 15 inches, which is the same height as the next-to-top slots on the Radian and, although the girls' shoulders start out about 1/8th of an inch above the 15inch Radian slots at the beginning of any car trip, they usually are at or slightly below them on the way home. It's a 45 minute drive from the airport to my parents house, and if it turns out that the summit slots are significantly too low, we could get something else for the rest of the trip.

How horrible would it be to use the slightly-too-small summits for one 45minute ride?
 

Northriver

New member
On our last trip we took those little planes where we loaded on the tarmac. It wasn't any different that boarding a regular plane. There is very little space in the overhead compartments, so someone was on the tarmac taking carry on items to stow in the lower luggage compartment. They maked those items with a tag that said "secure" indicating it had been through secruity, vs the luggage that was checked.

I really enjoyed traveling with my Radian, this is the first trip I've taken it. The Radian was amazingly easy to install on the plane, I had no problems installing or uninstalling and I'm confident you won't either. I purchased the extra strap for the Radian so I had two straps and could wear it as a backpack, it is very comfortable. I've traveled with Britax seats in the past and the Radian was just so much easier to travel with on every level. On the plane, I usually have a large backpack over one shoulder and the Radian over my other so I'm really only using one of the Radian straps most of the time, my 4 yr old walks as we no longer travel with a stroller. When she was younger, I had her push the stroller throuh the airport, lol.

My daughter is 34-35 pounds and the RSTV is really big for her. I would not use it for a smaller child. Last trip I took both the Radian and the RSTV and used the RSTV a few times but I'm more comfortable using the Radian whenever possible.

I'm in Des Moines, I hope you have a nice visit while you are here. Let me know if you need anything. :)
 

Maedze

New member
Thank you so much for your responses! Just one last thought... My sister has a couple of cosco summit high-back seats that she could bring to pick us up at the airport. When we last used the seats 8 months ago, the girls' shoulders were just about at the top slots. I think those slots are 15 inches, which is the same height as the next-to-top slots on the Radian and, although the girls' shoulders start out about 1/8th of an inch above the 15inch Radian slots at the beginning of any car trip, they usually are at or slightly below them on the way home. It's a 45 minute drive from the airport to my parents house, and if it turns out that the summit slots are significantly too low, we could get something else for the rest of the trip.

How horrible would it be to use the slightly-too-small summits for one 45minute ride?

PSA: the top slots on the Summit are actually not useable. They are for booster mode only. Also, that seat is VERY quirky and tends not to install correctly in a large number of vehicles.

If your kids' shoulders are UNDER the topmost useable slot of the Summit and you can get an install with less than an inch of wiggle, than the seat is fine to use. Otherwise, it's out :p
 

T.O. Twins

New member
So the Summit is out. Thanks for all the responses. I'm glad to know others have managed on small planes with stairs and that we can twist the plane seatbelt, if we need to. We've decided to bring the Radians and, if it ends up being horrible, we'll buy the Go for our future trips -- without paying expedited shipping.
 

oxeye

New member
Please post an update and let us know how it goes. I am flying to Seattle in three weeks with my three kids and three seats (2 Radians, 1 Keyfit) with no help!
 

T.O. Twins

New member
Please post an update and let us know how it goes. I am flying to Seattle in three weeks with my three kids and three seats (2 Radians, 1 Keyfit) with no help!

Here's my update... We took the Radians on the little planes and it worked out really well. It turned out that we didn't have to board the plane using the stairs, but that would have been fine, too. The seats were heavy, but at least they were relatively compact when they were folded (though getting them folded back up after each ride was a bit of a pain). I loved having the 2 carry straps for them, even though most of the time the Radians rode in the stroller (since the kids did not). I initially thought I'd be able to somehow hang at least one Radian off the stroller handle, but that would not have worked. It would really be nice to be able to ditch the stroller and not have to deal with collapsing it and gate checking it all the time (or getting a car big enough for it at our destination). For the next flight, we may try putting two Radians on one luggage cart (one right side up and the other upside down on top of it).

I did order a couple of Safeguard Go's to check out and see if we wanted them for future trips, but after seeing them in person, we decided to return them. The Radian was a better traveling option for us for a few reasons. 1) the Go isn't actually all that small -- it would be a very bulky carry-on to deal with shlepping through the airport and finding a spot for on the plane and 2) the Go is *just* an added carry on and serves no purpose on during your plane travel whereas the Radian was great for containing the kids for the ride (much better than the CARES harness which takes about the same amout of time to install as the Radian but doesn't contain them as well since the kids can easily open the buckle).

I am flying to Seattle in three weeks with my three kids and three seats (2 Radians, 1 Keyfit) with no help!

I think the logistics of 2 Radians and infant seat and a single adult is going to be pretty tough. Though I'm sure you can do it if you bring along the right equipment and organize yourself well. You will certainly need a lot of extra time to board and de-plane. I don't think there is any way you will be able to carry 2 radians and a bucket down the aisle of the plane at once without a luggage cart or something. Good luck and let us know how the travel works out for you!
 

oxeye

New member
Thanks for letting us know how it went! I am going to do it with a luggage cart I think. Then I won't even need to rely on helpful strangers hopefully. :)
 

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