Are britax seats difficult to travel with?

[Nedra]

Was talking to a friend recently and she said that everyone she knows flies with car seats, but not with a Britax. She made it seem kind of like it was obvious that a britax convertible would be too heavy and cumbersome for travel.

Is that true? We are planning to get a nextfit for our car, but were thinking about getting a Britax Pavilion for my MIL's car so that when we travel, we can use a lighter seat, since the Nextfit is really heavy. But will the pavilion still be too much for travel? I know it's heavier than a scenara or another super-light seat, but it didn't seem ridiculous.

I don't want to have to buy a third seat because the britax is still too heavy. Any advice/experience is appreciated.

 

[MommyShannon]

They are still kind of heavy and bulky. The nice thing is how easy they are to install in any car at the other side of a trip. The SureRide is lighter and lasts longer rear and forward facing though if you'd like something that fits more situations.

 

[jjordan]

The nice thing about traveling with Britax seats is that you're pretty well guaranteed to have an easy installation in rental cars.

When you talk about traveling, do you mostly mean flying? How often do you fly? If it's once or twice a year then I think you'd be fine with a Britax seat. We've flown several times with ours and it's never been enough of a hassle to justify buying another super-light travel seat.

 

[Pixelated]

I've never found it to be an issue and have flown with a Britax seat several times. It fits really well on the plane too. My other travel seat is a 27lb Radian, so perhaps it's all what you're used to!

 

[ketchupqueen]

She also may be thinking that you intend to manually carry it through the airport- that's not necessary! you can get a folding cart to attach it on, or use a Travelling Toddler strap to strap it to your rolling carryon.

 

[Persimmon]

Britax seats are also grandparent-friendly (easy to install even if you don't have good hand strength) so I think it would be a good choice for MIL's car in case she had to install it herself.

Give me a Britax over a Scenera to fly with any day. Who wants to deal with the possiblility of needing a pool noodle for a rear facing installation in a strange rental car at the end of a flight? When DS forward faces, a Britax Boulevard 70 will be his travel seat and I have a spare Scenera in the closet.

 

[SafeDad]

The Britax convertibles tend to be a little smaller, lighter and less bulky than the typical convertible, making them a little better than average for travel. Not as light and small as a Scenera, but definitely easier to carry than an average model. Plus, installation with LATCH is a breeze in most vehicles. If it is primarily a seat for travel or a relative's car, why not save a little money with a:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Britax-Roundabout-Convertible-Seat-Onyx/dp/B00F9Q3FPC/"]Amazon.com: Britax Roundabout G4 Convertible Car Seat, Onyx: Baby[/ame]

 

[Nedra]

The Britax convertibles tend to be a little smaller, lighter and less bulky than the typical convertible, making them a little better than average for travel. Not as light and small as a Scenera, but definitely easier to carry than an average model. Plus, installation with LATCH is a breeze in most vehicles. If it is primarily a seat for travel or a relative's car, why not save a little money with a:

Amazon.com: Britax Roundabout G4 Convertible Car Seat, Onyx: Baby

Good question! I think about this often, actually!

My reasons for the Pavilion over the Roundabout are:

1. I have a perception that the Roundabout is outgrown RF sooner than the other Britax convertibles. Is this a faulty assumption? I think I was thinking this because I think I read that the seated shoulder height is lower in the Roundabout, but for RFing kiddos, I suppose it's just the shell height that matters. Advice?

2. My in-laws have struggled with understanding how snug a safe harness needs to be. I thought maybe the click-and-safe feature would be a winner. When I tried it out in store, it seemed perfect. But when I tried it out with my daughter and the seat installed in the car, it was difficult and I found that it clicked before the harness seemed snug. But it was still a floor model, and so there were all kinds of booklets attached to the seat that maybe were getting in the way? Plus, it had the hugs pads in, and I think I would remove those for RFing. Is the click and safe feature not really worth it? I thought it would bring me piece of mind, but I worry it will give a false sense of security.

3. True side impact protection -- I'm not sure how important it is to keep the head and body aligned in a side impact crash, but britax seems to think it's important enough to advertise. Thoughts on "true" SIP vs regular SIP?

Thanks!

 

[MommyShannon]

The Roundabout is supposed to be the same height rf. I've been meaning to compare my DD2 in it and the Marathon70 since she looked at the limit in the RA55 recently. Forward facing the RA55 is shorter and outgrown sooner. I've never had the click safe but have heard very mixed reviews. I like the MA70 a little better since it has the no-rethread harness. I haven't gone for any of the upper versions.

 

[Nedra]

The nice thing about traveling with Britax seats is that you're pretty well guaranteed to have an easy installation in rental cars.

When you talk about traveling, do you mostly mean flying? How often do you fly? If it's once or twice a year then I think you'd be fine with a Britax seat. We've flown several times with ours and it's never been enough of a hassle to justify buying another super-light travel seat.

We fly maybe 2-3 times most years. But since the baby was born (10 months ago), I've only flown with her one time and that was with an infant seat. I suspect that we will fly less now that we have a kid, but we are already planning a family reunion this summer -- part of which will be in NYC (so we'd have to lug a seat into the city on public transit).