Which seat should I take?

[Pixels]

I'm flying alone with DD on Friday. She does not have her own seat. My ticket was paid for by the people I'm going to see. I was hoping to get a freebie seat for her, but now my flight is full.

I have readily available a Radian or a ComfortSport. With some effort, I could get the BabyTrend out of storage. I honestly don't know if she's over the limits on this yet or not. I'm confident she still fits by height, but she was 18.5 pounds a month and a half ago, and the BT has a 22 pound limit. I'm confident that I can install any of the three seats in the vehicle at my destination, so that's not a factor.

Having scrutinized JetBlue's policies regarding carseats, I found that I can baggage check or gate check the carseat for free. I won't be able to carry the RN or CS onboard because they're both too big to go in the overhead. I'm pretty sure the same is true with the BT (though not 100% sure). I do have the original box the RN came in, but no boxes for the other two seats.

So which is the least awful option?
Option A: Gate check the ComfortSport
Option B: Baggage check the CS
Option C: Gate check the Radian (I do like the backpack straps!) with no box.
Option D: Baggage check the RN in the box.
Option E: Gate check the BabyTrend and pray she's under the weight limit, and still will be a week and a half from now when we come back home.
Option F: Baggage check the BT and pray she's under the limit.

 

[bree]

I've never flown with my kids or their seats, so of course, you'd have to take my answer with a grain (or 100) of salt. I'm basing my opinion on seeing video/reading stories about how carseats and other luggage are treated by airline staff. I don't really know which would be safer (gate or baggage check) in terms of treatment by the airline staff, but I'd pick option E or F.

I definitely wouldn't take the Radian, because I wouldn't want it to be abused by the staff handling the luggage. Since the BT is almost outgrown, I think that would be better to chance taking, in case there is some mistreatment of the seat or even visible damage. Since she'll still be using the CS and the Radian at home, I wouldn't want to risk the damage.

Plus, on the off-chance the flight has open seats when you get there, I think the BT would be the best bet for taking on the plane. Since it's an infant seat, it would have to be RF. The Radian, I believe, won't even fit RF on a plane, and even with the CS, you might get grief RFing it from a flight attendant.

 

[Jewels]

If you had to check a seat I would gate check it before baggage checking it and I would take the seat that you would like to use on your trip. If you're taking a stroller you might be able to put the CS in there and then push it through.

If it were me i'd opt for taking the RN and carry it with the backpack straps.

 

[pastrygirl]

You can borrow my Scenera, if you want, especially if you're concerned about treatment of the seat. I don't use it anymore now that I have the Radian, and have no plans to use it for real. I bought it on clearance at Target so that I could have a demo seat for all the workshops I've planned that have been canceled.

Then again, if you're concerned about how it will be treated, it might not be a seat you'll want to use once you get there...

 

[ketchupqueen]

I just plain wouldn't do it. I'd UPS a seat in a box to my destination ahead of time and have someone meet me with it, or otherwise arrange to have a seat there. I gate checked a seat ONCE. In a bag. A padded bag. It ended up filthy and probably damaged. I used it for the ride home and trashed it.

 

[kbud]

Just an FYI, JetBlue doesn't over book so it may be full but it's not over-booked so you could get a seat. They will tell you it's full but hang out until the end and see. Don't check the seat until you are certain. My DH works for JB and I was a flight attendant for years and know better. I checked my seat because they told me it was full when we checked in and guess what, an empty seat right in our row! Boy I could have kicked myself.

I'd see if she fits in the infant seat still. By far the easiest way to travel. Why don't you just weigh her before you get it out of storage. Weigh yourself holding her one time and not holding her another time and you'll be pretty close to what her weight is.

Ok, I just realized you are leaving tomorrow so you've probably made a choice by now. Good luck.

 

[Pixels]

I ended up taking the ComfortSport. I was afraid the Radian would get damaged, and I wasn't real comfortable with using the BT because of the weight issue. Plus it's a royal pain to use without the base, because DD is too big to get into the seat once it's installed, and installing it with her in the seat is difficult because I can't push down on the seat where I want.

I used the CS's LATCH straps and a load-bearing caribeaner to strap the carseat to the rolling carryon. The LATCH straps were just long enough. If the suitcase had been any bigger, or any fuller, it wouldn't have worked. Then I put DD in the carseat. Backpack on my back, and diaper bag over my shoulder. I didn't check any bags. I even had a free hand! The only quandary I had was how to get everything to the end of the jetway, but a nice gentleman offered to help by carrying the carseat for me.

I'm crossing my fingers for an empty seat on the return flight. 40 out of 100 seats are still empty, but this flight tends to fill up in the last couple of days.