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When flying, check carseats at the gate or curbside?


Where should we check our carseats?  

  1. 1. Where should we check our carseats?

    • Curbside with everything else
      17
    • At the gate
      16
    • It doesn't really matter
      3


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Is it better to check carseats at the gate when you fly or curbside with the rest of the luggage? Are there any pros to checking carseats at the gate? If not, I am assuming it would be better to check with everything else so we won't have to lug them through the airport. ?

 

Thanks!

SJ

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We opted to check them at the gate as we didn't want to risk them not being there when we got to our destination -- sometimes luggage just doesn't make the connection and then what would you do at the other end?

 

When they were younger we used them on the plane but the most recent time they were both in boosters so we gate checked instead.

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Gate if you have to check them at all, but preferably on the plane with you.

 

Car seats are a safety tool. Don't be willing to let them be dropped, damaged, lost or in any other way unusable to you when you get to your destination. I got a GoGoKidz Travelmate pretty cheap at our thrift store a while back, but if I hadn't found that my next option would have been a bungee cord and a rolling carryon bag. I rely on that thing too much to let it out of my sight and into the hands of people who wouldn't be paying personally to replace it. When it comes time to get a booster we'll be gate-checking since that's our only option, but up till then the seat will go on the flight with us.

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Neither. I always brought them on the plane and my child sat in it. If he needed to be in the seat in the car, he needed to be in the seat in the air.

 

Edited to say: I thought you were speaking about much younger children. My 7 yo kids were never in car seats, so that wasn't an issue for us. At five, I think he was in a booster, and I think I checked it at the gate.

Edited by DianeW88
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At those ages I'd buy 2 Bubble Booster seats and put them in my luggage. Yes, my 5 year old is still in a 5 point harness carseat at home, but carseats are such a nightmare to travel with. It might depend on how long your vacation is for and how much driving you're doing, though.

 

We always check the carseats at the gate because we use them (it? Tense depends how old my kids were for each trip, LOL) as a stroller in the airport (we have those things that attach wheels to the carseats, and then we can check the stroller), but if you don't need to do that I'd do anything to avoid having to lug them around the airport.

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At those ages I'd buy 2 Bubble Booster seats and put them in my luggage. Yes, my 5 year old is still in a 5 point harness carseat at home, but carseats are such a nightmare to travel with. It might depend on how long your vacation is for and how much driving you're doing, though.

 

 

I'd be inclined to as well, or getting the Ride Safer vest as a backup. Even the Kid-Y harness with the booster would be an option, though pricy.

 

One thing I plan on getting before we leave Europe is the Trunki Boostapak. It's a backpack that turns into a booster seat for the car. While not entirely optimal, it makes me feel better than an air seat. It's available in Canada and many European countries but not the US yet.

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Neither. I would never check a seat. Not even at the gate. They do not treat luggage kindly. They toss everything around without any regard to potential damage. If your boosters won't fit in carry on luggage, I would get Bubble Bums or RSTV's. If the 5 yo is still in a harness, you could install it on the plane, or go with an RSTV.

Edited by CPSTAnne
typo
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FWIW, my experience in gate checking large things like strollers and carseats is that they usually end up down below anyway. They're very big and planes don't have much cabin storage space. So I don't actually think it makes much of a difference. A 5 year old isn't going to fit in a carseat on a plane (IME the carseat touches the seat in front of you, and the attendants aren't going to allow his feet up against the seat, for the comfort of whoever is in front of him), and they can't sit in a booster on a plane.

 

But, as I said above, my vote is "neither" and to get a very portable booster (the Bubble thing, or that vest someone posted... I forgot about that) and bring it as carry on or put it in my luggage.

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We have always checked them wherever we check the rest of the luggage. We've never had a problem. We fly international once/year + various domestic flights during the year, and have for the past 5 years. Some years we have flown international more than once/year. In all of those flights, we've never had a lost, damaged, anything wrong with the car seat, ever.

 

Check it, worry free. Seriously. It will be fine.

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Checked a carseat w/ my luggage. When I got it back, it was completely ruined! I had to immediately go to the customer service where they did a report and gave me a replacement (that was the cheapest carseat ever). I ended up getting a reimbursement for it, but it was not a good experience at all.

The whole reason I was flying, alone, with two small children, was for my grandfather's funeral...so just more stress. Never again!

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For a car seat able to be used in a plane, neither-take it with you and use it on the plane. It's more comfortable for the child, and that way you know you have it.

 

For a booster, check it at the counter. You can't use it on the plane, and it ends up below anyway, so I'd rather have it bagged by them.

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For those ages, I would check low-back boosters curbside (regardless of the type of car seats you use at home). It would be pretty tough to damage a low back booster, and the chances of that happening would not be worth the hassle of dragging them through the airport (IMO; I have a really low tolerance for dragging stuff through the airport).

 

We only recently started flying again with all six kids. We took two britax roundabouts and one low back booster, checked curbside, no problems whatsoever. The skycap put them in plastic bags as usual. Those were for the 3, 4 and 6 y.o.s. I let the 9 y.o. boys travel without their boosters.

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We always used our car seats on the plane. If I had to check it, I would do it at the gate to minimize damage. When youngest dd was 6 we let her use a low back booster with a shoulder strap holder for travel, even though she used a 5 pt harness at home. Low back boosters are pretty indestructable, so we bungee corded the two together, secured them in a bag, and checked them at the counter.

 

Bubble Bums are neat. I've never heard of them before. It might be worth getting one for my youngest dd if we make a trip before she is out of a booster.

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I've had a carseat that didn't arrive with our luggage once. The airline gave us a carseat to use at our destination until ours arrived the next day. It wasn't the best carseat in the world, but we weren't stuck at the airport waiting for ours to arrive. It was several years ago, and I don't know if they'd still do that, but that was my experience. I have also rented carseats with rental cars in the past if I were traveling alone with the kids to avoid having to lug carseats around the airports. It was less hassle. Again, I had no control over the quality of the carseat, but I had a carseat that I didn't have to transport and no risk to my own carseats in transit.

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I've had a carseat that didn't arrive with our luggage once. The airline gave us a carseat to use at our destination until ours arrived the next day. It wasn't the best carseat in the world, but we weren't stuck at the airport waiting for ours to arrive. It was several years ago, and I don't know if they'd still do that, but that was my experience. I have also rented carseats with rental cars in the past if I were traveling alone with the kids to avoid having to lug carseats around the airports. It was less hassle. Again, I had no control over the quality of the carseat, but I had a carseat that I didn't have to transport and no risk to my own carseats in transit.

 

We got a carseat the last time we rented a car. It was the crappiest carseat I had ever seen. I'm sure it was well past expiration date.

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I always bought DD a seat and used her car seat if I was bringing it. Safest way to get both it and DD to our destination. Now that she's in a booster it's one of our carry ons.

 

I once saw a family wandering around baggage claim trying to find their car seat after our flight finally landed at about midnight (we were horribly delayed). They were still trying to figure out how to get to their home/hotel as I left. I've often wondered what happened to them.

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A 5 year old isn't going to fit in a carseat on a plane (IME the carseat touches the seat in front of you, and the attendants aren't going to allow his feet up against the seat, for the comfort of whoever is in front of him)

 

You must have a much bulkier car seat than mine. I have to fit 3 seats in the back of an economy vehicle so I chose narrow ones. I have never had a problem fitting these car seats on airplanes. If the seat has a sticker saying that it is FAA approved, the airline has to let you bring it on board. My oldest's high-backed booster doesn't, but she's old enough to legally ride without one (even if I plan on keeping her in it in my car until the seat belt fits her properly).

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