Berkeley Parents Recommendations for
Carseat Checked-in for Plane Travel
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Jan 2002
I would like
recomendations on ways to protect the stroller and carseat(we plan on
checking both) we have been told the bags you can buy are a waste of money.
what have worked for other travelers? jessica
We've done several five hour stints on airplanes, and in our experience we
have found that the heavy duty ballistic nylon carseat bags (Prince
Lionheart brand) have worked quite well for our two carseats. They are
about $28 or so on the internet and offer more protection than just the
plastic bags the airline would otherwise supply for you. Judging from the
beating both bags have taken over 4 years of travel for the oldest, the
carseats would have been toast by now without them. If you're concerned
about damage beyond that, you can further "pad" inside around the frame of
the seat with extra clothing/towels--on the return flights we often packed
our dirty laundry (the larger items) in the carseat carrier, which was an
added plus because we always have less room in the return trip.
carolyn
My first choices would be to gate check the stroller, and put the
carseat in an overhead bin. Second choice is to call the airline and
ask them what to do.
Heather
You mentioned that you were told carseat bags were a waste of money. I
don't think I'd spend the extra money on them, but some friends lent
us 2 carseat bags for a recent trip to Europe, and we were very happy
to have them. The bags are HUGE, and there is plenty of room to stuff
in items that would otherwise take up a lot of room in your suitcase,
like coats. Since we were traveling with a 3yo and a 6mo, it was the
only way we were able to stay within the 6 bag allotment. (Yes, we
have become the kind of hopelessly loaded-down travellers we used to
snicker at, but that's another story.) If money is not an issue, or if
you can borrow one, they can be quite useful. In terms of just
protecting the carseat, I've made 5 roundtrip flights with an
unprotected carseat and never had any problems. Some airlines have
heavy-duty plastic bags for backpacks and carseats, FWIW.
Jennifer
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