I am going to be flying with my 3 yr old and 17 month old in October by myself. I intend to either check their car seats at check-in or gate check them. I'm concerned to put them as checked baggage because I don't want anything to happen to them as we paid quiet a bit of money for each of them. But on the other hand I'll have a stroller, our carry on luggage, and my 3 yr old walking to handle so taking two carseats to gate check will be difficult. Any suggestions for car seat travel bags and whether to check them as baggage or gate check? I would prefer not to have the bag like backpack as the car seats are not light and I'm pregnant with #3. Hope this all makes sense. Thank you, Mamas!
I have checked My Britex car seats many times. I double trash bag them. and I pack 2 trash bags for the trip home. works perfect!
Check out the product called Go-Go Kidz Travelmate. It attaches onto the car seat so you can push it like a stroller. I think you can find it on Amazon and Right Start. If you don't need a stroller at your destination, I would highly recommend it. Good luck!
Oh girl...and you're pregnant!? Check those babies at the desk and be done with it! I understand your concern but I've checked mine more than once and they have always come back just fine. The airlines will put them in a giant plastic bag and seal it with tape. I don't really know if buying a car seat bag will protect it anymore than that, so you may want to save your money and just use their bag. Good luck, you're brave!! :)
They pretty much get the same treatment whether they are gate-checked or checked at the desk, so save yourself some trouble and check them with your luggage. I bought a travel bag at Babies R Us that has wheels, which makes lugging it easier. It also has backpack straps if you want to use them later, but they are on clips so you can also use them to strap the seats to your other wheeled luggage. Good luck!
We use an old hockey gear bag - big enough to fit a Britax and still zip up. Cheaper than the custom made options. Last time, I also just used a cheap file box on wheels from Staples to wheel through the airport - I looked like a schlep, but it did the trick!
With 2 kids, seems to me that checking at the gate will be easier...those things are designed for accidents, so don't worry about the wear and tear.
good luck!!
Two thoughts for you...
One...you can rent car seats from a lot of car rental companies...maybe look into that so you don't have to deal with even getting them checked?
Two...we checked ours when we went to Hawaii, but there were two of us there...one to push the stroller and one to push the cart with our luggage and car seats. I think it might be REALLY tough for you on this part being on your own. BUT...checking them was fine. We actually kept the boxes they came in and put them in that for the flight and that worked out great. Just flattened them back down and put them in the trunk until the flight home. Just remember to bring packing tape. They'll also give you "fragile" stickers to put on them.
Good luck!
-M
Gate checking is much easier since you don't have to worry about the carseat not making it from point A to point B, but it sounds like you will have your hands full and can't lift much. I'm not sure if the airport can help you out with one of those carts to get you to the gate or not, but it might be worth it to check. Also, they make wheels that you can attach to the carseat - it's basically like putting a set of luggage wheels on and it has a handle that you can push so you could strap your 17 month old in and essentially use it as a stroller. I know you can find them on line and in the One Step Ahead catalog, but I'm not sure what they're called. If you can get any help from check-in to your gate, I would gate check, but if not then I think you will have to curb check the carseats since you won't be able to carry them both. Good luck!
buy a travel bag to put the car seats into. you can put a duffel bag of stuff in it and not pay for extra bags. also if you put it in a travel bag or proper bag to check it in they usually cover any damages to it (this usually applies to the stroller in one too) they usually do not cover damages in their clear bags or trash bags.
I spent a lot of time flying coast to coast when my kids were very little. I checked the car seats every time. I found a really sturdy bag that I loved from the One Step Ahead catalog/website. My kids are now 12 and 9, so I haven't looked at that catalog for a very long time. When I just had one child, the car seat got checked and he shared my seat. Once he turned two and had his own seat, his brother had come along and was now my lap child. You will find that most times other passengers on your flights are aware of what it takes to fly with young children and are kind and helpful. The first time I flew with two children, I tried to bring along a stroller, carseat, carry on and diaper bag. I was trying to figure out how to drag all this stuff and a 10 week old baby in a front pack through the Atlanta airport. The Delta agents came to my rescue, gate checked the stroller and tagged the carseat all the way through to the west coast. I never had a issue with damage to the car seat. Today's car seats are make a little better than the ones I used 10 and 12 years ago, you should be fine checking them.
Missy is right, it doesnt' matter if you gate check them or check them with your baggage, they will be mishandled, thrown around, bags thrown on top of them, and probably damaged that you can't see and thats dangerous in a crash. I know you have alot on your hands with traveling alone with two kids (trust me, I've been there done that quite a few times) but you need to bring those seats on the plane and hook your kids in just like in the car. TRUST ME your sanity will be saved big time to have your kids restrained in the car seats during the flight.
A travel bag won't protect the car seat from damage, it protects from dirt. Thats about it.... but it WILL get damaged, likely internally that you can't see which is bad because if you cant's ee it, you still trust the seat and in a crash you need that seat 100%, not damaged by an airline. It won't get special treatment from the airline because its a car seat, and it will get the same treatment if gate checked, it goes to the same storage area.
Honestly...I did a lot of traveling with my daughter by myself and the back pack style is the ONLY thing that works....my system...I had one large roller bag in my right hand...across that I would lay a folded up umbrella stroller. Inside of the carseat bag I would throw in my carseat, backpak style diaper bag and her small blankie, etc. With my left arm I carried my daughter...I was able to make it easily by myself to check in. Once there I would unload the extra stuff-check in the carseat bag and lrg roller bag--put the backpak diaper bag on my back--unfold the umbrella stroller and away we would go! I also made it a point to wear kick off shoes or Tevas, and I always wore pants with pockets so I could put my ID and money in pockets so I didn't need to carry my purse too--I just packed it in my suitcase. We went to East Coast several times, Hawaii, up North....our system worked great.
I was just about to put my carseat bag on Craigslist this morning....I liked mine as it had a front support strap so that it didn't constantly ride up or fall off your shoulders.....if you would like to see a pic of it as an idea...send me a reply. I'm not trying to sell you....but the front strap makes ALL the difference!
