Should I Bring the Carseat or Is It Too Cumbersome?

I would bring it. We always have and it has always been worth it (I'm saying this, but it was my poor husband who had to schlep it through the airport! =). A Britax Blvd is SO much easier to install and deal with than whatever you'd be able to rent from the car rental place. We bought the travel cover (with shoulder strap) from Babies R Us or Right Start or somewhere like that. We've always bought a ticket for our kids but it's still worth bringing the car seat to the gate with you. If there isn't an extra seat available, they can just check it for you right there at the gate, no big deal. Happy travels!

You can take the seat to the gate with you. Ask the ticket agent if the seat next to you is vacant. If it is then you can take the seat with you. If it is taken then just get a claim ticket and leave the seat at the door right before you get on the plane. Then when you arrive, it will be sitting there waiting for you. I suggest you do that with your stroller as well. My mom is a flight attendant so I know all the tricks to flying with kids. If you really want your daughter to sit in her seat, then I suggest you purchase a ticket for her. The britax carseats are pretty bulky so I am not sure if it will even fit. I have the Eddie Bower 3 in 1 convertible and it fits perfectly. I always put it next to the window so DS can look out.

Car seats are cumbersome to carry but we've always brought ours so our little ones could sit in them on the plane (we always buy the extra seat for safety reasons). We have a Britax Roundabout and it fits just fine in the plane seats (we even fit it on a tiny plane). I agree with the pp that you can't count on an extra seat being available. Our flights are always overbooked. However, it might be worth bringing the seat just in case because your daughter will be much more comfortable in the seat if a seat does become available. You can always gate-check the seat if an opening isn't available.

Carriers are available but they're expensive. We've always just carried the carseat.

Thank you for posting this question. We are planning to travel in Jan and wasn't sure about the car seat thing. One thing I would be concerned about with the Blvd (it's the one we have) is IF the side protection padding gets broken during the travel. I removed the cover off ours to wash it about 6 or 9 months ago and broke the padding in that process. It voids the side protection when it's broken. I would suggest checking it when you return home. You can buy it for $8 or something like that from the Britax web site if it is broken.
Just my two cents :O) Safe travels!
C.
PS. Please post or let me know what you decided to do and how it worked. Thank you!

with airlines cutting back on flights, etc., i wouldn't bank on there being an extra seat for you to take. flights are very full these days, especially between large cities.

i personally prefer to travel without the seat and then rent one through the car rental, but that's me. now that my son is over 2, we'll need to bring a seat.

i forget where we got our carseat carrier... try one step ahead? or elitecarseats.com. they have some good accessories for carseats.