Baby car seats and strollers and flying?
Discussion
What do you do with car seats? They are not allowed in the cabin unless you buy an extra seat.
So if you do take it with you it will go in the hold. Within the hold it could be bumped or the baggage handlers could bump it or damage it - it could be ruined as in be in an impact and look like new but not be safe to use again.
Ditto strollers they could get ruined in the hold and if you have a pricy one which is broken when you land what do you do?
If you hire a car and hire an infant seat that may have been involved in an accident so not safe to use.
Clearly these are important questions as the most important person in your life will be travelling in it and I want absolute safety for the baby.
Hope you can help.
Am also thinking if it wasn't damaged on the way out but then ruined on getting it back at Heathrow you cannot then drive home. Flight could be middle of the night so your stranded.
So if you do take it with you it will go in the hold. Within the hold it could be bumped or the baggage handlers could bump it or damage it - it could be ruined as in be in an impact and look like new but not be safe to use again.
Ditto strollers they could get ruined in the hold and if you have a pricy one which is broken when you land what do you do?
If you hire a car and hire an infant seat that may have been involved in an accident so not safe to use.
Clearly these are important questions as the most important person in your life will be travelling in it and I want absolute safety for the baby.
Hope you can help.
Am also thinking if it wasn't damaged on the way out but then ruined on getting it back at Heathrow you cannot then drive home. Flight could be middle of the night so your stranded.
If you're that concerned about the possible risks to your car seat (which is just a big near-indestructable lump of plastic) then you probably shouldn't fly anywhere.
Boobles on here is an car seat engineer, or similar, and has a car seat thread in GG IIRC so it's probably worth asking there about how hard it is to damage one.
Boobles on here is an car seat engineer, or similar, and has a car seat thread in GG IIRC so it's probably worth asking there about how hard it is to damage one.
My understanding is that the foam material is no different to a bike or skiing helmet and once it has an impact it's bin time.
Agreed about the physical plastic bits but the safety is the foam or polystyrene.
Hence noone should buy a used car seat as you have no idea if it's been in a car accident and may look like new but be totally bin fodder.
Agreed about the physical plastic bits but the safety is the foam or polystyrene.
Hence noone should buy a used car seat as you have no idea if it's been in a car accident and may look like new but be totally bin fodder.
Buggy is left on the bridge just before you get on. You can buy bags that they go in to stop superficial damage, but you clearly won't prevent anything major that way. Experience would suggest you are far more likely to have the thing lost than damaged.
Car seats go via the oversized baggage area, not the same route as bags. So should be treated well in theory.
If they are going on your lap, and it works well, then all is good. But a wriggly child who doesn't want to be stopped wriggling rapidly turns into a wild animal. The option of their own seat over 6 months old can be worth the extra, assuming there isn't the bassinet option.
Car seats go via the oversized baggage area, not the same route as bags. So should be treated well in theory.
If they are going on your lap, and it works well, then all is good. But a wriggly child who doesn't want to be stopped wriggling rapidly turns into a wild animal. The option of their own seat over 6 months old can be worth the extra, assuming there isn't the bassinet option.
I'm flying out to Spain soon, and contacted a few car rental companies out there. By all accounts, there has been a bit of a crackdown on car seat quality, and most now charge extra (quite a bit more infact) for car seat hire, to ensure they are as high quality, and in as good a condition as possible. I chose a company which (allegedly) changes car seats every 6 months or after signs of wear/tear.
As for the buggy, take a cheap one, leave the fancy one at home.
I'm more worried about keeping the kids calm on the flight itself
As for the buggy, take a cheap one, leave the fancy one at home.
I'm more worried about keeping the kids calm on the flight itself
Whenever I have flown anywhere Car seats get checked in and you collect from the oversize bay, I have never been charged. I have never had any damage occur, although Northwestern airlines managed to loose the fabric back cover of my recaro start.As someone else said strollers are left on the bridge and you pick up when getting off.
I had a bad experience with a rented car seat in canada. The fixing mechanism was very unusual to me and the car rental guy had no idea how it worked.
I had a bad experience with a rented car seat in canada. The fixing mechanism was very unusual to me and the car rental guy had no idea how it worked.
I've been on loads of holidays and never had an issue with buggies. They are pretty indestructible. If you have an expensive one then buy a cheap one to take on holiday. I can recommend the Zeta Vooom on ebay which has everything including an additional part of the hood that drops right down to shade the occupant - less than £60.
As has been said, you get to take the stroller to the gate and then they load them all in the hold and they come out on the carousel. NEVER had any damage but a bag would avoid some of the inevitable dirty scuffs. Alternatively, take a bin bag and wrap it with a luggage strap
Hell, our strollers get far more abuse being dragged across sandy beaches.
In the past, I have had some right crap by way of car seats but it does seem they have finally cracked down. I hired through Centauro last October and got a brand new quality child seat and was so impressed, I've booked through them again.
In addition, for older children, you can buy a Trunkie backpack that converts into a booster seat so they get to take their toys on the plane and then have the "thrill" of using it as a booster. Recommended.
If you do want to take your baby seat, most airlines provide a free 10kilo weight allowance for babies but as I've said, the massive leap in quality last year means I no longer despair when I hire a child seat. The prices have gone up slightly - 3-4 Euros a day but they cap the charge around Euros42.
As has been said, you get to take the stroller to the gate and then they load them all in the hold and they come out on the carousel. NEVER had any damage but a bag would avoid some of the inevitable dirty scuffs. Alternatively, take a bin bag and wrap it with a luggage strap
Hell, our strollers get far more abuse being dragged across sandy beaches.
In the past, I have had some right crap by way of car seats but it does seem they have finally cracked down. I hired through Centauro last October and got a brand new quality child seat and was so impressed, I've booked through them again.
In addition, for older children, you can buy a Trunkie backpack that converts into a booster seat so they get to take their toys on the plane and then have the "thrill" of using it as a booster. Recommended.
If you do want to take your baby seat, most airlines provide a free 10kilo weight allowance for babies but as I've said, the massive leap in quality last year means I no longer despair when I hire a child seat. The prices have gone up slightly - 3-4 Euros a day but they cap the charge around Euros42.
Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 27th April 09:27
LuS1fer said:
If you do want to take your baby seat, most airlines provide a free 10kilo weight allowance for babies but as I've said, the massive leap in quality last year means I no longer despair when I hire a child seat. The prices have gone up slightly - 3-4 Euros a day but they cap the charge around Euros42.
We have a 'cheap' car seat bought from Makro that we use just for holidays. We also have a car seat cover in which the car seat and the eldest child's booster seat fits quite nicely. Ryanair has just charged me £20 for 20kg of infant equipment. Hiring a car seat and booster with the hire car would come in at Euros 84. The car seat's been flown every year for the past 7 and is still tip top. We once hired a car seat in Valencia, after going through all of the seats available at the rental depot, we managed to find one that was working better than and slightly less filthy than the others. But things might have changed. At least with our own we know. Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 27th April 09:27
SwanJack said:
We have a 'cheap' car seat bought from Makro that we use just for holidays. We also have a car seat cover in which the car seat and the eldest child's booster seat fits quite nicely. Ryanair has just charged me £20 for 20kg of infant equipment. Hiring a car seat and booster with the hire car would come in at Euros 84. The car seat's been flown every year for the past 7 and is still tip top. We once hired a car seat in Valencia, after going through all of the seats available at the rental depot, we managed to find one that was working better than and slightly less filthy than the others. But things might have changed. At least with our own we know.
Up until October last year, I would have agreed entirely - some of the seats we've had in the past have been a disgrace but Centauro's seat was way better than our own. For 14 days it's 48 Euros in August.This is that Trunki packpack booster which they can also use on the plane.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003HKQJFK/ref=asc_df_B...
We hire as with 3 kids and luggage, an additional lump of baggage can be quite a chore and on return, you don't have to worry about refitting it.
Welshbeef said:
My understanding is that the foam material is no different to a bike or skiing helmet and once it has an impact it's bin time.
Agreed about the physical plastic bits but the safety is the foam or polystyrene.
Hence noone should buy a used car seat as you have no idea if it's been in a car accident and may look like new but be totally bin fodder.
Fair point, and I'll admit that I'm not especially risk averse, but what's the likelihood of being in a big accident on holiday? I appreciate it's not perfect but they'll be vastly better off than they would have been even ten years ago. Agreed about the physical plastic bits but the safety is the foam or polystyrene.
Hence noone should buy a used car seat as you have no idea if it's been in a car accident and may look like new but be totally bin fodder.
If you're that concerned then packing the seat in your hold bag seems the way to go. Filling it with clothes will protect the foam from impact and limit the space it occupies.
Much good advice above. We've never had a car seat or buggy damaged despite having four children and flights all over the place. For our first we used a hand-me-down seat from my brother and a second-hand buggy. When we had twins and needed a twin buggy we used our own but we did learn fast that it is a wise move to strap the buggy together with a bungee - the buggy's own catches don't do the job. Many years ago we used Avis for rental in the south of Italy and although the child seat had an Avis branded cover on it, it appeared to be a top of the range Britax. Last year in Menorca the car hire place was on site with all the other hire companies and whilst there I noticed a line of quality child seats. I guess it depends where you are going to but car hire seems to have caught up on child seats.
ETA The tricky bit is the transfer from the airport. No child seats available there. On a recent trip to Finland the coach was doing 50 MPH (80Kmh, I was sitting behing the driver and could see) on packed snow. The back stepped out and I & my wife (I know this is PH heresy but she is a good instinctive driver) both felt it go and gave each other the "oh bother" look but he just caught it effortlessly as if nothing had happened.
ETA The tricky bit is the transfer from the airport. No child seats available there. On a recent trip to Finland the coach was doing 50 MPH (80Kmh, I was sitting behing the driver and could see) on packed snow. The back stepped out and I & my wife (I know this is PH heresy but she is a good instinctive driver) both felt it go and gave each other the "oh bother" look but he just caught it effortlessly as if nothing had happened.
Edited by UnderTheRadar on Saturday 28th April 12:09
If you have an Uppa baby stroller they sell a bag which comes with a guarantee that the stroller will not get damaged. If it does they replace it. I figure this is just confidence in their product. My wife has just flown to Disney with stroller and car seat checked in the hold and there was no damage.
Stroller ways it also depends where you are flying to.
At GB airports and most others you take the stroller to the airplane door when iy's moved to the hold. At some airports you can collect it again at the same place, others it goes through the system.
At Nice the french b
ds make you check it in the outsize luggage area. You then have 2 hours of chasing a toddler around who thinks it's great to be let loose.
Trust me it's not the baggage handlers you are cursing.
I've never had a great issue with baby seats from the big names. I'd be a little more concerned about the independents in some countries.
I think it's also important to to care for it as if its your own. We had one incident where daughter clearly had not adjusted to local water. Entire bloody seat had to be stripped down and washed.
At GB airports and most others you take the stroller to the airplane door when iy's moved to the hold. At some airports you can collect it again at the same place, others it goes through the system.
At Nice the french b
ds make you check it in the outsize luggage area. You then have 2 hours of chasing a toddler around who thinks it's great to be let loose.Trust me it's not the baggage handlers you are cursing.
I've never had a great issue with baby seats from the big names. I'd be a little more concerned about the independents in some countries.
I think it's also important to to care for it as if its your own. We had one incident where daughter clearly had not adjusted to local water. Entire bloody seat had to be stripped down and washed.
If you're that concerned about the stroller, send it with the oversize luggage and it'll be loaded properly.
There's more chance of damage taking it to the gate, as ideally loading should be nearly finished as you are boarding. This means the stroller gets loaded in bulk in the back with late bags. Have a look at the chutes some airports have for gate checked items, there's a chance your stroller could be sent down one.
All arrivals services have car seats spare should yours go missing.
There's more chance of damage taking it to the gate, as ideally loading should be nearly finished as you are boarding. This means the stroller gets loaded in bulk in the back with late bags. Have a look at the chutes some airports have for gate checked items, there's a chance your stroller could be sent down one.
All arrivals services have car seats spare should yours go missing.
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