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June 2013 Moms
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flight - help me decide...

KMeredith82KMeredith82 member
in June 2013 Moms
we are flying with our little guy and i am struggling to decide what would be easier...  do we:

a) bring our car seat (infant) and stroller (b-agile) on the plane, with the plans of gate checking both.  as of now there are "many" seats open on our flights, so we may be able to take the car seat on the plane and use an empty seat.  we have 2, 2.5 hour flights so having the option of putting him in his car seat would be great.  i think we have a better chance of him sleeping in his car seat than we do on us.  

or b) rent a car seat from the rental car place at our final destination, and just bring an umbrella stroller on the plane, which I am assuming we could put in the overhead bin because it folds up much smaller.

i've flown by myself with him before and haven't had any issues, but it's always been a short, 1 hour flight, and i was able to borrow car seats at my destination.  that is not an option this time.  other things to consider:

- we are going to a wedding, and have to take a shuttle to the wedding destination from the hotel.  not sure if it would be better to have the car seat on the shuttle, and at the reception so that he could potentially fall asleep in it if he's tired?  or to just hold him on the shuttle and take an umbrella stroller, which would take up less space.
- it would be nice to have our larger stroller for a few things that we plan on doing, as i know he can sleep in it if needed.  i'm not sure if he'd be as comfortable in the umbrella stroller (we don't own one, i'd be borrowing on from my mil).

any advice would be appreciated!!
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Re: flight - help me decide...

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  • ASmallWonderASmallWonder member
    edited April 2014
    Steamboat1679 said:
    https://www.saferidenews.com/srndnn/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=zNnkSQCE0ks=&tabid=352 Car Seats Gate-Checked or Checked as Luggage Car seats are designed to withstand most motor vehicle crash forces. In general, the MACPS does not consider a gate-checked car seat or a car seat that is checked as luggage to be one that has experienced forces equivalent to a motor vehicle crash. Once the destination is reached, it is recommended to inspect the car seat to make sure no visual damage has occurred and all aspects of the car seat function properly. (August 2012)
    This is true that a checked seat is not considered "crashed" but it is considered a seat with an unknown history.  Seats can be in horrific crashes and come out without a scratch but we know they are no longer usable.  The scary reality is that you can't always see damage that could render the seat useless at the time you need it most.  
    Formerly known as elmoali :)

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  • KMeredith82KMeredith82 member
    thank you for all of the comments - good point about the condition of the rental seats, if for no other reason, it sounds like it would be good to take my own car seat.  at that point, we might as well take our stroller too because our seat can attach to it, and will make it much easier to navigate through the airport.  

    i can't believe how much extra stuff it requires to take a baby along on vacation!  we already have a large rolling duffel bag that can only really fit the pack n play!  
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  • KMeredith82KMeredith82 member
    @majwv8 - thanks for the link!  i had no idea something like that existed, how great!  

    unfortunately i don't think that will work for us on this trip (we're starting and stopping in two different locations, so it seems easier to just bring our own), but i will keep that in mind in the future. 

    i think if we can get through the airport portion (getting to the counter, and then getting from bag claim to the rental car place), we will be good to go.  we are flying southwest so we can check up to 4 bags for free, which also helps.  
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  • daffy2kdaffy2k member
    I just recently flew with LO. I brought everything, including my big stroller. Gate checked (in travel bag). So happy I did. I would never rent a car seat, but also having my own stroller with me right to the gate and right after de planing was very convenient.
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