Flying with a car seat Diono Rainer or RXT

tzsmall · January 2015

I'm thinking of purchasing a Diono convertible car seat. I saw that Diono sells a travel bag for their RXT. Has anyone used the bag for airplane travel? Do you gate check your seat? Or does it fit (I see that it folds flat) in the overhead compartment? I really want the Ranier. Has anyone travelled with that?

Mrs.LKA · January 2015

I have 2 of the rxt but have not used them for air travel. We use a cosco seat that weights much less, making it way easier to bring through the airport. Also if the diono got broke I would hate to feel like I lost $300 compared to the $35 of the cosco seat. That said the diono would not fit in an overhead bin, you could gate check it in a bag.

tzsmall · January 2015

Thanks. I always gate check versus regular checking my infant car seat based on the suspicion that the airlines might damage my seat. So I'd rather lose $35 than $300. I'll look at the Cosco. I know we'll be buying 2 seats, 1 for each car, so I wanted to avoid buying a 3rd.

kmc84 · January 2015

Have you ever watched what they do with gate checked luggage? Go on YouTube-you can find plenty of videos of carseats being dropped from the stairs or falling off the conveyor. Gate checking is not a better option. The Dionos are great to travel with since they are narrow enough to fit easily in the airplane seat.

velvethelicopters · January 2015

Buy another seat, request a belt extender, use seat on plane. I've now gotten two Clek Foonf on a plane on my own. Diono can fold flat to be backpack carried.

Never mind what happens to seats, your child is not safe if unrestrained. Flight attendants want all passengers secure in seats, not for profit. Several have reported on children who didn't survive simply from being lap babies. Emergency landing protocol for lap babies is some variant of on the floor in front of you. As a SN parent, I felt disgust towards the parents who tried to fame out their disabled child because the flight attendants wanted what was safest. Guess what, my girls couldn't sit up independently for the first six flights. One has had neck surgery. They sat fine before, they sit fine now in rear facing car seats.

schnitz9 · January 2015

Check with Diono. If you buy their travel bag sometimes they warranty the carseat. Many company will warranty their stroller or carseat on planes if they are packed in the travel bag that is purchased through them. I know this is the case with UppaBaby and their travel bags.

gimmietimmies · January 2015

I have the bag and carry straps. I prefer the carry straps, but after lugging it through airports I'd just do a luggage cart or strap to one of our rolling carry on next time. It was too frustrating to dig the seat out once we were on the plane. Oh, and any Radian on the plane vs the wider flaring Rainier/etc. And you couldn't pay me to gate check or regular check my seat. I have a window view to the shenanigans of baggage handlers.

Want a personalized experience?

Flying with a car seat Diono Rainer or RXT

Re: Flying with a car seat Diono Rainer or RXT

Choose Another Board

Search Boards