Aussie plane travel question- difference between US and Aussie carseats?

[wolverine2]

Hi! I know there are some people here who make the trip to Australia regularly. We are going at the end of June, and during our trip are going to take Jetstar for a domestic trip because of the great prices. We bought DS, 19 mo, a seat and want to bring our Roundabout onboard. The website was confusing about bringing on a carseat, and I know other Australian airlines have weird carseat policies, so I called first.

The website says:
"You are welcome to bring one (carseat) with you, providing it meets the standards described below.
There is a limit of two Australian Designed car seats per flight (as there are two attachment straps for Australian Designed Car seats available in each aircraft)"

What would these attachment straps be? I looked up the Australian Britax site to see if the seats looked that different, but I got a little freaked out by the manual that said you could install the seat in the front of the car if it didn't fit in the back seat.

I talked to two different agents about using a US manufactured carseat, and they both had no clue, but one spoke to a supervisor, and both of them ended up saying "yea, I think it should be fine." That makes me a little nervous.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Carrie

DS 10/04
^i^ 4/06

[californiagirl]

You'll be fine -- the Australian standard for carseats doesn't test them untethered, so Australian carseats MUST always be tethered. Providing tether points on an airplane is non-trivial, and normally they're only available in the back row. Thus, only 2 carseats, because they're only two seats you can legally put a baby in where you can also have a tether point.

US carseats are tested untethered. They're perfectly legal to be held in with just a seatbelt, and can go in any seat in a plane. So as long as you aren't flying Jet Blue, who won't let you use carseats at all, period, you're good to go.

Note that Australian cars do not normally have seatbelts with a way to disable the retractors, so you're going to need to use the locking clips (built into a Britax, thankfully) and honestly, we always tether because the installs just don't feel as solid. (And yes, we tether Australian-style, going to behind the rear seat of the car even when the baby is rear-facing).

[niccig]

You may have to state your case to bring the carseat onboard, I know QANTAS can be difficult about it, eventhough their web page says you can bring them. I would have a print out of their information with me just in case the check-in or gate staff are difficult. I don't know if it's common to bring a carseat on a plane in Australia. I asked my friends and none do it, where I always see people here.

They may also make you have the baby out of the carseat and attached to your seatbelt with an extender for take-off and landing. Strange, yes, but it's their regulations.
I would also check about gatecheck of strollers, especially if you'll use it to lug the carseat. For eg. we didn't get our gatechecked stroller back in Sydney while connecting on to Brisbane. Big PITA if you've got a carseat. DS was in the bassinet, so we didn't have his seat but next trip we'll need his carseat and a backpack bag/luggage cart thingy.

Hopefully the car you drive will have a lap only belt for the center position, we got a great install and didn't have to worry about the locking clip, much less fuss in the airport car park.

Have fun, enjoy your trip.

Nicci

[daniele_ut]

>So as long as you aren't flying Jet Blue, who won't let
>you use carseats at all, period, you're good to go.

I flew JetBlue round trip to NYC in November 05 and used Logan's carseat both ways. I'm not sure where you heard that information, but that hasn't been my experience.

[californiagirl]

Sorry, I didn't mean JetBlue -- I meant VirginBlue, the Australian airline. (And the information comes from their website.) JetBlue has no choice. US airlines MUST let you use an approved carseat in a purchased seat, period, end of story. Australian law is different.

I've flown multiple times on Qantas with an American carseat. You do have to argue with them, but it's always worked for us.

[daniele_ut]

Ahh, gotcha! I've never flown to Australia, but I will file that valuable info in the back of my mind in case we do.

[debsten]

Hi,

I fly to Australia frequently with 2 kids. Haven't flown too much domestic and last time with a child was 4 yrs ago and I can't remember what we did.

I always fly qantas from LA, if you want to use a car seat on their flights they are quite strict about getting it approved first. You need to call them and they get details from you ie seat type, width, airline approved etc and then it goes to special handling and they will approve it or not (I have never been not approved). This is then on your profile and I have never had any trouble as long as I have done that. You also must purchase a seat to take a seat on board, regardless of whether there are vacant seats.

In regard to gate checking, it isn't very common, I know when I get to Australia, even if I gate check at LA I have to get the stroller off with regular baggage, kind of annoying. You can ask for assistance though and they will if available (again never had a problem) have some one meet you off the plane with a stroller.

HTH

Good luck with your trip, if you do fly qantas I highly recommend them, I know some people have said they haven' had a good experience but I have done the trip about 7 times with kids and at least 5 of them by myself and they have always bent over backwards to help.

Debbie

[niccig]

ITA with Qantas being helpful. On our recent flights, within 10 mins of boarding we got asked by several different air stewards if we needed anything, where the changing table was, what to do with the infant selt belt, how the bassinet worked etc. I just wish they would gate check stroller. At our Auckland layover we had to get off the plane with all our carry-on, walk through the terminal, go through security, have our passports checked, to then walk all the way back to the gate and get on the SAME plane. Total PITA. DS can walk now and he'll be older when we travel next, so it should be easier.

[californiagirl]

On the one hand, when we flew Qantas out of LA, there were 5 kids in seats on the plane and not one was pre-approved, and they didn't even blink.

On the other hand, they were exactly the opposite of helpful to us (sometimes because our seat wasn't pre-approved, which they NEVER TOLD US ABOUT in 4 flights, 3 of them originating in Australia, but often it was on-board personnel who had no way of knowing it hadn't been pre-approved, they just didn't want to deal with a rear-facing baby). And they destroyed our luggage. We avoid flying domestically in Australia because my husband is still mad at Qantas for being rude to us and lying through their teeth. And for a policy that says that babies WITHOUT tickets have priority for the bulkhead seats. I'm glad to know that there is a domestic alternative that allows carseats.

[wolverine2]

Thanks for the info. I found another place on Jetstar's website that said that carseats must conform to Australian OR US standards, so I'm going to print out all the carseat info from their website, as well as call them ahead of time so they can make a note of it. Hopefully it will work! We're taking United from the US to Australia, so the seat there won't be a problem. Now, just to find enough entertainment for the ride!

Carrie

ETA: I'll let everyone know how it went with Jetstar when we get back at the end of July, so you'll know for future reference.