Getting Carseat Through Airport

[FirstTimeMomFromMN]

We will be traveling with our 6 month old DD in May. We did not buy her a seat on the airplane, but plan on gate checking our car seat. We are hoping that the plane will not be full and we can use it on the plane! I was just wondering what is the easiest way to transport the carseat through the airport. It is not compatible with the stroller we will be bringing (Uppa G-luxe 2011). Also, any suggestions on a bag for the car seat to be checked in?

TIA!

[mrspeachykeen]

We have the J-childress backpack carseat bag (http://www.amazon.com/Childress-Ultimate-Seat-Travel-Black/dp/B0009RNXNA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301262506&sr=8-1) and love it. It fits our infant seat with no problems. I have used it to check the carseat(a no-no to many people on this board, but it was our only option) without any issues.

[DietCokeLover]

I have used a cheap luggage roller ($8 at Walmart) and bungeecords to transport our Marathon through airports. Worked well for us. Rolling was much easier than carrying.

[jjordan]

Use bungee cords to strap the car seat onto the stroller.

[larig]

i have used a cheap luggage roller ($8 at walmart) and bungeecords to transport our marathon through airports. Worked well for us. Rolling was much easier than carrying.

:yeahthat:

[FirstTimeMomFromMN]

OK...this may seem dumb, but how do you bungee the car seat to the stroller....any tips or pictures??

[wellyes]

This may sound really cheap, but so be it: I have used a thick garbage bag as a car seat cover when gate checking. Worked just fine.

I've always had to gate check my car seat prior to getting on the plane and have never been able to confirm that I'm able to use an 'extra' seat until I'm ON the plane, so even if you get a seat, you may not have your car seat.

Bungee cord sounds smart but I've also just hung the handle of an infant seat off the stroller handle. Inelegant but functional.

[jjordan]

OK...this may seem dumb, but how do you bungee the car seat to the stroller....any tips or pictures??

There are any number of ways, depending on the stroller and the car seat. If you're not putting the kid in the car seat, then it doesn't really matter how you finagle it as long as it is on there well enough to not fall off, kwim?

What I'd try first is probably putting the bungee cord through one of the belt paths on the seat and then hooking each end of the cord to one of the vertical bars on the stroller. If the car seat has bars on the side (like a marathon), then you can hook either end of the bungee cord to those bars and wrap the cord around the back of the stroller, maybe. Just experiment a bit!

[sweet_pea]

Use bungee cords to strap the car seat onto the stroller.


:yeahthat:

If you want more tips on how to do this, go to the carseeat forum and search for "bungee" and several threads will come up. Here's one:

http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=384675

[okinawama]

I've also used a cheap luggage carrier and attached the carseat to the luggage carrier using the LATCH system from the carseat. That way I don't have to deal with keeping track of one more thing.