S/O - Have you had terrible experiences with carseats on planes?

[BabbyO]

This is a S/O of the lap infant thread. If you use a carseat on the plane most of the time, how has your experience been?

In 2012 we went to the Bahamas with our then 1 and 3 yo boys. We intended to have Stachio be RF on the flight, just like a home, but that didn't work. If we were able, we hoped to put Peanut in an empty seat. Our experience was horrendous, cranky flight attendants, no pre- or early boarding group consideration, passengers who were very upset because it took me a couple minutes to install the seat so DH couldn't get into the row with me...holding up people on the plane, seat in NO way fit RF, and even FF was a tight squeeze. On the one flight we were able to bring Peanuts infant carrier on the plane - it wouldn't fit RF....it was just insane.

I NEVER want to travel with a carseat on a plane again. Both boys are big enough for a CARES harness now...but DH balks at purchasing 2 of these at $75 since we'll probably only use them 1-2 times...and I've never seen them on CL or other discount options. I guess the whole situation has left me bitter about air travel, esp with kids. I feel like it is either (a) unsafe, but somewhat affordable (b) safe, but VERY stressful or (c) safe, but even more expensive because I have to buy another contraption, AND I run the risk of damaging the carseat I checked or gate checked....

FWIW - we flew United Airlines...and they don't allow pre-boarding or early boarding for families traveling with young children. The gate agent said for another $25/ticket we could be moved to a priority boarding group...that would have been another $100!!

Am I the only one who's had this experience.

[khalloc]

we flew with carseats a handful of times. the first time was with a 1 year old and a 3 year old. we brought Cosco Scenaras for both. DS was a lap baby and there were no extra seats for him so we gate checked his Scenaras. I think DH installed DDs Scenara with ease. On the way back from Aruba my parents were flying with the kids while DH and I had some extra time to ourselves and they had to put the car seats on the conveyor belt in security and then pick them up at the other side of security. well they forgot to pick on up so we lost a car seat there. DD sat in her car seat (I presume) and DS was a lap baby. Luckily they were getting into a car on the other end that already had car seats installed!

at other time we flew with 2 car seats was to Orlando. actually DD probably did use a car seat on that plane ride, but we did bring it for the rental car. That was a PITA just because we had to lug 2 seats. now we are going somewhere next week and we will not bring any seats both kids will just sit with the lap belt . They are 8 & 5. e have boosters for the rental car provided by the rental car company.

[nfowife]

I haven't had too bad of experiences. I am surprised that you had such problems with United. The main times I have had issues is with foreign carriers while I lived overseas, because they don't follow the same rules we do in the US.
I wouldn't worry about FF vs. RF (though RF is easier because they can't drop stuff and kick the person in front of them as easily) because the crash forces in a plane are very different than in a car. At the age my kids are at now I generally would not use seats anymore, for a longer flight I might for the 3 year old but we are just about out of needing one and fly rarely right now.
We have mostly used sceneras or big britax carseats and they have been okay. The scenera is the best for travel because it's so lightweight.
There are some vendors on ebay who have rented out the CARES harnesses in the past; something to look into for the next flight.

[daniele_ut]

I've flown a bunch of times with car seats and never had any issues. If I was traveling with DH, I ALWAYS got on before him to install the seats and he would board at the very last call. That way we were never blocking an aisle. If I was traveling alone, I just installed as quickly as possible while the child was perched on my seat.

I installed a RF Graco Snugride, a RF Britax Roundabout (the old style), a RF Chicco KeyFit, a RF and FF Combi Cocorro, and a FF Britax Marathon over the years without problems. I never worried much about RF on a plane after the age of 1, even though my kids were RF until almost 3 in our cars.

[elektra]

Never had any problems from flight attendants. We did FF DD on the plane at 15 mo, even though she was still RF in cars long after that.
I once had a horrible time getting the seat out there. We had tightened the belt so much and we could not get the flap back open because it was so tight up against the hard plastic of the seat.

[mikala]

I've flown with seats at least five times and haven't had any issues with a Graco infant seat rf or an Evenflo convertible ff. The flight attendants or gate agent usually ask to see the sticker that says the seat is approved for airplane use so that caught me off guard the first time.

[Momit]

It hasn't always been super easy but I wouldn't say horrible. We learned on our first trip that RF was not a good idea. The person in front of us kept trying to put her seat back but couldn't because the car seat was right there. Then we got up to use the restroom and the lady in front of us reclined her seat all the way then pretended to be sleeping when we tried to ask her to bring it back up. The car seat was so tipped that we couldn't put DS back in it - had to have the flight attendant come talk to her and she was pissed. Other that that it's just been minor logistics like carrying it up the aisle without clobbering someone.

[BabbyO]

I haven't had too bad of experiences. I am surprised that you had such problems with United. The main times I have had issues is with foreign carriers while I lived overseas, because they don't follow the same rules we do in the US.
I wouldn't worry about FF vs. RF (though RF is easier because they can't drop stuff and kick the person in front of them as easily) because the crash forces in a plane are very different than in a car. At the age my kids are at now I generally would not use seats anymore, for a longer flight I might for the 3 year old but we are just about out of needing one and fly rarely right now.
We have mostly used sceneras or big britax carseats and they have been okay. The scenera is the best for travel because it's so lightweight.
There are some vendors on ebay who have rented out the CARES harnesses in the past; something to look into for the next flight.

I wasn't terribly worried about Stachio being FF instead of RF....but it took a couple of extra minutes install the seat, so people started getting cranky. One of the flight attendants actually suggested gate checking the carseat. When I asked the gate agent if there was pre-boarding for families, she was pretty short and just offered the purchase earlier boarding for $25/person.

We did have 1 gate agent that was very nice on our return flight who put us in an earlier boarding group (like the 3rd group to board) so we could get on the plane and get settled sooner. That leg was the best of the whole trip. That gate agent is the one who told me that United no longer allows earlier boarding for families traveling with small children - which he believed was a bad decision.

[scrooks]

We have flow twice with car seats and both times were ok. The worst part was lugging the car seat to the gate. We took a marathon for dd when she was 2. We put it in Ff. We flew when ds1 was 3 and we used a scerena ff. On that flight dd was 5 and just used the regular seatbelt. At this point if we fly in the near future I would on drag a seat on board for ds2. Ds1 is now 4 and I am ok with no seat for him on the plane.

[JBaxter]

I've used a car seat 4 or 5 x on a planes always FF ( would be majorly ticked if "I" couldn't recline my seat so I didn't want to do that to another flyer) and actually always United. I've never had an issue with the airline or flight attendants DH had Premier status so we did board early but no issues at all.

[BabbyO]

I've flown a bunch of times with car seats and never had any issues. If I was traveling with DH, I ALWAYS got on before him to install the seats and he would board at the very last call. That way we were never blocking an aisle. If I was traveling alone, I just installed as quickly as possible while the child was perched on my seat.

I installed a RF Graco Snugride, a RF Britax Roundabout (the old style), a RF Chicco KeyFit, a RF and FF Combi Cocorro, and a FF Britax Marathon over the years without problems. I never worried much about RF on a plane after the age of 1, even though my kids were RF until almost 3 in our cars.

We were in the 2nd to last boarding group so by the time I got on the plane with the carseat it was crowded, backed up from people trying to get bags in overhead bins (we didn't have any bags except a diaperbag and backpack), and by the time I got to our seats, the flight attendants were antsy to get people seated and get going...


I've flown with seats at least five times and haven't had any issues with a Graco infant seat rf or an Evenflo convertible ff. The flight attendants or gate agent usually ask to see the sticker that says the seat is approved for airplane use so that caught me off guard the first time.

Interesting...It was the Graco SR32 and an Evenflo convertible that we were traveling with. They did ask to see the sticker for us, too...but that was fine. The Evenflo was a tight fit even FF. I know the people infront of Stachio didn't feel comfortable reclining because his legs were so close to their seat.

If we fly again when we need better restraint, I'll have to look into renting the CARES harness....

[echoesofspring]

The only problem I've ever had was in Japan on a small plane when DS was 6 months old. The airline said our seat (safety 1st infant) wouldn't fit, so they would provide me w/a seat, it was much too big for DS at the time and I ended up just holding him. But, on the flight from Toyko to the US the woman in front of us was majorly upset about DS being behind her, and kept complaining (in a language I didn't understand) to everyone she was traveling with, coming over and giving DS the stink eye, etc. I might have felt a little bad about it, but she had at least 1 empty seat next to her, maybe the whole section and she was being a real jerk. And she could recline a little bit, just not as much as she wanted to, but she wouldn't have been able to do that with an adult behind her, kwim. The flight attendant totally had my back though and told her she should have just bought 2 seats if she wanted 2 seats, and then made a big deal out of treating DS just like any other paying customer, right down to bringing him his own meal :)

Other than that the only hassle is the schlepping. It was most difficult when I traveled by myself with the kids (2 evenflow convertibles), but even then I had flight attendants and passengers offering to help, but it's stressful when I can't do it by myself. I have always had a tix for the seat I'm using, occasionally I've been asked to show the tix, but not often. When possible we go Southwest, so I pony up the $10/a tix to get on as soon as I can. I try to be as efficient as I can be, keep smiling at people, keep our other luggage down to a minimum. I have had a couple bad experiences with United and US Airway traveling as a family but not due to carseats, but rather due to their stupid decisions to a)end preboarding for families, and b)not assign seats for families until at the gate b/c they don't want to give away the window/aisle seats. Both of those policies have created ridiculous situations at the gate, and I always feel bad for the attendants that have to deal with it. And usually we are one of several families dealing with the mess.

[lizzywednesday]

It hasn't always been super easy but I wouldn't say horrible. We learned on our first trip that RF was not a good idea. The person in front of us kept trying to put her seat back but couldn't because the car seat was right there. Then we got up to use the restroom and the lady in front of us reclined her seat all the way then pretended to be sleeping when we tried to ask her to bring it back up. The car seat was so tipped that we couldn't put DS back in it - had to have the flight attendant come talk to her and she was pissed. Other that that it's just been minor logistics like carrying it up the aisle without clobbering someone.

We actually warned folks ahead of us and bought them drinks for the lack of recline.

Because we were so affable about it, they usually didn't mind. It helped that DD passed out during the flights so they didn't have to listen to a crying baby.

[Raidra]

The last time we had to use a carseat on a plane was with a Graco SafeSeat. We used it RF and the woman in front didn't complain about not being able to recline, but she did ask me to stop Niall from fiddling with the plane's seatbelt (which was right in front of him, he was making a clicking noise with it), which made it much harder to entertain him.. so instead of clicking, she got fussing. Whatever.

Before that we flew with an Evenflo Triumph and didn't have any problems. We used it FF.. I didn't think it was a big deal for it to be FF instead of RF.

As soon as the kids get big enough, we use a CARES harness. You can rent them on eBay if you're not going to use them often.

[flashy09]

No, but I have been able to use infant seat and Coccoro (RF) so really small and easy.

[123LuckyMom]

Our experience was much like yours, OP. Then add in that DS shrieked and screamed and pulled at the car seat straps the whole time we had him in it. And add in a disgruntled couple in the seats in front if us because the man couldn't recline his seat. Finally the flight attendant offered to stow the car seat for us. Once DS was out of the carseat, he was a dream baby, and everyone enjoyed their flight. No more seats on planes EVER!!!!

We love JetBlue and will often pay more to fly with them just because they are so accommodating to families.

[Nooknookmom]

I've been flying with kids for 18yrs and have NEVER had a big issue. I take a copy if the airlines carseat policy every time and am ready to point out my carseats use guidelines (eg: rf weight limits, etc).

In fact I had a perfect system with dds two RA's (old version and 50) they fit perfectly in her zippy. so i stuff DD IN the carset and buckle...head to gate, take seat out - gate check stroller. Get early boarding...except on southwest?? and go install seat. no problems.

The only incident I ever had was when we were changing flints in Houston on continental and I rescue down to grab the seatbelt and someone had PUKED I the seat and it was NOT cleaned up!!! I had. A FIT. The attendants let us go stand in the galley (not allowed back in 08 I'm sure bc I was livid! I refused to even put her seat there bc it was unsanitary! I had human barf all over me too. So they upgraded us to get crazy mom settled ;) Only incident I can remember.

People have always been helpful too-even carrying my seat for me :)

I learned all these tricks from the BBB CARSEAT (thanks jools) page bc IMHO it's better to be safe than sorry and use a carseat for them. Turning the seat buckle around helps with un installing the seat.

[candaceb]

I have flown with DS 3-4 times a year since he was 3 months old. I always need a car seat on the other end of the trip so I might as well use it on the plane. I have had him forward facing on planes since he outgrew his snug ride and I've never had a problem with installs.

[HannaAddict]

No real issues. We've flown rear facing many times and offer to buy the people in front of us a cocktail or snack pack, or choose row behind exit row since they don't recline. Now with five of us, we put older kids in front of younger one with a parent. And parent with younger one. No issues with kids in seats, mine are happier in their car seats and turbulence is real and worse than ever with the amount of air traffic. Hawaiian Airlines always checks all the stickers to make sure okay and there are TONS of carseats in use on flights to Maui at least. A pain to not have pre boarding but we normally fly Alaska and husband is major miles guy so we pre board anyway.

[mom2binsd]

Never a problem and everyone around me complimented me on my quiet kids! As it was, some lap kids nearby were not so quiet and those parents got the evil eye from many a passenger.

I've RF a convertible, I explained to the guy in front that he wouldn't be able to recline his seat much, but that it guaranteed DD couldn't kick his seat and would probably sleep, bought him a beer and he was very nice!

[Simon]

I never had major problems, and I usually request to be directly behind the exit row because on many planes those seats don't recline anyhow. I just explain we'll be RFing and it will keep our Dc from kicking the seat in front but they will not achieve a full recline. Then I suggest putting us behind an empty seat or else the exit row. Its worked well for us on most flights.

Its true that there isn't pre-boarding any more for families and that sucks. If they look ticked that I'm not done installing the seat then I remind them they might have let me board earlier.

[rin]

We flew once with a carseat for DD1 when she was probably under 1 (maybe 9 months or so). It was horrible; everything from lugging the carseat while trying to balance a squirming baby walking down the aisle, to setting DD somewhere while I installed the carseat to wrestling with the carseat to get it in place while other people got backed up behind us. Then DD didn't actually want to sit in the carseat, and screamed the whole time until I took her out and held her anyways for the entire flight, and then doing the entire scene on the way out. We have never flown with a carseat since.

[theriviera]

I've had a bad experience every time I've flown with a car seat. DD1 doesn't spend much time in the car so I guess she missed the memo that car seat = stay buckled in for 5 hours. She screamed rear facing and kicked the seat in front of her forward facing (she was 15 months). Yes - we changed half way through the flight. I've also had situations where I had a hard time getting the seatbelt undone. We almost had to remove the seatbelt from the seat but DH managed to get it loose. DDs are so much better on the plane without the car seat.

[Swirvin]

This is a S/O of the lap infant thread. If you use a carseat on the plane most of the time, how has your experience been?

FWIW - we flew United Airlines...and they don't allow pre-boarding or early boarding for families traveling with young children. The gate agent said for another $25/ticket we could be moved to a priority boarding group...that would have been another $100!!

Am I the only one who's had this experience.

I am sorry you had such an awful experience. Traveling with small children is already stressful enough. I have been very fortunate in all of the travels we have done with our kids, never to have had an issue with carseat use on the plane. If you encounter the pre-boarding fee again, it may be worth you or your dh paying the $25 and letting that one person pre-board and install all of the seats while the other parent waits in line to board with the kids. I don't understand United's policy about not letting families preboard but for me the $25 would be worth it to avoid the hassle and dirty looks.

Good luck with your next trip :)

[AnnieW625]

We never had any issues but we only used infant seats, a smaller Evenflo Triumph 5 seat for DD1, and a lighter RA55 for DD2. In fact DD1 stopped sitting in car seats on the plane at 3 when she outgrew the Triumph because there was no way I was bringing the heavier Frontier or Marathon seats with us! We ff'd DD1in the plane from 8 mos. on and DD2 16 mos. on (when they out grew their infant seats) and never had any issues.

Eta: We fly either Southwest or Jet Blue and have never had an issue with pre boarding, although now at almost 4 and 8 we are pretty much passed the pre boarding phase.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[vonfirmath]

I have flown with the Britax Marathon, Britax Roundabout50, and Evenflo Maestro. Once on United. The rest of the times on Southwest. I've never had a problem with installing the car seat (RF or FF) -- once had a attendant insist that I turn the seat around FF after I'd installed it RF. Rather than argue, I did so. And spent the whole flight scolding/trying to keep DS from kicking the seat ahead of him (fairly ineffectively with his shoes 6 inches from it.) That's the only problem. I never stood in the aisle while installing though. I managed things to allow traffic to continue to board around me. (All but one of those times I was travelling alone with DS)

[BabbyO]

Our experience was much like yours, OP. Then add in that DS shrieked and screamed and pulled at the car seat straps the whole time we had him in it. And add in a disgruntled couple in the seats in front if us because the man couldn't recline his seat. Finally the flight attendant offered to stow the car seat for us. Once DS was out of the carseat, he was a dream baby, and everyone enjoyed their flight. No more seats on planes EVER!!!!

We love JetBlue and will often pay more to fly with them just because they are so accommodating to families.

Thanks for making me feel like it isn't only me. I did lots of research...we had the GoGoKidz to help with schlepping through the airport...minimal luggage on the plane - just a diaper bag and 1 backpack for 4 people. Unfortunately, Southwest and JetBlue don't fly to the destinations we go to most of the time. When we went to the Bahamas our only option was United....


I am sorry you had such an awful experience. Traveling with small children is already stressful enough. I have been very fortunate in all of the travels we have done with our kids, never to have had an issue with carseat use on the plane. If you encounter the pre-boarding fee again, it may be worth you or your dh paying the $25 and letting that one person pre-board and install all of the seats while the other parent waits in line to board with the kids. I don't understand United's policy about not letting families preboard but for me the $25 would be worth it to avoid the hassle and dirty looks.

Good luck with your next trip :)

I would maybe consider paying the $25 but that sorta ticks me off...that I have to. The hard part is DH didn't want to be alone with a 1 and 3 yo and he doesn't know how to install the seats. Plus he was just plain kinda against having the seats on the plane anyway - you know, because he NEVER sees a carseat on the plane. So I was the bad guy all the way around for insisting on the seats...then the no pre-boarding, or having to pay more to board and leaving him to deal with the kids on his own - none of it was ideal...and the experience made DH even more sour on the whole situation.

[Ms B]

The terrible experience was not on the plane but going through security. We took The Biscuit to San Diego last June. Because of timing and the amount of stuff we had, DH decided it made sense to drop off me, The Biscuit, the City Mini (with stoller bag underneath), the Scenara, the diaper backpack, my carryon and one large bag at the entrance to the airport and then go return the rental car (and bring his carryon and two checked bags with him). He has a priority pass through security, so he knew it would take him very little time to get to the gate once he got back to the airport.

I, on the other hand, had a nightmare getting through security. I had to put every blessed thing through the metal detector (including the car seat and the stroller bag, which did not want to come out of the somewhat inaccessible City Mini basket), wait while they wanded the City Mini, walk through the detector with The Biscuit, put him in the stroller, and then go BACK through the detector while he howled. And then I had to get dressed, put on the backpack, attach my carryon to the mommy hooks, throw the Scenara on top of the stroller, make sure The Biscuit had his froggy, and finally move on.

I am pretty sure that I was the least popular person in the terminal that day.

I have high hopes that our trip to the East Coast next month will be better -- at least The Biscuit should be able to walk through the detector now.

[egoldber]

We have flown a lot with our kids. (More with older DD than younger.)

I didn't use carseats on the plane once the kids were 3. Older DD would happily sit with the lapbelt and she really wasn't that comfortable in the carseat.

Younger DD HATED being confined. After one flight where she screamed and kicked and fought being in the seatbelt almost the entire flight (flight attendants were throwing snacks and candybars at us to try and get her to stop...I was in tears), we checked the carseat after that. We figured the worse that would happen (if seat didn't show up or was damanged) we would rent one. Or maybe very worse case, DH would pick up the rental car and find a Walmart or something to buy a new, cheap seat. We've never gone anywhere with them that this wasn't a possibility.

[niccig]

Flown with a car seat multiple times a year for at least 4 years. Graco Snug ride until DS was 1 and then a Cosco Scenera after that. I wouldn't call it horrible. It's a pain to lug it around, but I worked out a system where it fit in the stroller and then DS in the seat. The scenera is lightweight so I could carry it on myself with DS strapped to me or walking ahead when he was older.

As for the time to get it into the seat, if they're not going to let me preboard (and I always asked), then people are going to have to wait. DH was the only one that got antsy, and honestly, him getting antsy would make me take longer as I had to deal with him rather than concentrate on getting the seat in. Because we flew so much I got pretty quick at it.

Our worst flights was when DS wasn't in a car seat. 17 hours return trip to Australia with him in the basinette meant he was on me for the ENTIRE time. Did I say it was 17 hours! Then a 4 hour flight to Mexico with the Cares harness as we didn't have a car at destination. I wanted to shoot myself as he was so uncomfortable. Put him in the car seat and he would sleep for 10 of the 17 hours to Australia. I swore I was going to keep stuffing him into it for as long as I could.

[sunnyside]

I fly a lot with my 3 yo and my biggest problems have been with flight attendants who do not know that the seat must go in the window. It's only come up a few times when there were no window seats left and I had to purchase other seats and deal with it at the gate.

Otherwise in about 30 or so flights over the past few years, we've been fine. It's just me and my child and I put her FF in a Scenera and it's super easy. Lightweight, easy to install. I bring the Bob stroller and put everything on it like a cart, give myself plenty of time. DD either rides and holds her rollie bag, or walks and wheels it. It's an adventure, but I try to give myself lots of time, bring a little extra cash to buy treats (for me and for DD) in the airport and have a well thought out plan (will have time to get through security, then once through will get to a shop to buy a bottle of water, a couple activities or toys for DD, magazine for myself or something, and some yummy treats/snacks to break out if needed (I always get M&Ms, as we never get candy, so it's a nice treat).

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

I had a horrific flight with DS2 when he had just turned 2. Just the two of us were taking a red eye from East Coast to West Coast. He feel asleep while waiting to board and woke up as I buckled the carseat in. OMG. He cried all the way to Iowa or something. It was terrible having the carseat because then I had less than one seat to manuever in. What a disaster! I ended up standing up in the back of the plane for more than an hour, so it's not like the carseat was doing us any good in terms of unexpected turbulence.

I never used a carseat again on a flight. We do fly several times a year.