Flying with a carseat?

[Anonymous]

We've flown from DCA to South Florida many, many times with our now 27mo DD. This, however, will be our 1st trip since she's turned 2 and she will have her own seat. We plan on taking one of our carseats so we can use it in the rental car, but we've never flown with a car seat before and have some questions:

How hard is it getting a car seat in the airline seats?
Do they have to sit in one particular seat - middle or window? (I assume they wouldn't want them in the aisle)
Does it count against your carry-on luggage ?

Thanks in advance for any advice or info.

[Anonymous]

Has to go in the window
Not too difficult, but make sure your seat is FAA approved--it should have a sticker indicating that it is. Some larger seats may not fit easily, I know people who have cheaper seats they use for travelling.
Doesn't count against carry-on, but if you check it, it counts as a second bag and most airlines charge $25 each way for an extra bag now.

[Anonymous]

I have always bought my kids seats on planes, even as infants, so we've lugged the carseats many times. However, at 27 months I would switch to a CARES harness and check the carseat.

It weighs less than a pound and fits in your purse. SOOOOOO much easier than carrying it onto the plane. If you pack smartly, you can still fit everything for a famiy into 2 bags so the carseat doesn't count against you.

If you decide to carry onboard, buy a back harness for it from OneStepAhead. It leaves your hands free, which is so nice. Kills your back, though.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. We've never used a carseat on flights before, but this is the 1st time we will not be flying straight to my parents who have a carseat in their car. We will need it for the rental car.

We are leaving this coming Sat morning - does anyone know where the best and FASTEST way would be to get a CARES harness?

[Anonymous]

If you do bring your car seat on, ask for a belt extender. That will make it soooo much easier to install the car seat.