Airline suitable car seats

peteb2

Hi All

I'm between two minds on the maxi cost cabriofix and the pebble. The only difference beyond the bases seems to be that the pebble is airline suitable.

wife is due in February and the only trips I see in the first year is by aer lingus or ryanair to France. And possibly American Airlines to Chicago.

Do eithe airline let you use a baby seat? Or am i wasting my time considering the pebble for plane suitability? Aer Lingus webpage says you cant use the seat anyway............I think! But all seems a bit confusing!

Too

I suspect if you want to use a carseat you will have to pay for the extra plane seat (if they let u use one at all). If you are taking infant less than 2 on your lap it's free. If you are on the typical plane with 6 seats across try and pick seats on the right (as you face the pilot). There are only 3 O2 masks on this side so they have to leave the seat beside you empty.

Ayla

I can't speak for AA/international flights, but I'm about 95% certain that you can't use car seats on AL or RA. And if you can use a car seat on an international flight you'll have to purchase the seat to put it on (which can add significant €€€ to the cost of your trip). Under 2s are free/discounted but sit on your lap. Or if you're lucky you'll get put in the front row of cabin where you can ask for the bassinette that hangs from the wall.

Big Bag of Chips

We flew Delta to America with a 6 month old and were not allowed a carseat. He stayed on my lap. We didn't get one of the seats with the bassinet either, either going or returning!

It wasn't too bad though, as he was so young, he slept the majority of the time. The flight home was evening time, so he was asleep before take off and only woke at the bag carousel when a voice boomed over the speakers!!

bstar

From Aer lingus:
infants between 6 months and two years old can sit on the adults' knee and will be charged a flat rate of €20/£19 or equivalent per one way flight on all shorthaul routes or 10% of the adult fare on flights from/to the USA.
Car type safety seats may be used by children aged between 6 months and less than 36 months - in order to accommodate a child aged 36 months or older in a car seat; the child must be within the size and weight limits for that seat and special IAA approval is required, please contact specialassistance@aerlingus.com as soon as possible in advance of the flight.
Passengers may purchase a seat for the infant at the appropriate fare where the infant can sit in an approved, forward facing car seat provided by the passenger. The car seat must be restrained on the aircraft seat by the normal aircraft lap strap. Aer Lingus do not permit rearward facing car seats. The seat must be a purpose-designed children's car seat with a 5-point harness and must be of a type approved for use in motor vehicles and aircraft and bearing labels to this effect:
US – “Certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft”.
Europe – European Standard Mark


All of the american airlines will allow you to use a car seat but you have to buy the baby a seat. In fact they recommend it.

I've flown with the baby as a lap passenger and also with her in a car seat, the car seat wins everytime. We will always buy her a seat from now on so we can take her car seat.

skyfall2012

When buying a car seat the most important feature is how accessible it is when trying to get the baby in and out of the car. I think this is what made me so tired when my kids were babies, car seats and buggies, all the lifting. Someone told me that nowadays you can get car seats that turn towards you when putting baby into car and then you adjust them to face the right way once baby is tied in nice and safe.

I have traveled on flights with babies, but they always sat on my lap. I never thought of asking about car seats, but the down side of that is having to pay for an extra seat for the baby, if baby is on your lap you only pay a small amount for their travel on the flight.

Moonbeam

I can see no benefit of having a kid in a car seat on a flight but our seat has a label on it saying airline approved.
kiddy.de

bstar

Moonbeam wrote: »

I can see no benefit of having a kid in a car seat on a flight but our seat has a label on it saying airline approved.
kiddy.de

If you google what happens to a lap baby if the plane was to crash or have turbulence you would see a benefit. Babies are only strapped to you with the belt extender to stop them from becoming a projectile and injuring other people if anything happens. It's also handy to have the baby there in the seat so you can eat and go to the toilet etc with hands free or without finding someone to hold the baby.

Moonbeam

I always just put the baby in a sling .

Byzantium4

From the sounds of what everyone else is saying most airlines won't let you bring the car seat on
There are a good few differences between the cabrio and pebble I'd consider before the airline feature- we've been through this before ourselves! All depends on what base you're using them on, but if you're using the Family Fix Base (one that lights up and beeps) which will fit both the cabrio and pebble- the pebble performs slightly better on it.

To be honest if I were you I'd go for the Cabriofix and the easyfix base, it's a lot cheaper for the two. Only advantage to the family fix is there's a group 1 seat that fits on the same base (called the Pearl). I know when we researched we found that the Pearl wasn't as a good a seat in comparison to other say britax or besafe car seats on the market, the head protection wasn't great and I know of someone who had a Pearl and the child grew out of it heightwise very soon. I wouldn't rule out going with the BeSafe either, from what we've heard they're now coming out top in the tests and think they're the same price as the Cabrio?