Car seats to carry and travel with

[Spaceracers]

Hello, sorry another car seat one!

I am so confused. Is there such a thing and please recommend me one as a car seat that is safe, relatively lightweight and easy to travel with / put in the hold of a plane for a 7 and 5 year old?

We have heavy isofix ones in our car at home but looking to take car seats when we travel and hire a car. To make matters more complicated, I will be travelling solo and by public transport to the airport so ideally need to be able to carry them (do people have bags for these?) as well as hold our luggage.

Is this possible or is it better to suck up the cost of the hire car providing seats?

Where are you travelling to? For example UK car seats aren't compliant in the USA.

Ireland and the rest of Europe but no further!

For a 7 and 5yo I'd probably look at Trunki Boostapak, which fits into hand luggage sizes for some airlines I believe - or if you want a full high back, (maybe better esp for the 5yo) Maxi Cosi Tanza i-size looks great - get a travel bag for it with rucksack straps, and wrap with towels or a beach blanket or a couple of big hoodies or dressing gown etc to protect it in case it gets thrown around.

That's R129 certified so fully up to date in all of Europe. The Trunki is R44 but that is accepted to use as well, just can no longer be sold in mainland Europe.

With the Boostapak, the DC can carry it themselves as their own luggage, as it has built in straps.

Amazon have an offer on the Maxi Cosi booster and they sell loads of travel bags. I don't know whether a child would be able to wear it as a backpack, though - so you might be best off with one of these and one Boostapak.

If you're doing train transfers, leave enough time to sort a luggage trolley, and consider doing any transfer from home to train by taxi.

A Bubblebum booster is another alternative, it's inflatable so easier to carry x2 than the Boosterpak.
https://bubblebum.co/?srsltid=AfmBOor6EQN0oPPUalg1q8S4l5RNfcreoAKRDCTl3XUy9aOGcRrz_Hud

There is also the Mifold which is the lightest and most compact, but perhaps you wouldn't want to use it for longer journeys.

mifold.com/