Flying with car seats

[nidge1975]

Hi, We will soon be travelling on a short flight to Belfast with our newborn and will be taking our car seat with us (we've hired a car in Belfast). I know FlyBe put the car seat in the hold for free but do we need to package it up (i.e with bubble wrap or put it in a box), or can we just hand the car seat to the check-in people and trust they will handle it carefully?

We will be using the seat to get to the airport in the first place so if we do need to package it, we'll need to do this in the airport car park!!

Thanks.

It is best to package if you can - will totally depend on airport staff but we've had one damaged. They won't care whether it's packaged or not BTW.

I’ve always just handed it over, they generally go in the oversized baggage which doesn’t go on the normal belts.
Best option is to put it on the pram (if you have adapters) and hand it over at the door of the aircraft, the baggage handlers then put it straight in the hold so less chance of it getting damaged in my opinion.

We never pckage ours but If you don't package it up, make sure you tighten all the straps and ensure there are no loose buckles etc.

Yes good idea re pram!

We use a car seat bag and wrap it.

Lots of bubble wrap to be on the safe side!

Thanks everyone, looks like I might need to invest in some bubble wrap!

I’ve always just handed it over. Never packaged it. No problems over the past 3 yrs

Package it properly. The polystyrene shell can easily get damaged. If you've still go the box it came in that would be best.