Stage 2 car seat on short haul flight, anyone taken one?

[jooseyfruit]

Flying out to see parents in Spain.
We're borrowing my aunties car once we're out there, but need to take ds2's stage 2 car seat.

Anyone done this, did you have to pay extra? Did it survive the journey in the hold?

TIA

bump

We've done it no problem. You'll have to check with the luggage terms for your airline to see if it is included or not. Last time we travelled it was EasyJet so we had to book each seat on as bags and pay for them but to balance it out they let you take one piece of baby stuff such as travel cot or pushchair for free.

thank you Indith.

Yes, done this several times and never had to pay but did always check in advance. We bought a cheapish lightweight seat as our usual one is isofix and really heavy. Also I was a bit worried that it might get chucked around by baggage handlers. We also bought one of those carry bags for it as we knew we would be travelling a lot (and it means you can put a bit extra in - such as a pack of nappies strapped into the seat ). Our seat has no visible damage but there is no way of knowing how it has been handled - although we still thought this was preferable to some of the extremely dodgy-looking seats hired out by the car hire companies we've used. HTH

a cheap light weight seat is a great idea sweetapril. Thank you.

what make was the cheapish lightweight seat you bought SweetApril?

It was from Argos a couple of years ago. The make was Nania, I think. I'll try and find a link. I have to say it didn't get a particularly good safety rating but again we thought it was safer than the hired alternatives. Obviously something like Britax or MaxiCosi would be a top choice in terms of safety. Back in a mo.

oh thank you SweetApril

It looks very much like this. Says it's Baby Start but I can see that Nania is printed on the back of the seat in the picture. Actually, now I'm wondering if this is a Stage 2 after all - maybe I've got that wrong - it's the second seat we bought so I automatically thought stage 2. It's front-facing age from about 9 months to 4 years. Argos seem to have a few reasonably-priced seats anyway, including a Britax for about £70. Also I definitely recommend fitting it in your own car to get the hang of how to do it. We found it a good fit in several small hatchbacks but it did take a few attempts to get it right. It's the kind of thing that can really raise your stress level, arriving hot and tired and trying to fit a unfamiliar car seat in an unfamiliar car!

that's great, thank you. it says group 0 and 1 but then says suitable up to 4 yrs , i did manage to find a Britax one for under 50 quid, so I may go for that one depending on how heavy it is (i think you can bring up to 10kgs?).

I know what you mean about increased stress levels when fitting car seats, so will def try it out before hand.

Thanks for your time

No problem! Think I've just forgotten how the stage/group thing works! The Britax seat sounds like a good deal. Not sure about the weight thing. I put the seat on the check-in scales just to make it easier for them to tag it but I'm not sure they actually weigh it. Then have always had to carry it myself to the "oversized item" (or whatever they call it) check-in area. Never had to pay extra and, as I say, always checked in advance although no-one ever actually asked me on the phone how much it weighed. Got to say have never taken it on Ryanair!

I do recommend the travel bag though. We got this one and have been very happy with it. It is getting a bit worn around the edges now but has been on at least eight flights. It is absolutely huge and the shoulder strap is really handy. If you pack anything extra in it I would def strap it into the car seat in case the zip goes and everyhing spills out or something. Have a good holiday anyway.

the bag is a fabulous idea.
luckily parents came over with their car earlier on in the year, so took loads of nappies and the stroller with them.

thanks again!