Flying with a Carseat

I just did this for the first time on our most recent trip. Prior to, my daughter was under two and I (often with some regret) opted to go the lap infant route to save on the flight costs. It was BY FAR the best flights we’ve ever done with her - like night and day. Part of that I’m sure is age and the fact she will now zone out to a movie but I think especially for the overnight the carseat was a huge help.

I had heard of people running into issues with airlines/airline staff about bringing car seats on board - despite the fact it seems to be the recommended “safest” option by any governing body.

I was stressed about this - as my husband says I’m not my “best self” at the airport so I was looking to avoid any amount of conflict through overwhelming preparedness.  My main fear was being told I had to gate check the seat and not having it packed properly to avoid damage since we needed it for the rental car when we arrived. I got a ton of info from a carseat focused facebook group run by Ontario certified car seat technicians and, of course, instagram and reddit.

Here’s what I gathered:

• It helps to have your airline’s specific policy on car seats handy on your phone to show any airline staff that may not be aware.

• I also saw comments that some airlines need to be notified in advance if you will be using a carseat.  This was not true of Air Canada - after a lengthy wait on hold I was told that car seats are allowed but that it is ultimately at the "discretion" of the flight attendants. 

• It seems most airlines will only allow car seats to be installed at the window or in the centre of the centre row of seats to not impede egress in an emergency so that’s good to keep in mind when choosing seats. 

• You might be asked to show the sticker on the side of your car seat noting it is approved for airline travel so it would be worth confirming that your seat is approved and locating the sticker to be ready just in case! 

Getting around the airport:

• The car seat - we have the Cosco Scenera Next as a second seat for my parents car and it is super light so we brought that one on the trip with us.  Would absolutely recommend. 

• The car seat bag - I grabbed this one from Amazon to allow one of us to wear the car seat as a backpack. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality given the low price. It also gave me some peace of mind that worst case if we were forced to gate check the seat I could stuff all of our jackets inside the bag to give it some extra padding.

As luck would have it - after all of the research Air Canada didn’t even blink at us having the car seat or even ask us to take it out of the bag.  Anecdotally, I feel like I’ve seen a lot more car seats on airplanes in the last few years so maybe now that it’s more common there’s less push back?

If you need a carseat at your destination I highly reccomend using it on the plane - a win for sanity, safety and protecting your seat for when you arrive at your destination!