Car Hire and Child Seats (USA)

ambercelery

Hi

I am going to the USA (from the UK) next March with my wife and 2 children (1 year and nearly 3 year old). We will be hiring a car for 2 weeks - but looking at the cost of hiring car seats (around £80 per seat per week) - it seems worthwhile buying 2 in the UK, using them on the flight for the children to sit in, and then using them in the USA hire car. Then bringing them home and having 2 car seats to use (My daughter, 1 year old, needs a new car seat anyway).

So my question is, has anyone done this before, and can they recommend a car seat for USA travel. We will be flying with BA, and their only requirement is that it needs to be 43cm by 43cm to fit on the seat - and have 5 point harness.
(The USA terms seem to say car seats need to be FAA approved).

Any help greatly appreciated...

aitch-aitch

Can't answer your question specifically, however what I can say is that most airlines will let you take car seats in the hold for free (i.e. they are not part of your baggage allowance) if you don't need them on the flight itself.

eslick

whether you need a car seat on a plane is up to you, we first took our two who were 15 months and 4 to the US and didnt bother with a car seat as its really difficult to get one that will definately fit on all planes, which can be difficult if you have connecting flights.

As for car hire, AVIS, Budget and Alamo used to have a max amount they would charge you, of $60 a seat, this was still the case last year. you can buy them in the likes of walmart but though we found them cheap online in March we couldnt get a booster for less that $50 in store.

The first two times we went we took our daughters booster in a suit case as our airline wouldnt allow it any other way and then hired a seat for the little one but that was when we had 2 bag allowance each and most airlines dont do that now.

One other watch out is that car seats are made for each country and the quality may be different to what we have here. The rental ones we have used werent as well padded as the ones we had at home and I dont think offered the same protection but they met local requirements.

Have to say hello to Murphy the Cat as no doubt he will add something to this discussion as we have talked car seats on planes and hire cars many times over the years