Tips for Flying with A Car Seat or A Booster Seat

If you're flying with young children, you might be wondering what to do with your child's car seat. Should you rent one when you arrive? Should you bring your own car seat along and check it? How do you get the car seat through the airport?

You're in the right place! As a travel blogger with 4 kids, I have traveled domestically and abroad with all of them at different ages and stages from infant to booster seat age. And we love to road trip, so we often rent a car in our destination city, so it's necessary to bring car seats.

Over the years I've had to figure out all the logistics, like whether to check our car seats or bring them on board the flight. We've also purchased car seats specifically for travel, so I have a few suggestions for my favorites.

If you're looking for someone to break down the ins and outs of how to pack a car seat for air travel, keep reading! That first trip with a baby or toddler can feel overwhelming, but it gets easier the more you do it. Here are my top tips for bringing a car seat when you travel with babies, toddlers, and little kids.

Note: This is for domestic travel. International airlines may have different rules, so be sure to read up on your airline of choice and their car seat policies before traveling!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Should you bring your own seat or rent one at your destination?

This comes down to personal preference, but here's what we consider when making this decision.

Do you trust the provider renting the car seats to ensure they're safe, not expired, and clean?
How much does it cost per day to rent a car seat?
How often do you travel?
Is it more cost-effective to purchase a car seat specifically for travel than to rent one every time you fly to a new destination?

We've found that since we travel multiple times a year it makes more sense for us financially to purchase a car seat specifically for travel. We love road-tripping around new destinations in a rental car, so car seats are a necessity.

We have nicer car seats we just keep in our vehicles at home, but we buy lightweight cheaper car seats to bring on trips. That way if something happens to the car seat we still have our everyday car seats safe in our vehicles at home.

How to Check a Car Seat at the Airport

If you would feel more comfortable bringing your own car seat, here are some tips for checking the car seat (or multiple car seats) at the airport.

Checking a Car Seat is Free

I have flown with almost every airline in the United States, and the good news is that I have never come across one that charges for checking baby gear. Most airlines have a policy that parents can check one car seat and one stroller per child.

I always familiarize myself with the airline's policy before our flight. You can do a Google search for "{your airline} + flying with a baby" and their policy to show up in search results.

Protecting Your Car Seat

One reason some parents hesitate to check a car seat is that baggage handlers aren't always careful with the cargo. A car seat could easily become damaged in transport without you knowing.

I always travel with a car seat travel bag to protect my car seats from damage. I've used this bag for the past 6 years, and it has served its purpose. The clasp is just now starting to break, so I'll be upgrading to a padded car seat bag. We still have a few more years before we're out of the car seat stage.

Where to Check Your Car Seat

There are 2 options to check your car seat:

1. You can check your car seat at the ticketing and baggage counter right away when you arrive at the airport. This is a great option if you don't want to bother with dragging your car seat through the airport, since they are often heavy and awkward to carry.

You will then be able to pick up the car seat at baggage claim when you arrive at your destination. Which means the con is that there is always a chance your car seat won't make it to your destination like any checked bag. Thankfully I've never had this happen to me!

2. You can bring your car seat through security and gate check it with the gate agent. While this means you'll have to carry a bulky car seat through the airport, it decreases the amount the car seat will be handled by the airline.

Always double-check with the gate agent about where to pick up your car seat, but it will likely be returned to you at the jet bridge when you exit the plane. This is also a win because you decrease the risk of your car seat getting lost in transit!

Note that whether you check your car seat at the ticketing counter or at the gate, you'll receive a slip to verify that the car seat is yours, or to be used if your car seat is lost.

Can You Bring Your Car Seat on the Airplane?

Not only can you bring your car seat on the airplane, but it's recommended you do so by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics.

You are not legally required to bring a car seat on the airplane, and there are plenty of times we have not. For a while, I didn't even realize this was an option! When you are flying with a lap infant under the age of 2, you typically sit with them in your lap or hold them in your arms.

The danger of doing this is if you encounter unexpected turbulence or get into a crash before taking off or after landing, your arms won't be able to hold your baby or toddler securely enough to keep them safe.

The safest place for a baby or toddler on a flight is in an FAA-approved car seat. You can check to see if your car seat is approved for use on airplanes. Usually, there will be a sticker on the bottom, side, or back of the child safety seat with the following message printed on it: "This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft."

It's important to know where this sticker is located before your flight, as you might have to show it to the flight attendants if they're not familiar with the car seat guidelines. I have had to show it to a flight attendant on one of our flights when I brought the car seat on board.

You may bring an infant car seat, a convertible car seat, or 5-point harness car seats since they can be secured with the airplane seat's lap belt, but not backless booster seats since those are made to help kids fit with a lap and shoulder seat belts, and cannot be attached directly to the airplane seat.

Car seats usually have to be in a window seat and not in one of the emergency exit rows or bulkhead row.

You can still bring your backless booster on board as a carry-on and store it in the overhead bin.

For older kids who are not quite tall enough for the shoulder belt in a motor vehicle, we also like the Mifold, a compact and foldable booster seat that fits right in your carry-on bag or personal item.

There are also inflatable booster seats that are easy to transport.

Best Car Seats to Bring on An Airplane

If you want to buy a new car seat specifically for air travel, there are a few great options.

The WayB Pico is an ultralight travel car seat that folds up small and is easy to transport. It's quite an investment, though, so this is perfect for families who travel often.

The Cosco Scenera Next often comes highly recommended for toddlers since it's lightweight and narrow. We have tall toddlers, so ours grew out of this seat very quickly, so just make sure you're familiar with the height and weight limits for each seat. We loved this one for the short amount of time we had it, though!

When our toddler outgrew the Cosco Scenera Next we purchased the Safety First Jive 2-in-1 Convertible Car Seat. It can be used rear-facing or forward-facing, has cupholders, and is also lightweight and narrow.

The CARES Harness is a child restraint system meant only for air travel, so perfect if you want to ensure your child's safety on the plane, but won't need a car seat once you arrive at your final destination. These child restraint systems are the only FAA-approved harness devices on the market.

As for infant car seats, we've always just used whichever car seat fits with our travel system stroller, but Safe in The Seat has a great article detailing the best options for babies!

Does Your Baby or Toddler Need Their Own Seat?

Children UNDER the age of 2 may travel in the lap of their parent, legal guardian, or adult over 18. In that case, they do not need their own ticketed seat.

If you want to bring your car seat on the plane, you will need to purchase a ticket for your child. You cannot bring a car seat on board the plane for lap infants.

The only exception to this would be if you're planning to gate check a child car seat, you can ask the gate attendant (politely) if there is an open seat on the flight, and if there is, can you use it for your car seat?

I have had success asking to use an empty seat when I booked my youngest as a lap child. I was able to bring my infant seat on board, allowing me to put my baby down for a nap and leaving me hands-free. There are times when there is not an extra seat available, so in that case, you just gate-check your car seat as planned and keep the baby on your lap.

If you want to be sure that you can use your child's car seat onboard, you must purchase a ticketed seat for your child, even if they are under 2.

How to Get Your Car Seat Through the Airport

If you decide to use your car seat on the flight or gate-check it, here are a few ways to bring it through the airport.

Luggage Cart

We purchased a car seat travel cart that allows us to attach the car seat with a bungee cord and wheel it through the airport like you would any piece of luggage.

When you take the car seat off to bring it onboard or to gate check it, you can fold the cart up flat and it easily fits under the seat in front of you along with whatever personal item you have.

This is a convenient option that's also pretty inexpensive!

Here's one that's made specifically for car seats (ours is a generic luggage cart).

Luggage Strap

Another inexpensive option is to buy a luggage strap to attach your car seat to your carry-on bags. It's even smaller and cheaper than a luggage cart and doesn't require an extra set of hands to wheel through the airport.

To me, the car seat strap is the best option for parents traveling with multiple small children who are wheeling suitcases, and a stroller through the airport in addition to car seats for each child.

Car Seat Bag with Backpack Straps

If you know you're going to gate-check it, a car seat bag with backpack straps will be the best way to transport your car seat through the airport.

What to Do with Your Baby or Toddler

if you're flying with your baby or toddler for the first time, the logistics of getting through the airport can seem overwhelming.

When you're going through the airport, put the baby or toddler in a stroller or travel stroller system. This will serve as a way to restrain your child but also can hold extra bags, drinks, and snacks, or serve as a "home base" for your older kids to put their hands on so you don't lose them in the crowds.

When it's time to fold the stroller up to go through security or gate-check it, you can put the baby or toddler in an infant carrier or toddler carrier so you have both of your hands free to carry bags.

You cannot wear the baby carrier for takeoff or landing, but you can use it during the rest of the flight.

What if You Don't Want to Deal with Car Seats at All?

If all of this still sounds too overwhelming for your first trip with kids, my top tip is to go to a destination with great public transport! We love Washington DC with toddlers since it's very walkable and you can take public transportation from the airport to the city center. Boston and New York City are other cities with lots of public transportation.

You could also consider international travel. We spent 2 weeks in Europe with kids and walked or took the train or metro everywhere. Public transit is excellent all around Europe, so places like London, Paris, Rome, and Athens are so fun for families that don't want to deal with the use of car seats when they travel.