Rent or bring a carseat when travelling?
My family and I are traveling across country with our 2 children for the first time. When talking to the rental car agency, they said that they provided rental car seats for $65/week, or we could bring our existing car seats.
What are the pros and cons of bringing your own seat versus renting? What have you done in the past?
5 Answers
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I strongly suggest you bring your own seats, for the simple reason that you just never know what you'll get from the agency. It's enough of a hassle traveling with kids -- the last thing you want to deal with is struggling to figure out a car seat you are not familiar with.
Also I have heard (thirdhand, mind you, but still) of car rental companies being less-than-reliable in this department (as in, forgetting the seats, providing inappropriate seats, etc.). Personally I'd rather not take the chance.
If you are flying, you may want to bring one or both of the seats onto the plane with you anyway, so you'll need to bring your own. (This depends on your children's ages, and if they will have their own seats on the plane.) We recently flew with our 5-year-old and our 21-month-old. We brought 2 full-sized car seats (the older one is too small for a booster), checked our daughter's, and brought her younger brother's onto the plane with us. Technically he is young enough to be a "lap kid" but he is a wiggle worm -- there is no way I could keep him on my lap for that long. Anyway, it worked out great having the seat, because he was nice and comfortable and well-strapped-in. For the flight home, he slept the whole way. If you do plan to bring a seat onto the plane, it will need to go in a window seat.
It is a pain to lug the seat(s) through the airport. Invest in car seat bags if you don't already have them. They are not expensive, you can get them at Target, BabiesRUs, etc., and having a nice big carry strap makes all the difference. They will also protect the seats that get checked through. (The one time I had to check a car seat without a bag, it got damaged. Lesson learned.)
Have a great trip!
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We've also been told to bring our own car seats. As LoreBes posted, car rental companies might not have the most reliable equipment and, even if they have a seat for you, it's probably not up to your standards.
You can always check with the airlines for what they'll provide but, during the holidays, they might be over-requested. We had one airline tell us that they'd "put us down for one" but that that didn't guarantee we'd get one when we arrived at the airport. (nor did it guarantee one in good condition)
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I've never tried this service, but there's also companies that specialize in renting baby gear. As opposed to the car rental agency, a dedicated company might have better inventory, standards, etc with regard to the equipment they carry. Here's one to try out.
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we have always seen the condition of the car seats for rent (basically covered with everything from every other kid - stick w/ yours!
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we have always seen the condition of the car seats for rent (basically covered with everything from every other kid - stick w/ yours!
