traveling with kids dumb questions

[karebear219]

Okay some dumb questions. For domestic travel Id required?

jennlin you guys have Britain boulevard? Does it fit in the plane seats and the xray machines? You just check it a at the gate right? 

Any other dumb ? I'm not thinking of?

[jennlin]

Always bring copy of birth certificate, just in case. Southwest will always want to see a copy everytime.. Alaska did not ask us. So far those are the only airlines we have flown with kids. We have the britax boulevard, we check it with luggage- it's free and easier.

[InBetweenDays]

We've never been asked to show a birth certificate on a domestic flight, but it can't hurt to bring it.

Does bkb have a seat on the plane? You mentioned both gate checking the car seat and whether or not it would fit in they plane seat. If you bought her a seat I'd bring her car seat on the plane. We used car seats in the plane until the kids were 2.5+ years old. After that it was easier to just have them sit in the plane seat. The boulevard should fit (we have the marathon) but make sure it has a sticker saying it is FAA approved (it should).

I also recommend getting a seat belt extender if using the car seat. We didn't the first time we flew with the marathon and we had to take the plane's seat back off to undo the seat belt. Lesson learned.

If bkb doesn't have a seat you can check the car seat with your luggage or at the gate. But many people recommend gate checking the car seat as there is less of a risk of it being man handled or damaged.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using proboards

[karebear219]

Thanks guys! Bkb does have a seat on the plane. This is all really helpful.

[picksthemusic]

Yeah, if she has a seat, I recommend using the car seat on the plane - it's safer and she's used to the seat, so she most likely won't be struggling to get out like she would if she was just sitting on the regular plane seat. It worked well for us when we flew to Hawaii.

[karebear219]

H doesn't want her in the seat. He thinks it is silly, so I'll have to think about it. She'll be two years 9 months by the time we fly. She's also gigantic. She's currently over three feet tall and about 37 pounds. The FAA web site says they don't recommend car seats for over 40 pounds. We'll see. I'm still thinking about it.

[InBetweenDays]

Hmm... I was on my phone when posting last night so didn't realize bkb's age. I'd consider not using the seat also. In my experience, once they hit that age they get too antsy to be so strapped in to their car seat. Plus without the car seat you can put down the tray table so they can color or do activities, you can raise the arm rest between you so they have more room or can lay down with their head on your lap, and they can't kick the seatback in front of them (which seemed to be my kids' activity of choice when in the car seat on a plane).

[karebear219]

Feb 4, 2014 14:37:07 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

Hmm... I was on my phone when posting last night so didn't realize bkb's age. I'd consider not using the seat also. In my experience, once they hit that age they get too antsy to be so strapped in to their car seat. Plus without the car seat you can put down the tray table so they can color or do activities, you can raise the arm rest between you so they have more room or can lay down with their head on your lap, and they can't kick the seatback in front of them (which seemed to be my kids' activity of choice when in the car seat on a plane).

Oh good points about the activity table and going to sleep! I didn't think about those things. I hope she sleeps. I'm not too optomistic on those travel days.

[shevacc]

We haven't yet had to buy her a seat so we haven't had the option of bringing her car seat (we typically gate check it). But I don't know if I would even if I could. I dislike that it makes it even easier for them to kick the seat in front of them. And we get a decent amount of entertainment mileage out of the strange seat/playing with the buckle, looking through the seatback pocket, playing with the tray table. We'll have to decide this before traveling in June since she'll be over 2 then.

ETA - we flew on Southwest in January and I forgot her birth certificate. It was very nearly a disaster only solved by a kind ticket agent who didn't want to cancel our reservations (they typically make you buy a seat then refund it later but the flights were all sold out plus additional weather cancellations)