Best deals on airfare? Or good website?

[KellyAnnW]

Does anyone have a website they like for travel? My 3 person family is looking at a trip from Seattle to Colorado in August. The lowest fares I have found are $250 a ticket, That seems high to me, and its definatly more then I would like to spend! Its been a looong time since i bought airline tickets, is $250 (each) a good price? Our dates are pretty flexible. We're looking to be gone 10-12 days.

Also this will be our first flight with our 2 year old daughter. Does the airline use her carseat on the plane? I saw something in  a Parents magazine that was a special airlinne harness. Has anyone used it? The flight to colorado is only 3 hours but we will be taking her to Ethiopia (30 hour plane ride each way) so the harness might be a worthwhile investment. Any tips?

[osker]

Right now, $250 each probably is a good price. Oil went up, so tickets go up. They seem to be pretty high lately, unfortunately.  Try cheaptickets.com or kayak.com and see if you can get anything better. You can always try priceline.com as well, but that one can be a bit iffy with having to accept whatever time/airline they choose for you. If you truly are very flexible with dates etc it might work out well.

You can take your car seat on the flight with you, which actually works out pretty easy if you're taking it with you to drive around at your destination anyway.  I would imagine that in Ethiopia you'll be taking taxis and not using the car seat, so in that case you'll have to think about whether you would want it there or if it would just get in the way. I think you might get one of those wheeled boards for the car seat to attach to and that way it can actually be easier in the airport.  If you take the car seat, however, your DD will have to be in it the entire flight. There will be nowhere else for her to go.. whereas without it you could put the arm up between your seats and stretch the two of you over both seats with her on your lap, or she could sleep with her head on your lap and her feet on your partner's lap (assuming you have seats together.  Also, will you be coming home with another child from Ethiopia? In that case, would you then need/have two car seats? I would definitely suggest the wheeled board or skipping it altogether if that's the case.  

As for the airline harness, if I remember correctly most of them actually aren't allowed by the airlines during take off and landing. Your child has to either be in a car seat or belted using only the seat's own belt at those times. If your child is the type to want to run around and you want a way to get her to stay in her seat, either the car seat or harness might be a good idea.. but if she'll sit and play with toys you might not need either.

Oh, and another thought. Friends told us that when you travel internationally you can pick your seat for your flight 24 hours ahead of the flight. If you get in right at the moment when people can start choosing seats you can possibly get the seats that are right behind first class. These usually have more foot room (though less space for stuff since there isn't under the seat in front of you). When they took their 2yo twins to Israel they let one of them sleep on the floor in front of those seats on a blanket. She slept 10 hours!

[sarafi]

That price sounds pretty good to me but then we are up to $10,000 (and counting) in airfare this year so I may be jaded :-)

Regarding car seats, check the back of your car seat to make sure it has a sticker that proves that it is FAA approved, see this site:

http://www.jetwithkids.com/blog/infant-toddler-car-seat-faa-approval

Flying to Ethiopia should be the same, but you need to think about what is more important to you. Will your kiddo sleep in the car seat, because she may be very unwilling to stay in the seat with the harness. It may be way too exciting and different, whereas if she is used to riding in her car seat she may just chill for most of the flight.

BUT, if you are connecting to a flight in Ethiopia the plane may be too small to allow you to use a car seat and you may have to check it then. Also when you arrive and use taxi's etc. it may be the norm to just hold a child and you may not be able to use your car seat while there. 

All that said, in similar situations I have still brought a car seat b/c long plane rides wear me out and I take any break I can get :-)

Good luck

Edited by sarafi - 3/7/11 at 12:42pm

[Caneel]

$250 sounds pretty good to me too, especially if the times are favorable.  Over the pas two years, I noticed a definate increase in airfare, there just doesn't seem to be the cheapy-if-you-plan-ahead fares anymore.

You can use your carseat on the plane if it is FAA approved.  Make sure the FAA approval sticker is on the seat and be prepared to point it out to any airline employee that asks.  We were questioned once and spent time fumbling trying to find it.

If you are talking about the CARES harness, check out the Upgrd.com website under the Crew Lounge podcast.  The female host is a long-time FA and they recently did a podcast with someoen from the CARES company and there was a long discussion about its use and the FTSB.  (all positive)

I had the type of kid that most definately flew more comfortably (and calmly) while in his carseat.  The only not so great flight we had was around 2.5yo when I opted to not bring his seat.  He couldn't handle the sudden sense of freedom and wanted to crawl under the seats.  Up to that point, he thought planes were like cars, in his carseat with no exceptions.

[K1329]

I had the type of kid that most definately flew more comfortably (and calmly) while in his carseat.  The only not so great flight we had was around 2.5yo when I opted to not bring his seat.  He couldn't handle the sudden sense of freedom and wanted to crawl under the seats.  Up to that point, he thought planes were like cars, in his carseat with no exceptions. 

I agree with this. For us, it was easy to fly with toddlers in their carseats. Both of my kids treated the plane like a car ride, and, didn't expect to get up, move around. They also felt "safe" enough in their familiar carseats to sleep for most of any flight.