Convertible for second car and travel

[violet_]

DD is 14 months and RF in her Radian. She's in my car most days, but we need a seat in hubby's car too. He drives her at least twice a week (using her bucket that she is about to outgrow). We also travel a fair bit, and don't want to haul the behemoth Radian around on planes and such. We were hoping to just buy one more seat to go in hubby's car that we could also tote around the country as needed when we travel. Any idea what seat would work best?

We're most interested in safety, of course, and I know all seat have the same minimum standards. Are there any that are higher-end in safety and comfort but still somewhat portable? DD is quite big and tall for her age, if that matters in the recommendation, and we'd prefer to RF at least until age 2. 

[DahliaRW]

The Complete Air is rather light and easy to haul through airports, yet it has a tall shell and the nice air cushions for side impact protection.

The scenera is another option, bare bones and won't last as long as the CA, but a whole lot cheaper and easy to travel with.  The CA is just a couple of pounds heavier.

[chel]

I use a scenera for just that. Overall I love the seat.
You might want to try it out in the store. My 32" dd is on the 3rd slot. The newer model has a 40lb rf weight limit, but the shell is the same. So might not last that long for a very large child. My kid is around the 50% and I anticipate the seat easily lasting until 3+.

[violet_]

Thanks! I had been considering a Scenera for travel, but I wanted something more substantial in hubby's car. Maybe it would be smarter to just buy a Scenera for travel and then a nicer seat for our use. It seems so silly for her to have 3 carseats, but perhaps that's the best plan. Thanks again for your advice!

[DahliaRW]

That is what I like about the complete air.  Nicer car seat for the car, but easy to travel with as well.