Traveling w/ the Boulevard?

[jenniet]

Anyone ever fly with their Britax Boulevard? We are going on a trip for nine days and I really want to bring our Boulevard for our 8.5 month old ds. We don't have a seat for him on the plane so we will have to gate check the car seat. If you flew with the Boulevard and checked the seat, did you put the seat in something? I've seen car seat covers. Is this something I need? TIA.

[jenniet]

Bump....Anyone? Any advice? Please...
Also a general car seat question. Do you tether your rear-facing car seat? We had our car seat installed and they tethered it but I am reading the instructions for the Britax and the pictures say rear facing tether for Sweden or Australia. What about the U.S.? Thanks!

[tamagotchi]

We have used a car seat cover, something like this (not this exact same thing) for our Boulevard. It worked OK, it was a lot easier than just dragging the seat around without a cover, and it kept the seat clean.
http://www.elitecarseats.com/Safe-Fi...er-N-Carry.pro

[megincl]

WE've flown with our Boulevard, but only with DS having a seat (we got it once he needed a seat, actually).

I asked a few months ago about checking the seat and many folks, as I had feared, warned against it. I've seen how car seats, even gate checked ones, are just tossed around, often just tossed to the ground. In my mind that could damage the seat as much as being in an accident. So I was very hesitant about checking it.

Is there any way you could get around this? You might consider some kind of box for it....(maybe get a Blvd box from babies r us, even?). Or, if you're visiting relatives, have them buy a seat to have on hand there for frequent visits, find a family to borrow a seat from, etc.

Given the expense of the Boulevard I'd definitely be careful in terms of checking it.

Good luck!
megin

[alegna]

We've flown with the boulevard several times. But dd always has a seat.

-Angela

[*Karen*]

I flew with the BLVD and checked it. They covered it for me in a big plastic bag. All I did was bring it to the counter. HTH.

[midwestmeg]

I use the carseat bags from www.target.com JL Childress is the brand name, I believe. The bags are built to hold Britaxes and were nice for both gate checking and/or regular checking. I think they are worth it to keep the carseat clean and protected.

How everything is treated just seems to be the whim of the airline...

[ThreeBeans]

Checking a seat is never a good idea. You have no idea how it will be treated and whether or not it will be crash worthy when you get to your destination.

Also, lap babies are little more than missiles in rough turbulence or a tough landing. Lap babies are NOT SAFE. I urge you to purchase a seat for your child.

[LilyGrace]

I've flown with it. I ran the tether strap from top to bottom and carried it that way since I couldn't find a bag to fit. The one leg of the trip I gate-checked it, but the other I strapped it into the seat.

[jenniet]

Thanks everyone. We ended up buying the bag Megan suggested. It worked out well.