This morning my husband took his daughter, her 8 yr old and her 11 month old to the airport for a PHX-FLL flight. All 3 had seats. The TA told them they could not take the carseat on the flight. I was not there to intervene .

I am totally confused. In my mind what good is a seat for an 11 month old without a carseat in it. Aren't they always telling us an infant is safest in its own seat. Is this something I should be complaining to someone about?


Thanks for an input on where I should go with this so it does not happen on the return.

Was the car seat FAA approved for aircraft use? It will generally say somewhere directly on the casing of the seat itself. Without this type approval, the FAA allows airlines to prohibit the use of other car seats on board. And without using them, they become carry-on items that are larger than the approved dimensions.

Personally, I feel that any car seat is going to be better than none at all, but I'm not in control of either the airlines or the FAA...This morning my husband took his daughter, her 8 yr old and her 11 month old to the airport for a PHX-FLL flight. All 3 had seats. The TA told them they could not take the carseat on the flight. I was not there to intervene .

I am totally confused. In my mind what good is a seat for an 11 month old without a carseat in it. Aren't they always telling us an infant is safest in its own seat. Is this something I should be complaining to someone about?


Thanks for an input on where I should go with this so it does not happen on the return.

The only times I've seen a car seat have to go as checked was when the person didn't have a window seat for the car seat. (Not seen them check close enough to see if it was FAA approved or not on any of my flights that had car seats). But if they were flying in 3 seats with an 8 year old and 11 month old I assume all three were together and one was a window. Although you could easily do 2 aisles across from one another and put the 11 month old in the middle which would not permit a car seat.

Lance

Yes they had a window. Yes it is FAA approved.

She has a 3 hour layover in FLL - I have sent her to complain to the station mgr there as she ended up with a lap child for the entire flight - I think she should at least get her money back for his seat for that leg ;)

And of course,

HP has lost the car seat!!!!!!

Wow, at least they are consistent...not sure how they misplace a pink tagged car seat...plus that isn't like losing luggage..you can't drive anywhere without that once you get to your destination...Totally inexcusable.

Lance

Yes she ended up with a lap child for the entire flight ;)
She could put the child down in the vacant reserved seat any time she wanted.

While the adult seat belt may not be perfect for restraining a child, it works better than the parent's arms.

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

This morning my husband took his daughter, her 8 yr old and her 11 month old to the airport for a PHX-FLL flight. All 3 had seats. The TA told them they could not take the carseat on the flight. I was not there to intervene .

I am totally confused. In my mind what good is a seat for an 11 month old without a carseat in it. Aren't they always telling us an infant is safest in its own seat. Is this something I should be complaining to someone about?


Thanks for an input on where I should go with this so it does not happen on the return.


Ok I use to work at Frontier but now I work at US west as a flight attendant.

Yes... You can have a car seat. ? I can't belive they didn't let you bring it own unless the flight was full. Most TA/GA dont know what to look for. I"m a flight attendant and we look for three things.. Does the car seat have
1. the sticker that has the (RED) print that says only in aircraft/car with shoulder straps?
2. The Shoulder straps?
3. (* IF EUROPEAN * - a special CRS sticker) Its a european/faa thing?

Hope that helps ? And sorry they didnt' let you bring it own...

Call Customer Service and know the flight and what date you were travling and the station?

Hope that helps. ????

Yes they had a window. Yes it is FAA approved.

She has a 3 hour layover in FLL - I have sent her to complain to the station mgr there as she ended up with a lap child for the entire flight - I think she should at least get her money back for his seat for that leg ;)

I have sent her to complain to the station mgr...? which one, the 8 yr old or th 11 mo old. :D

She should have had a HP agent walk her through security. I've seen it happen before.

Ok I use to work at Frontier but now I work at US west as a flight attendant.

Yes... You can have a car seat. ? I can't belive they didn't let you bring it own unless the flight was full...

Whether the flight was full or not should be completely irrelevant to this situation. A seat was purchased for EACH passenger.

She should have had a HP agent walk her through security. I've seen it happen before.
I believe that TA is meant to represent Ticket Agent for HP/US, not TSA.

Yes it was the ticket agent. Its the next day and the car seat is still lost. I am considering a DOT complaint as she paid for the seat with the express idea of being able to put her baby in the car seat. For whomever said she could have just put the 11 month old on the vacant seat -- you must have not flown with an 11 month old :D - restraining a child in its own familiar car seat is totally different than trying to get it to not cry in an unfamiliar seat.

A DOT complaint won't help you here. You need to go directly to the airline for compensation. If you haven't spoken to the airline's Customer Relations department, call them. Ask for a ticket voucher in the amount of the infant's ticket and something else for the hassle for the lost car seat. They should be sympathetic. Unless there is more to the story, this seems to be a straightforward mistake on the gate agent's part. Here is the policy as stated on usairways.com:

Infants

US Airways defines an infant as a child less than 2 years (24 months) of age. There are two options available for infant passengers.

Lap Children: An infant who travels on the lap of a passenger is called a lap child. On domestic flights, one lap child will be accepted without charge when traveling with a paying ticketed passenger, 15 years or older.

Reserved Seating: A ticket must be purchased for an infant to travel in their own seat. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved child seat must be used.

http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/travelplanning/ticketingpolicies/children.aspx