Travel with Children - Unofficial Broken or Lost Car Seat Policy

Has anyone had an airline offer to replace their car seat that has been lost or damaged when checked as regular luggage? While I know checking a car seat is generally unadvisable, I heard an interesting story the other night and I was curious about it. An airline lost my friend's car seat, offered her a new one (from stock they had on hand ), but told her she "must' dispose of it at the end of her trip. Presumably this was for liability reasons. Does anyone from the industry know if this is standard procedure ( or perhaps this only applies if your car seat is lost, but not when damaged? ) ?

Just curious......

A while back a friend and her family flew SFO-Hawaii (don't remember which airline or airport) and checked their 2 car seats, 1 infant sized and 1 toddler sized. Airline lost the toddler seat and returned the infant seat cracked down the back, completely unusable. As "compensation" the airline offered them a couple of seats from their unclaimed luggage stockpile. One of those was also cracked and the other had dried vomit on it.

My friend can be what you call "forceful" - her husband took a cab to the closest store and came back with 2 brand new seats and they got ca$h from the airline right then and there.

Sometimes it pay$ to be forceful :) Thanks for your input.

Car seats that have been in any kind of collision needs to be replaced, even if you cannot see any physical damage to the seat. You should never, ever use a seat with an unknown history because you do not know if the seat was in a collision or wether the straps have been submerged. Submerging the harness straps compromises it's integrity and it won't be able to do it's job properly in the event of an accident.
If this story is true, the seats that the airline have in stock should be discarded because it would have an unknown history and therefore unsafe for anyone else to use.
This is also one of the reasons why car seats should never be checked as luggage. It might be damaged in ways that you cannot see.

Car seats that have been in any kind of collision needs to be replaced, even if you cannot see any physical damage to the seat. You should never, ever use a seat with an unknown history because you do not know if the seat was in a collision or wether the straps have been submerged. Submerging the harness straps compromises it's integrity and it won't be able to do it's job properly in the event of an accident. Exactly who was this rant aimed at?
If this story is true,Surely there are less offensive ways to phrase your point.

the seats that the airline have in stock
Do you consider giving out lost/abandoned safety seats to be keeping them "in stock?" I don't; I think it was just a cheapskate way for an airline to try to brush off customers whose property had been damaged/lost while in the custody of the airline. I did check with friend about her car seat problem and found the airport was KOA, but she's not sure anymore (this happened a while back) which carrier's employees tried to give them the lost property seats as she thinks several airlines share ground staff there.

The airlines really wash their hands of this. Usually, their insurance will only kick in if you check the seat in its original box (and at least one airline says it has to be "factory sealed"). That's useful for pregnant women and people transporting car seats to someone at their destination but if you need your car seat right away on arrival, it could still not make the right flight.

How many of us even keep the original box anyway??

The airlines often offer up a seat in their own Lost & Found, so that at least the customer wont be stopped by the police if it's a private car. It's not an obligation. They're just trying to be nice but often, they're simply clueless on children and car safety in general (as so many are). It's not their fault if they were just trying to be helpful and hand the customer a cracked, old seat from the back room.

Exactly who was this rant aimed at?
Surely there are less offensive ways to phrase your point.


Do you consider giving out lost/abandoned safety seats to be keeping them "in stock?" I don't; I think it was just a cheapskate way for an airline to try to brush off customers whose property had been damaged/lost while in the custody of the airline. I did check with friend about her car seat problem and found the airport was KOA, but she's not sure anymore (this happened a while back) which carrier's employees tried to give them the lost property seats as she thinks several airlines share ground staff there.

It's not a "rant." That is general car seat safety rules and also why someone would be advised to destroy a seat after use. Because it is not considered safe handing it over from person to person without knowing how that seat was used. Same reason why you should not use car seats supplied by rental companies.

You said "An airline lost my friend's car seat, offered her a new one (from stock they had on hand )" You did not say she was given a lost and found seat that belonged to someone else. I have never heard of an airline having car seats "in stock" for replacing lost car seats.

... Same reason why you should not use car seats supplied by rental companies.

...

Any why would that be? Previous renters take them out and smash with hammers before returning? :rolleyes:

Every single rented carseat i got from Hertz (can't comment on others) was brought to us wrapped in plastic bag and in very good condition.

Usually, their insurance will only kick in if you check the seat in its original box (and at least one airline says it has to be "factory sealed"). That's useful for pregnant women and people transporting car seats to someone at their destination but if you need your car seat right away on arrival, it could still not make the right flight.

How many of us even keep the original box anyway??

..

Two Cosco Scenera carseats i bought from target came in fitting vinyl wrap (plastic bag basically) rather than box. I am still using this original packaging after at least half dozen trips.

We too were offered a replacement carseat once at LAX but didn't get to see it as ours was found on another carousel.

Just got back from a trip to europe - both checked seats survived perfectly fine. UA checkin at LAX also has large plastic bags to additionally wrap them and protect from dirt (but we always bring ours as well). ^

Just got back from a trip to europe - both checked seats survived perfectly fine

But you can't really tell from looking at them if your seats are still safe. If you checked them like luggage, with only plastic around them, they may have been thrown around and damaged. If you're in an accident, these seats might not protect your children as they should ("fail" as car seat techs call it).

If you get into an accident, in the car, the insurance replaces the car seats even if there is no obvious damage. So damage isn't always obvious.

Just got back from a trip to europe - both checked seats survived perfectly fine

But you can't really tell from looking at them if your seats are still safe. If you checked them like luggage, with only plastic around them, they may have been thrown around and damaged. If you're in an accident, these seats might not protect your children as they should ("fail" as car seat techs call it).

If you get into an accident, in the car, the insurance replaces the car seats even if there is no obvious damage. So damage isn't always obvious.

I couldn't really tell when I bought them either - as I said those are sold in simple plastic wraps, not in boxes.
Insurance co replace them for liability issues - its cheaper that way. I prefer common sense.

Two Cosco Scenera carseats i bought from target came in fitting vinyl wrap (plastic bag basically) rather than box. I am still using this original packaging after at least half dozen trips.

We too were offered a replacement carseat once at LAX but didn't get to see it as ours was found on another carousel.

Just got back from a trip to europe - both checked seats survived perfectly fine. UA checkin at LAX also has large plastic bags to additionally wrap them and protect from dirt (but we always bring ours as well). ^

Sceneras aren't shipped to the stores in the vinyl bags. They are shipped two to a box and unpacked. That would be the original packaging.
And you have no idea how the seats were handled. They're made out of plastic. Tossing it around like a basketball will cause unseen damage.

Any why would that be? Previous renters take them out and smash with hammers before returning? :rolleyes:

Every single rented carseat i got from Hertz (can't comment on others) was brought to us wrapped in plastic bag and in very good condition.

Again, you do not know if the seat supplied to you was in an accident, even a minor one. Most manufacturers advise to replace seats even after minor accidents. Minor fender benders included. You also cannot guarentee that you will be given an age and weight appropriate seat. You also don't know how the rental company treated the seat. Did they wash the harness straps? That is a huge mistake. Harness straps should never be submerged or treated with drycleaning chemicals. Wipe down with a damp cloth only. Did you check to make sure the seat was expired or not? Most seats expires after 6 years. Plastic deteriorates. That means an expired seat will fail during an accident.

Children 2 and under should ride in a rearfacing seat within the weight limit and head within one inch from the top of the seat.
Children 2 and over should preferable be rearfacing, but can forward face in a seat. Again, they need to be under the weight and height limit of the seat.
Most kids are not ready for a booster until age 6/7. They need to pass the five step seatbelt test in a booster, if not, back to a harness they go.

Saying the seat "looked fine" does not mean the seat is fine.

You said "An airline lost my friend's car seat, offered her a new one (from stock they had on hand )" You did not say she was given a lost and found seat that belonged to someone else. I have never heard of an airline having car seats "in stock" for replacing lost car seats.NO, that isn't what I said.

If you're going to pretend to quote someone, at least try to be a little more accurate. What I said was "a couple of seats from their unclaimed luggage stockpile" which is a far cry from "a new one (from stock they had on hand )" that you claim. Re-read the post you slam.

Also, your habit of berating people with a different perspective/experience is not in keeping with the general tone of FT and I hope the Mods will address it.

Has anyone had an airline offer to replace their car seat that has been lost or damaged when checked as regular luggage? While I know checking a car seat is generally unadvisable, I heard an interesting story the other night and I was curious about it. An airline lost my friend's car seat, offered her a new one (from stock they had on hand ), but told her she "must' dispose of it at the end of her trip. Presumably this was for liability reasons. Does anyone from the industry know if this is standard procedure ( or perhaps this only applies if your car seat is lost, but not when damaged? ) ?

Just curious......

Where am I misqouting you?

Where am I misqouting you?
TRY LOOKING AT WHO WROTE THE POSTS BEFORE YOU "QUOTE" THEM,

The post you attributed to me was by someone else entirely.

Sorry folks!