Chris Fanto

I was told i would need to pay $130 for 2 child car seats to be added to my rental vehicle from orlando airport. It is illegal to sell a used car seat in the state of florida as i contacted a consignmentshop, and obviously these seats are required /needed for the children, and will be returned with the vehicle, i was told they were complimentary through aaa, but avis wants to charge me

cblaisd

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

I'll move this from the Technical Support forum to the appropriate car rental forum.

cblaisd
Co-Moderator, Technical Support forum

3Cforme

You were told that by whom? What conditions were attached to that?

abaron

It's outrageous how much they (all rental companies) charge for car seats.

They are generally free to check, however so that may be a better way to go.

I've been going through this hassle trying to plan for my family's trip this summer. Unfortunately we're going to Europe so our Notth American car seats aren't certified, therefore we can't use them there.

Our solution is to can into the city (in France and the UK kids aren't required to have a car seat in the cab) and then have a family member bring us booster seats the next day when we pick up the car. Of course, because it's booster seats those are cheap enough to buy new (we can get them for less than 2 days worth of rental on them)

Often1

OP - You didn't specify for how long your rental was and that of course makes a difference as the charge is per day. A quick check of the Avis site suggests that Avis charges $13.99 per day per seat without any discounts, so presume that you are renting 2 seats for five days?

Problem is that most states prohibit the resale of child safety equiptment and the second there is a scratch in a piece of it, it goes in the trash, so the reality is that most of these seats don't see many days use before they go in the trash. Thus, there rental is expensive. Avis is, of course, buying in bulk so it's not paying anywhere close to retail.

You didn't provide your location in your profile, but presuming that you have US-compliant seats at home, I would bring them along. Gate check them just to keep tabs on them. Many retailers, Amazon for one, have $10 protective bags which are good to keep the seats clean in an aircraft hold (won't stop them from being tossed around).

papyPiHi

Car seats are bloody expensive in Europe when renting a vehicle. For anything longer than a 3-day rental, it is more economical to buy a car seat or haul it around.
as mentioned up thread, most airlines allow checking in car seats for free.
We're currently doing the check in and haul around method, in any case with 1(and soon 2) toddlers, we can't rush nor go HBO

rt1flea

Avis generally charges $13/day for each carseat with a max of $65 for the rental so two seats at the max is $130.

AAA provides a one free carseat per rental when renting from Hertz using an AAA code. This benefit is not applicable to Avis. Some AAA locations do offer free loaner car seats but you would have to find one that does and go there to pick them up.

Your options:
Bring your own seats(airlines do not charge to check car seats)
Rent them from Avis
Rent from Hertz and only pay for one seat
Rent the seats from a third party that delivers to the airport. A quick search turned up PK Family Rentals

Too bad Silvercar does not have a location at MCO as they provide free childseats on request with their rentals.

view

I would advise against checking car seats unless you have a fit for purpose travel case or similar protection. If the seat gets a bad dent it may not be fit for use, and you may not even see/know it. I always pony up even though the charges are usually high.