Originally Posted by
vicarious_MR'er
Unless the only car seat you have available to you is an infant carrier-type seat, meaning it MUST be rear-facing, then I'd suggest that you'd be fine with your child forward-facing for flight, and you can use the seat rear-facing again in the car at your final destination.
Traveling with two little ones isn't a walk in the park on a good day, so I wouldn't make it any more complicated than it needs to be. I think you can feel good about choosing the right flight time, route, etc., and forward-facing the seat (assuming it's a seat than CAN face forward).
Besides it seems like lots of airlines change their tune on car seats from one minute to the next. Web site says one thing, FA says another, check in staff just shrug and mumble...
ITA. I think you're going to have to settle for a company that will allow a car seat
at all in the cabin. Flying is very safe and rear-facing would only be important for take-off and landing. A lot of foreign airlines have this very illogical rule about forcing the child to face forward, against safety standards. Partly, it's because car seats in those countries need a shoulder strap, which most airline seats don't have (and, as I understand, the few that do still aren't useful for installing car seats). So they're simply not used to using car seats in the cabin.
Air France, I understand, is better than it used to be about car seats. The one warning I have is that they take your stroller and you will not see it again till baggage claim at your final destination. If you're connecting, this is not very convenient! Why I never flew them when mine were little (although I live in France and we're French citizens).
I prefer Lufthansa, which is very good about car seats but I can't give you details on rear-facing. It's also not out of your way to connect through Frankfurt.
Some of the ME companies are good too about allowing car seats, although not rear-facing. How old is the child?
Still, using the car seat in the cabin is still more comfortable and safer than flying with a lap baby and it avoids the risks of checking any car seat as luggage. Safety-wise, this is more important. Rear-facing is much safer and it's nice to have the child facing you, and toys are less likely to fall on the ground, etc. You might be able to get away with it inflight, especially if the seat pitch is far enough that the seat doesn't interfere with the person in front of you, reclining.