I'd vote for the Diono Radian as well. We have it for our 2.5 year old and it is a great well made car seat. We have used it backward and forward facing and have taken it on several flights and it installs relatively easily as long as you figure out which path to use for the aircraft seatbelt. . The seat does fold up and you can purchase a carry strap which makes it easy to lug through airports. However, I will warn you that it is heavy!