Originally Posted by
jrkmsp
If you're travelling with a child, both a stroller and car seat should be able to be checked at the gate. Neither are technically acceptable as traditional checked luggage because they're deemed fragile under the contract of carriage. Also, if you bring the car seat to the gate and there's an empty seat on the plane, Delta will likely allow you to bring it on and use it, so long as it's DOT-approved for airplanes.
The bolded part is not correct; car seats and strollers are certainly acceptable as checked baggage, and bag fees don't apply. I have checked car seats at the ticket counter multiple times on many airlines, including Delta.
Everything else you say is correct. If I'm checking bags anyway, I'll usually ask if there's any chance of an open seat in our row. If there is, I take the car seat to the gate (often having luck getting the open seat, and gate checking if no seat is available at boarding time). If not, I check the car seat at the ticket counter. If we're otherwise traveling carry-on only, I take the car seat to the gate either way.
This can also be found
here; it's the first hit in a Google search for "delta check car seat".