Originally Posted by
Lobster
I recently travelled long haul with my 20 month son for the first time. We flew nine hours, had a four layover and then had another 7 hour flight. Although difficult do such a long journey as a single parent generally people were very helpful and understanding.
The big exception was Hertz firstly the driver of the shuttle bus did not help at all as I try to load my suitcase and stroller onto the bus. But then when I got to the car rental station I went to the bay my car was in and saw that the baby seat I had booked was not in the car. So I went back and asked for the seatand it was soon brought to my car but to my astonishment they said they can not fix it in the car. So there I was left to work out how to fix the seat in the car with just some half worn out instructions on the side of the seat. Whilst at the same time trying to keep my very tired and grumpy son from having a total melt down. The seat proved to be a total nightmare to fix, luckily some nice people did help me but if still took over 1.5hrs to fix the seat.
Most car rental places I've used seem to refuse to install the rented car seat in the car. They want the renter -- not the rental company -- to carry the risk of improper installation of the car seat.
A way to handle installing a car seat in a car while traveling alone with a very young child is to secure the child in the stroller while installing the car seat. Not a perfect solution but it works well enough for many.
By the way, over-encumbered and tired parents/guardians seem to be less likely to be as alert in mitigating the risk of a child getting injured or worse while at or around airports or otherwise traveling. So carrying your own car seat on the trip by air may help in that you are more likely to know how to install it properly, but such transport and use comes with its own set of risks. Then again, the rental car company car seats may also be of questionable strength due to handling and age.