Checking carseats (as luggage) in DTW
 

We will be travelling on NW from DTW with our two kids and are planning on checking their carseats as luggage. I know on the NWA site it says to use the original packing box to put the car seat in, unfortunately we did not save the boxes when we bought the car seats a couple of years ago.
I have been told that some airports offer heavy duty black pastic bags that the carseats can be put in and checked that way.

Does anyone know if NW @ DTW offers this?

If not, we might just buy a couple of U-Haul type moving boxes to pack the seats in.

Thanks for any replies verifying or not this info.

When my son was 3 we used his car seat on the plane, so we didn't check it.

You can take it with you or check it as luggage, which I have done many times. Different airport counters have different options of plastic availale, which varies widely, so don't assume they will have it. I also have had some small damage to one seat, then had a second seat rendered useless by rough handling in baggage.
I would definitely go for a box, the heavier-duty the better.

Thanks for your replies, I think we will go the box route.

My wife and I purchased this carseat tote bag (can get at any baby store) and have been impressed. It has backpack style straps so you can put it on your back:

http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click...fmtype=general

My wife bought the carseat tote bag for our recent journeys with the little one. My complaint about the car seat bag is that the bag I had did not fit the seat well. The bag was a little bit smaller than the seat such that it took an extra 10 minutes to wrestle the seat into the bag. Our precious angel err child sat in the seat on the plane so that 10 minutes of stuffing time came out of the precious little time NWA gives you to get from the end of terminal F to terminal C in MSP. I got so frustrated with the bag, I ended up tossing the bag in my carry on bag and carrying the car seat by the child's shoulder straps across MSP.

My advice is that if you get the bag, get the bag made by and designed for your brand of carseat.

We use a car seat tote bag and check the car seat. The tote bag has a nice strap on it. No damange to the seat. No fuss dragging a car seat thru security. A good investment for ~$25.

Well, time ran out and we did not go the box route or the car seat tote bag route. We went the quick and easy route of Glad plastic trash bag.
Hopefully the car seats will not be too roughed up when we arrive...

We voluntarily got bumped, leaving this morning at 9am and have been moved to the front of the plane, recieved 2 $300 TCVs, 2 dinner and 2 breakfast coupons and a stay at a pretty ugly Best Western in DTW. I did not think to ask for an amenities kit, thankfully the hotel had some basic stuff. Only bad thing was I had to go out and buy some more diapers and formula as our luggage went on ahead of us, and we only packed enough kid's stuff for several hours, not overnight.
Oh well, I can't complain Mrs. infinityplusone was game enough to get bumped.