Car seat in Y on 787
 

Hello there,

I'm in the early stages of planning a trip from London to Bogota this fall, right around the time when my progeny will be a year old. As he's already quite a large baby, I doubt he'll fit into any travel cot/bassinet type accommodation and we're not really willing to risk having to hold a baby throughout an 11 hour flight, so he's getting a seat. We're willing to forgo the few Tier Points and Avios we'd earn in Y in the interest of keeping things simple and travel direct LHR-BOG with Avianca.

However, they fly a 787-8 on that route, which is infamous for its 9 abreast tightness in Y. Does anyone have any positive experiences of flying with a car seat on a 787? I'm leaning towards the Diono Radian (strapped to a luggage cart), which from what I can tell is around 17'' wide. Are there any narrower seats, ideally available for purchase in the UK?

Many of us use a Cosco Scenera Next. Not sure how that compares to what you are looking at using, though.

Our's has served us well on many long flights with our now- 2yo (we even squeezed it in the overheads of a UA 777 and AA 767 when flying J and our son was willing to sleep on the lie-flat seat).

we bought a little folding trolley cart and use it as a semi-stroller through airports.

Unfortunately I don't think there's an easy way for me to obtain that in the UK, however it does seem to be of similar width to the Radian. Have you ever put it on a 9-abreast Dreamliner, or a similarly narrow 10-abreast 777?

You might look for a Combi Coccoro. That one might be available in the UK. The Dionos are good in some respects but not in others. They are really heavy. However, they fold for easy(ish) transport. They are tall, so if you attempt to rear-face them, they do not fit on all planes. It should work in the bulkhead. Rear-facing will keep your baby at a more comfortable angle, so it's preferable. However, it will also prevent a seat in front of it from reclining, if it even fits.

My preference over a luggage cart is to travel with a lightweight car seat that hangs off of the stroller handle. I usually needed a stroller wherever we went at that age, and that way I can eliminate one piece of gear by not using the luggage cart. Our two strollers used for travel are the Babyjogger City Mini, which is built like a tank. We never even cover it. Also, we have used the Uppababy G-Lite. Both of these have made countless trips with no stroller bags or anything fancy and have survived beautifully.