Airline Travel and Carseat

She doesn't need a carseat or even a booster seat on the plane. She can simply use the lap beat. Save yourself the hassle and just check the carseat through with your luggage - the airlines don't charge a baggage fee for carseats.

You can't use booster seats on airplanes, but you can use most regular car seats (with FAA stickers). At 5yo, if your daughter is of average size or bigger, just bring the bottom portion of the booster with you. It's light and easy to carry, can go in overhead bin, and will save you hassle (and money) in Denver.

My suggestions: Put the carseat on one of those wheelie things, roll it through the airport, and then give it to the flight attendant right as you board the plane (they do some special thing with it where you don't have to send it through baggage claim and they give it back to you right when you disembark the plane)

Don't use it on the plane -- way too constricting for a five year old all those hours.

Buy a car seat for travel you don't mind getting beat up a bit. But don't trust the rental cars to have one for you that will be in any condition you want to use (plus who knows who has been in it before you).

Check with the airlines and car rental, they offer carseats you just have to request it. The plane, she should be ok without it.

I just did this song and dance. I suggest you DON'T trust customer service.

Aer Lingus told us we could use it in her seat since she had to have her own seat anyway, but took it from me when we boarded the plane. Virgin said we couldn't use our own, even airline rated, and offered child seats only to not have any available. On the flight home, 5 families requested 6 seats and there was only ONE available. We were told that due to new weight restrictions, they no longer carry 4 or 5 per plane. It's not mandatory for a child, especially an older one, but it is not relaxing at all to be on guard for little hands playing with a belt or sliding out or fussing with it. The flight staff were very nice, but 2x of no seat was just maddening. I filed a complaint because requesting the seat we couldn't get also fouled up online check in and cost us precious time at the airport. We nearly missed our flight home.

We bought a padded carseat bag for checked baggage and Virgin put it in a special cage with "fragile" items. The seat was not dirty or damaged and the only damage to the bag was done by a friend who dragged it thinking we had wheels. Virgin allowed us to check the car seat at baggage check for free and the stroller at the gate for free.

Aer Lingus didn't ding us on the car seat that they took at the gate, but it was unbagged because I thought I could use it (was told 2x I could). Even the gate staff thought I could. We had to put the stroller in a large duffel with other items to get it across.

I was happy to have our own seat for car rentals, though. We used it in 4 cars (three rentals and one friend's car) and never had to fuss with anything new. If the car had LATCH, that was even better. It was familiar to DD, too and she liked seeing "her" seat in the strange cars. Worth bringing and I had the peace of mind that it was mine and not an abused rental.

Anyway, for a 5 yr old, I'd check the booster/car seat at baggage check (get a bag for it) and remind her not to mess with the lap belt. You will do better, probably, than we did with our almost-3 yr old. I saw families with older kids checking booster seats. It's pretty standard. They will come out with the other luggage at the far end (and likely first as they may be with "fragile" items) and you won't have to go anywhere special to retrieve them.

Check your car seat. Most will say somewhere on them if they can be used on an airplane. We have traveled multiple times with one and have never had a problem. When you board you might want to ask for a seatbelt extension.

She wont need the seat on the plane. I would just check with your luggage the seat you always use.
HTH

If you are renting a car, rent a booster. Don't bother bringing yours unless you really don't mind carrying it through the airport.

Just be sure to shop car rental agencies for the best deal on a booster. I rented a car last year from Enterprise and the booster was 10 for the 3 days i rented. This year I am renting at Alamo (in Orlando, of course) and it's 10 a day!! So shop around. And negotioate. They want your business!

Also, call the night before to be certain they have boosters available.

And, if they give you dirty or old looking booster, refuse it and ask them to go and get another one.