Finale 2-in-1 Booster Car Seat (BC206GHC)

We have a tall 3.5yo (wears 5t) who outgrew the Cosco Scenera and we just bought the Cosco Finale 5 point harness booster. The Finale is a touch taller and heavier than the Scenera but still fits fine in our generic car seat bag. We’ve checked the Scenera multiple times when flying and it’s held up fine. Our preference is to check the car seat normally rather than lug it through the airport when we already have slightly more carry-on bags than what 2 adults can conveniently carry. I can’t remember seeing gate checked car seats, just strollers. Multiple car seats and boosters usually show up in the oversized luggage carousel. The thing with boosters, including the wearable harness, is that they’re for kids who are old enough to sit upright on their own, and our 3.5yo is still squirmy and slouchy when she’s tired and fussy aka travel days, so while technically she fits in a wearable harness, my understanding is that the seat with the 5 point buckle is still safer.

Highly recommend going as lightweight as possible when traveling. There’s just so much stuff to lug around when traveling with kids. We had the Cosco Scenera and recently moved up to the Cosco Finale with our big 3.5 yo (wears 5t/xs regular kid sizes). It sounds like your kid is on the smaller side if they’re still in the Doona at 16 months. My kid had a massive growth spurt and sized out of her infant car seat well before 1 year. Growth rate also slows way down during the toddler years. You can make an educated guess on your child’s weight and height by following those growth curve charts.

You need 51" of rear hip room and the narrow base car seats. I fit 3 in the back of a Prius. The cosco finale for instance is 17" wide so will fit 3 across in most vehicles. I've currently got 3 across including a carseat with click in base in an e class

We used the Cosco Finale car seat (from Walmart) for travel around age 5 for my daughter. It’s the lightest weight and cheapest out there (but still fully tested and approved safety wise.) My youngest just outgrew the cosco scenera so he’ll be using the finale our next trip.

We looked into a number of options and now have 2 of the Cosco Scenera Finale carseats. Super lightweight, converts to a booster style when they can use a traditional seatbelt. Bought a couple of Gorilla Grip car seat bags.

Put kiddo in a lightweight forward facing car seat instead, fits better and feels more like the car so kids behave better. Then use at destination. Cosco finale or Evenflo maestro is super light.

And the finale as a booster seat.

We fly a lot with our son (4.5) (25+ flights) and we haven't bothered with anything other then the plane lap belt in awhile (after 2 or so) and we've felt very safe with him even through takeoff, landing and turbulence. We tried one of the harness one time and didn't bother... it was kind of a pain to setup and it can block the tray table/screen in the seat behind you. One thing to consider is the buckles are really easy to take off, so if he's not use to it he might try fiddling with it. (If you think it might be an issue, covering it with a sock or something might help) Edit: Oh and just to add, we're very cautious with car seat stuff... he just changed to forward-facing a few weeks ago!

It really depends on the situation... * If it's minimal driving we might just use the [RideSafer vest](https://shop.saferide4kids.com/products/ridesafer-travel-vest); We'll also pack that sometimes as a backup * Sometimes we'll just pay the extra and rent the carseat with our rental car (we had a rental car in Orlando before a cruise and didn't want to have to carry the car seat on the ship) * If using a car service, sometimes they don't charge extra for a carseats. * if using lots of ride sharing services, most places you won't be able to get a carseat; The Ridesafer vest might be the way to go * In larger cities (we went to Chicago) we just used public transportation and many times he could just stay in his stroller on the Bus or on our lap on the trains * Sometimes we'll check the carseat and bring it with us. It should be free to check it. We like the [Cosco Kids](https://coscokids.com/collections/car-seats) brand car seats, they are very reasonably priced and most important very light. We had the [Scenera](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cosco-Kids-Scenera-NEXT-Convertible-Car-Seat-Cobblestone/534841958) model first and then we just got the [Finale](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cosco-Kids-Finale-2-in-1-Booster-Car-Seat-Fiberwave-Toddler/260704037) a few weeks ago. We use this [car seat travel bag](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M2A4IK1) which has been working well. Some of our key take-aways... * Make sure you are familiar with the car seat beforehand. Practice installing it at home and get the shoulder straps adjusted before you leave. Same for the RiderSafer vest, if you get it all adjusted beforehand, it's much quicker to get setup. * Take your time, we had a tendency to rush getting into a rental car... slow down, take your time! * Use the LATCH system if you can. Most newer car in the US will have that and it's much easier. (Note: there is a weight limit) * With some compact cars you might not be able to get rear facing to fit! * For pre-installed car seats I always double-check to make sure they are installed properly.