Cosco Kids - Scenera Next DLX Convertible Car Seat

Rear facing versus forward facing makes no difference on a plane. You'll get a better fit with a forward facing seat, like the Cosco Scenera Next. I can't speak to Air Canada - I don't travel with them.

Ive never used but seems like a good option! We purchased an inexpensive light weight car seat for travel (Cosco Scenera) since we would also need seat on other side of flight

We have the cosco scenera and can confirm that it is very easy for travel. Also big baby who outgrew their infant seat early. No complaints from the now-2.5yo who does occasional 2-3 hour drives in it. We don’t drive and only use it for travel, so as people who don’t do car seats very often, we’ve found it fine to install and buckle. I think my mil with mobility issues would not be able to install it, but as middle aged able-bodied adults who are often deliriously tired on travel days, it’s been fine lol

We’ve had the Cosco Scenera for 2 years and just use the seat belt straps as a handle or find a spot on the frame to carry it short distances. This type of seat is not meant to carry the child around in. You will need to keep your kid in a stroller, carrier, or leash until you’re ready to put them in the car seat if they’ll wander off otherwise. We have the Mountain Buggy Nano with the original intention of using it with car seats, and have only done it once. I can’t speak to how easy it is because we never really practiced. I vaguely remember it was ok. We just prefer to get around town with less stuff and limit lots of gear to travel days. So if we had to use the car seat, we used a carrier and backpack instead of a stroller.

We have a Cosco Scenera seat mainly for getting to and from airports, occasionally to get around the city. Our strollers are an Uppababy Vista, which can accommodate the car seat in the basket, and the Mountain Buggy Nano which has a universal infant car seat attachment system and a supposedly popular toddler carseat attachment hack. All that being said, we almost never go anywhere that requires that we lug the car seat with us at the destination. It’s too much equipment. These clever travel ideas don’t account for all the toddler stuff we have to carry around anyway, so getting either stroller perfectly packed so that they can go into a car trunk without raining out a bag’s worth of stale cracker crumbs only happens if we’re flying. What we actually do is 1) check if the destination has coat check or stroller parking to leave the car seat there, 2) figure out how to get there via public transportation with the travel stroller and/or a toddler carrier (apparently I’m often the only person that’s ever worn a 2yo because people were constantly surprised to see my giant monster of a child looming over them), or we put off going until kid is out of the car seat and ready for a booster/harness. Our wishlist of city destinations isn’t that long, just take the subway.

It’s fine, my kid has used it on long overnight road trips and slept in it without any issues.

Everything about rental car seats from OrneryPathos I would echo- you can't guarantee or assume it's safe so basically don't do it. Typically when you travel abroad your seat isn't able to be used if you move there, but everyone turns a blind eye to foreign seats as long as you are otherwise following the local laws (age requirements, rear facing requirements, booster requirements, etc). In this case, traveling alone I'd go with a very light carseat like a Cosco Scenera Next in a nice travel backpack and then use pouches or an insert to also use that same bag as your diaper bag.

Uh no way am I skipping the carseat. We have the lightweight Cosco one and even when traveling by myself with the I haul it, our luggage and my 3 year old. I usually just rent a car wherever we're going and deal with installing it.

We had this exact set up with the same car seat and stroller. We also bought a padded car seat bag from Amazon that fit the scenera that we used for checking the car seat. The bag is backpack style too which is super convenient.

When my first was born we didn't have a car, I bought a Graco snugride bucket seat without a base and used it with an adapter on our uppababy cruz. I used it in Ubers a lot and it was easy and fairly light. We did eventually buy a car when she outgrew the bucket seat and got a Cosco Scenera Next for when we travelled which could be an option for you when baby is a year plus.

This happens to my five-year-old as well. Luckily I had overnight diapers in my bag to cushion his back the first time we used it on a plane. That stupid buckle is in the worst spot, and I’m glad it’s not an issue in the car. Recently we have used my husband’s hoodie to soften it. I’m not as concerned about using the seat properly while we fly - we mainly bring it to avoid waiting when we get off the plane or at baggage claim since we prefer late night flights.

Yes the scenera is very lightweight and easy to install on a plane. It’s likely outgrown to very close to being outgrown by a typical 3 yr or so I’d get the Costco finale or similar for them.

Cosco scenera rear faces, is cheap, can be used with a seat belt. Likely cheaper than renting one. Fits rear facing on every plane I’ve taken it on. Also took to Europe with no problems.

Just here to say I HATE Cosco scenera! On the plane the buckle for the seat ends up right in their backs. In the car it’s impossible to secure the seat adequately. It just flops around while I cross my fingers we don’t all crash. I ended up getting the britax poplar, which is VERY heavy, but at least is safe and comfortable. You can always get a dolly for whatever FAA car seat you choose so it’s less of a pain to travel with. I just ended up asking the airport staff to help me, which is part of their job so if you need help don’t feel bad asking!

We bought a Cosco Scenera for a trip years ago and it was an awesome light perfect travel seat.  We still keep it around to use for the second car or if a friend needs to borrow it and watch the kid.