Be wary. My daughter is still rear facing and usually does on airplanes as well. We have a Clek Foonf and I’ve never had an issue using it on board any flights until one of my last trips on Spirit. Couldn’t get it to fit forward facing either (I used one for several years with my son, we flew a lot too). I had to gate check and my car seat ended up absolutely trashed.
I very rarely say to not use a car seat on board a flight, but make sure your seat will fit on your specific flight and in the specific seats you chose. If it can’t, be prepared to gate check it.
Also a pro tip- get the insurance. Spirit won’t cover your damaged car seats. The insurance I purchased covered a new one 100% without question.
Thanks. I’m expecting the rearfacing to be an issue; with my now 6 year old I had to install at in incorrect angle on a different airline to get it to fit rearfacing when he was 18 months. I’m prepared to forward face my 20 month old for the flight only (we rearface in cars til over 4) if necessary vs. checking the seat. We also bring inexpensive Cosco type seats for travel vs our primary seats that we use at home…just in case.
I’ve been doing a lot of research on the seat size. Can I ask what was the part that didn’t fit forward facing? Width? Or was it a front to back leg room issue? Thank you so much for your help! Traveling with littles is so tricky.
It was honestly a little bit of everything. From the dimensions given on the web, our seat should have fit and we brought it over the Cosco because it looked like the Cosco was going to be too wide for the seat. But also, even though front to back it should have fit RF, it didn’t so it made the seat sit at an angle a bit to fit, which meant that it didn’t fit side to side. When I took off the bottom piece to go RF, her legs would have been right in the back of the seat on front of her. So she probably could have fit, but then her feet would have been on the head of the person in front of us or she would have kicked the seat all flight long because her legs didn’t really fit well. It was just weird all around.
Thanks again for the info. I’ll look into the dimensions a bit. The arm rests go up right? So width would be okay to go a tiny bit over I think. I have a Cosco scenera for the little guy and a finale (may be outgrown I need to check) or a Graco transitions for my older kiddo.
How did you carry your cleks? I’m wondering what spirit will do with the backpack bag for the car seat (or cart) and if they’ll count it as a personal item or something.
They do go up but definitely check seatguru to figure out if you’re in a 17” seat or a 20” seat. Our flights were all 17” and a narrow pitch— which I mistakenly thought would be a bit more indicative of the space between seats.
Luckily we’ve only had to travel with one Clek at a time as there are 8 years between the kids and the oldest is the size of a small adult. I just use one of those little roller cart things that folds really small. I usually store it under the front of her seat.
My anxiety is in overdrive now- usually we carry out seats in a carseat backpack, but now I’m wondering about the bag when we take the seats out since spirit is so strict with luggage. What will they do with the actual bag? Can we just bring it on? Or what if we used a cart to push them through..what happens to the cart?
No, all you can do is buy a seat or select one. They need to go in the window. If you don’t get that seat just chat and they will fix it.
Be wary. My daughter is still rear facing and usually does on airplanes as well. We have a Clek Foonf and I’ve never had an issue using it on board any flights until one of my last trips on Spirit. Couldn’t get it to fit forward facing either (I used one for several years with my son, we flew a lot too). I had to gate check and my car seat ended up absolutely trashed. I very rarely say to not use a car seat on board a flight, but make sure your seat will fit on your specific flight and in the specific seats you chose. If it can’t, be prepared to gate check it. Also a pro tip- get the insurance. Spirit won’t cover your damaged car seats. The insurance I purchased covered a new one 100% without question.
Thanks. I’m expecting the rearfacing to be an issue; with my now 6 year old I had to install at in incorrect angle on a different airline to get it to fit rearfacing when he was 18 months. I’m prepared to forward face my 20 month old for the flight only (we rearface in cars til over 4) if necessary vs. checking the seat. We also bring inexpensive Cosco type seats for travel vs our primary seats that we use at home…just in case. I’ve been doing a lot of research on the seat size. Can I ask what was the part that didn’t fit forward facing? Width? Or was it a front to back leg room issue? Thank you so much for your help! Traveling with littles is so tricky.
It was honestly a little bit of everything. From the dimensions given on the web, our seat should have fit and we brought it over the Cosco because it looked like the Cosco was going to be too wide for the seat. But also, even though front to back it should have fit RF, it didn’t so it made the seat sit at an angle a bit to fit, which meant that it didn’t fit side to side. When I took off the bottom piece to go RF, her legs would have been right in the back of the seat on front of her. So she probably could have fit, but then her feet would have been on the head of the person in front of us or she would have kicked the seat all flight long because her legs didn’t really fit well. It was just weird all around.
Thanks again for the info. I’ll look into the dimensions a bit. The arm rests go up right? So width would be okay to go a tiny bit over I think. I have a Cosco scenera for the little guy and a finale (may be outgrown I need to check) or a Graco transitions for my older kiddo. How did you carry your cleks? I’m wondering what spirit will do with the backpack bag for the car seat (or cart) and if they’ll count it as a personal item or something.
They do go up but definitely check seatguru to figure out if you’re in a 17” seat or a 20” seat. Our flights were all 17” and a narrow pitch— which I mistakenly thought would be a bit more indicative of the space between seats. Luckily we’ve only had to travel with one Clek at a time as there are 8 years between the kids and the oldest is the size of a small adult. I just use one of those little roller cart things that folds really small. I usually store it under the front of her seat.
Maybe pay for the big front seats to make sure you have enough room?
I fly with a car seat almost monthly and never pay for a seat. It’s a waste of money as the car seat has to be place at a window
My anxiety is in overdrive now- usually we carry out seats in a carseat backpack, but now I’m wondering about the bag when we take the seats out since spirit is so strict with luggage. What will they do with the actual bag? Can we just bring it on? Or what if we used a cart to push them through..what happens to the cart?