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

Hey. Just saw this, but if you didn’t get a car seat yet, I highly recommend the Cosco Finale. It’s a forward-facing car seat that converts to a booster. Like the Scenera, it’s lightweight, inexpensive, and FAA approved (but only in 5-point harness mode). That was what we got when our kids outgrew the Scenera.

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 brought my son’s Extend2Fit on the plane. We fly 4-5 times a year and many different airlines and have never had a problem rear facing it. We had a backpack to carry it through the airport. When my son turned FF after he turned 4, we bought a Cosco Kids Finale and that was a breeze to use on the plane. It was so lightweight and made me wish we had purchased the rear facing Cosco one just for all our trips before FF. They’re cheap Walmart seats.

And the finale as a booster seat.

Just grab some lightweight Cosco seats. Much easier to haul through airports. Like 8 lbs each. Then you have them forever and don’t have to worry about a rental screw up If they’re 4 just check the seats with luggage. Grab a basic nylon bag for each.

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.

We have a Cosco Finale. It's super light (like, easily heft it with one hand; we sling them over a shoulder if need be, but typically check them for free with the airline when we fly so as not to bother) and affordable, with a 5 point harness up to 65 lbs and then can convert to a backless booster (up to 100 lbs). Might not work for a plane, but we feel comfortable with our kid using the regular lap belt now (thought I've looked into the CARES harnesses). We do also have a Bubble Bum seat, but we prefer the Finale.

We have this one too for our almost 6 year old.

When my kids were young enough to use car seats, we had two Cosco Scenera Nexts that stacked and fit easily with strollers in our cabin closet. For a forward facing child the Cosco Finale works well too. We also won't fly without my kids' safety devices. My tiny child was 7 before she got to fly without a car seat because she needed it in the car. For cruising we used two umbrella strollers with stroller links. My kids were old enough that they pushed their own strollers until we were off the ship. The stroller links make a wider double stroller, but it worked fine for exploring Alaskan ports and in the airport. There are also many travel bags that have backpack straps. The first type I got were supposed to be wheeled but didn't work well so we piled the car seats in the stroller and had the kids walk. After that I got the backpack type and pushed the stroller. If you use a quality stroller, Cosco seats are so light, people often hang them from the stroller without issue. One might also fit in a larger stroller basket.

We don’t bring car seats on the plane for our 5 year olds. I’ve actually never seen anyone do that. For travel car seats we use a cheap Cosco one. I believe it’s the Finale. We check it with our bags and put it in a car seat bag (you can get them on Amazon) so it doesn’t get gross. Edit: For out of the country travel when we don’t know what kind of vehicles we’ll be riding in, we use Ride Safer vests. However, for travel within the states I prefer them to be in an actual car seat.

Please don’t harness your poor older kid into a car seat on the plane lol. It’s super unnecessary at that age and I couldn’t imagine lugging car seats through the airport and onto the plane for my almost 6 year olds. My kids (same age and size) use the ride safer vest for international travel and Cosco Finale for domestic. We have car seat bags to check them with the luggage so they don’t get all gross.