Best value car seats for taking on holiday abroad

[CornishCreamPuff]

We are flying abroad for our summer holiday and renting a car at the airport.
Our normal car seats are incredibly heavy and bulky.
We have a 16kg 2.5 year old girl and a 21kg 4.5 year old boy.

Can anyone recommend suitable car seats? What about the trunki boostapak? I've come against a brick wall for the 2 year old though.

[Haribolover]

Watching with interest as we have the same issue for an 11 month old and don't trust ryanair wit our expensive besafe.

[HavanaSlife]

My sister rented a car and they provided car seats.

Kiddicare do their own range of carseats that arnt too pricey or bulky

[somewhatavoidant]

The baby seats provided by rental car companies are generally ok. The one we paid €50 for our 4 year old was a cheaply booster seat only. Saw it in the department store there for €15!

[AliceMum09]

We have a Boostapac, and whilst day-to-day I'd not be happy with a 4 year old on it, it is better than having no car seat at all. The only thing lacking is the side protection that a high backed booster would offer, but otherwise the Boostapac positions the lap belt really nicely across the top of the child's legs (away from their tummy) and it has a red clip that you adjust in order to pull the seatbelt down onto the child's shoulder (keeping the diagonal part of the seatbelt away from their neck). If the car is to be used a lot during the holiday, as opposed to just being used to get to and from the airport, you could consider the Britax Adventure high backed booster. It is usually sold by Kiddicare for £30 (the RRP is £60) and it's quite lightweight.

For your two year old the Britax Prince is a relatively lightweight Group 1 (up to 18kgs) seat that usually costs £60 (try Kiddicare or Halfords). It doesn't recline easily (it has 2 recline positions, but you have to decide on this before you fit it, and the recline can't be altered without starting again and adjusting the seatbelt) but is a nice seat. It can be fitted with a lap belt only if you need to, and is approved for use on a plane, so depending on airline policy you could actually take it into the cabin with you and sit your DD in it for the flight.

Other options (especially if you wanted a rear facing seat for your DD) might be the Joie Stages, which costs £130 at the moment in Mothercare.

[Madamecastafiore]

Do not hire one.

We have had awful experiences.

Last one we hired from Hertz in Pisa airport had mouse droppings in it. When I complained they told me to empty them out!

[Madamecastafiore]

We have also been given car seats that do not fit newer model cars so be very very careful.

[CornishCreamPuff]

I did check out the prices for renting them - 44 euro per day per car seat?? Seems like daylight robbery for me.

[CornishCreamPuff]

Thanks for the tips. I bought the kiddicare one

www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplay0_10751_-1_147937_10001

It's quite light, although bulky. Once we're done with it over there, we'll dump it before flying back to the UK.