I've never rented a car while having a child still needing a car seat/booster.

Has anyone had good luck with this? My 4 year old is on the smaller side and is still in a Booster. Will one be available? One that I would actually want to use? or am I better off bringing my own, although I really don't look forward to trying to fly across country with the big ole thing.

Is there a best company to rent from for this?

I'd love to hear others experiences with them.

We are going in May and need car seats for both our boys. We are renting a car from Avis and they have asured us that we have a reservation that includes 2 car seats--booster and reg. Friends of mine have done it this way before and have not had any issues but I am still nervous. If I find out more I will pass it along. There also is a ner booster seat that is on the market that is foldable. I think it is by Compass but it cost close to 100.

While I know it can be a pain to travel with, my 2 cents is to bring your own. That way, you know what you will have when you arrive.

Besides, the car rental places tend to charge a per day fee for the seats and it can get costly. (From my experience, at least.)

If you bring your own, and it is also FAA approved, the kids can use it in the airplane.

Here in Canada we have rented cars with car seats for our kids (4yrs and 1 yr) without any problems. Everytime it has been a good quality and good looking car seat. We've had 0 problems what so ever. But then again we haven't rented in the states yet.

Also, here in Canada I think the car seat regulations must be a little harder because the OP mentioned "My 4 year old is on the smaller side and is still in a Booster." My first reaction was: what 4 year old isn't still in a car seat? In Ontario the regs are: "Booster seats are required for children under the age of eight, weighing more than 18 kg but less than 36 kg (40-80 lbs) and who stand less than 145 cm (4 feet 9 inches) tall."

Here in BC it is up until the child weighs over 40lbs ...

We often rent car seats, I hate to carry them and don't like to check them. All companies will rent you either booster or infant car seats, most will not have the small no back boosters that help position a seat belt.

The plus is that the carseats are usually installed and ready to go when you get to the car, the downside is that you pay for them.

They usually charge about $8-10/day so you need to figure out if it is worth it to you.

I checked in to it last month. We rented from Alamo. It was going to be $9 a day for a carseat. The car was only $10 a day! LOL I found a car seat bag at a local store on clearance for $6. It works great, we just check the car seat with our bags.