The Costco Scenera NEXT is our favorite travel car seat and most vital piece of travel gear we own. We bought this car seat before driving around Alaska for 2 weeks. I was skeptical about purchasing an additional car seat instead of renting one when we arrived or just traveling with one that we already use daily, but I’m so happy we did.
Here is why we love this car seat:
Safety – This car seat, safe for babes 5-40 pounds, has side impact protection built in and 5 point restraints, meeting all Federal Safety Standard. It is also certified for use on air crafts and by TSA so it is easy to get through security (as easy as that process can be).
Lightweight – It is hard enough lugging all your bags and wrangling a 25 pound toddler through an airport. Why add another 25 pound car seat to the mayhem? This bad Larry is only 9 pounds. It is so compact that is it is easy to carry even with a carry on in one hand and a slippery toddler hand in the other.
Easy To Install – Anyone else feel like they need a masters degree just to read the instruction manual of a car seat? Even when there are diagrams on the side of the seat, they never seem to be that helpful. The consequences of installing a car seat incorrectly are so high that it is easy to throw in the towel and say, “welp, I guess we are never leaving the house.” This model is so easy to install, either rear or forward facing, with only one place for the seat belt, and an easy to use anchor system for forward facing use.
Easy To Clean – The belts on this car seat are so easy to adjust and make the slip cover easy to remove. The cover is machine washable so cleaning up all the crushed in snacks a breeze. It is so easy to install and remove that cleaning underneath the car seat is a sinch, so we have never been charged a cleaning fee when returning our rental car. I am terrified to remove the car seat from my car at home because there might be something growing under there.
Inexpensive – This car seat costs less than renting a car seat through a rental company for a one week trip. Even if we only used it for our trip to Alaska, it would have been worth it the cost. We have now used it on three trips (Alaska, Ireland and Iceland) and saved over $200 in renting car seats. Because it is rated for airplanes we strap it into Benton’s seat using the airplane seatbelt, then strap him into the car seat. He is more comfortable in the car seat than the airplane seat alone, he has a better time sleeping on planes (thank you and you’re welcome). I know this method doesn’t work if your child is still flying on your lap, but most airlines will gate check your car seat or stroller for free.
If you are planning to travel to countries where you will be travelling by car, I highly recommend investing in the Costco Scenera NEXT. I wish this post was sponsored but I am not that cool. All these opinions are my own and reflect my experience using this car seat on trips to Alaska, Ireland and Iceland.
One Comment
liz
Fabulous review! I am sending it to all the new parents I know. Thank you cool Mum!