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I have always been told that carseats do NOT count toward your luggage total. They can be in addition to your allowed number of bags. Strollers also do not count toward your carry on allowance.
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Jane: I did a quick Google search (just to make sure I wasn't mistaken on this) and here's what I found:
Northwest: Northwest also accepts child carrier backpacks and strollers as checked luggage. Each item may be checked
in lieu of one piece of luggage included in the free luggage allowance. When these items are checked as luggage, all excess, oversized and overweight charges will apply.
1. Government-Approved Child Seat: Northwest accepts government-approved child seats
in addition to normal carry-on or checked luggage
provided approved space is available. When checking your child seat you can bring your car seat to the gate to be loaded there.
USAirways: Parents paying 10% of the adult fare for an infant to fly on a
transatlantic flight have the following checked baggage allowance on the complete itinerary:
One (1) checked bag with the maximum total dimensions of 45” and maximum weight of 50 pounds
One (1) fully collapsible stroller or one (1) child restraint device or car seat
There's no mention that I could find on the site about domestic flights or flights with unpaid lap-babies. That leads me to believe they consider car seats and strollers against the luggage total (which I think is what we were told last year). I may be wrong, but I'd probably call to check if the car seat/stroller would put someone over the allowed limit.
Southwest: One (1) infant stroller and one (1) infant or child safety seat may be checked
in substitution of the three (3) piece free baggage allowance for each fare-paying passenger at no charge on a one-for-one basis.
United: They exempt car seats from carry-on for child w/paid seat, no mention about checked items.
Maybe as a practical matter some (or maybe all) airlines will let car seats and strollers slide by as checked items without counting them against the allowable limits. However, as the quotes above show, apparently several of the major carriers do have policies that would require them to be counted against your total.
As airlines continue to complain about losing money and start charging for more and more things that used to be free, searching for any added revenue they can muster, I wouldn't be surprised to see these airlines start strictly enforcing their policies if they haven't in the past.