My first child was born in 2011 and I travelled quite frequently with him during the first two years. I was so worried about car seat safety that I didn't trust anyone picking us up from the airport to buy and install a carseat before meeting us, so I bought the Brica Cover Guard Travel Tote to be able to bring our trusted carseat with us. It was huge and I worried that it would be very cumbersome...especially while I was traveling with a little one all on my own. However, our seat was rather large itself, but it fit into the tote perfectly. I was even able to stuff puffy winter coats in the front pocket and a stuffed animal or two, right in the carseat before zipping it up. It always took a beating and you could see some scuffs and dirt when it would come through baggage claim, but the seat was never harmed. It is a little goofy to have to flip the seat forward in order to use the wheels and that would be my biggest complaint. I'm really short (5'1-5'2") and have short arms and legs... so to flip it around and pull behind is a bit awkward. It does have straps to carry much like a backpack, but again... with being so short and the carseat being awkwardly shaped, it wasn't comfortable for me to carry like this. There were times while waiting at baggage claim or waiting for someone to meet us at the airport that my son would fall asleep on me. Would always lay him on top of the tote, and it cradled him good enough to give my arms a rest.
Flash forward a few more years - We now have a 4 year old and a 1 year old. So, when we were heading out of a family vacation, I pulled the trusty tote back out and tried my oldest son's new seat in it. It fit beautifully, just as his old one did. I was delighted to see they exact same one is still on the market and I didn't hesitate to purchase again for my youngest sons' seat. It looked the exact same when it came in, so I was relieved that no additional 'upgrades' were made that may actually be something I might not like. This time, my husband was able to travel with us and he had no problems throwing one of the seats up on his back (he's 6'2"). He found that it took some practice to flip over the seat on the wheels the way the bag was designed. But by the time we were heading to our return flight, he figured it out and was able to manage both seats and his own bag without issue. I will say that the older one held up well throughout all of the countless flights in the 4.5 years we've had it. The new tote got a little more scuffed and punctured through just the one trip (4 planes total). I'm not sure if that is just due to the handling, or if perhaps the fabric was slightly different (even though no visual difference could be noticed).
**As a note, in years past, I would put additional toys or our jackets in the pocket or in with the seat within the tote. The airlines never batted an eye nor questioned me on this. However, on our recent return flight (United) the agent asked if anything besides the car seat was in the bag. When we told him about the sweatshirts, he stated that we would have to pay a luggage fee for this because it was no longer 'just the car seat' that would be checked for free. Luckily, we had already printed our boarding passes and claimed the car seat exemption, so he didn't override and enforce the added fee. But please be forewarned if you plan on adding extras to this bag during airline travel (even though it was designed with a front pocket). We also had both of our car seats opened up and inspected at some point as we found the paper notice in our luggage.
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Don't be fooled by this bag
You might notice a lot of reviews saying, "it fits our seat, seems like it will work for us." Well, this fit our seat too: a Britax Boulevard 70, which is fairly large, but there are some issues with this bag that might not be evident until you've traveled with it.First and foremost, having the wheels on the front rather than the back might seem like a smart idea at first, but it's not. Even though you know how to pull your bag, the guys who haul your luggage won't. I checked this bag at the gate, so it only went from the jetway to the cargo hold and back to me, and it developed two holes exactly where the wheels SHOULD have been placed - on the back (see image uploaded for this product). If nothing else, some of that nice black durable plastic that's near the wheels should have been put on the bottom of the back for situations like that (which is every time someone else pulls it). I flew twice with this before I noticed the rips, so it could have happened the first or second time, but either way it was too soon and is preventable. It's also a problem because on the next trip when someone invariably pulled it the wrong way again, the seat bottom was actually just dragging on whatever surface they were on. Prior to buying the Brica bag I flew twice with that same seat in a black plastic garbage bag and that came through perfectly both times!Furthermore, while Brica touts the front wheels as a better arrangement ergonomically, I had the Britax bag and this one, and I didn't find the Britax much less comfortable to pull. I'm 6'1" and I didn't have to lean uncomfortably with the Britax, although I will admit, I understand the concept behind what they're saying.And finally, the placement of the wheels results in the seat being top heavy once it is tipped and you're pulling it. This generally wasn't a big deal, as it didn't tip *too* readily, but it does tip much more easily than the bags with wheels on the back, so be prepared for that when walking through a crowded terminal!The two star rating comes from the two positive things this bag has going for it - the shoulder straps were placed more comfortably on this bag than the Britax bag. The straps on the Britax were too wide and it never felt right. The other positive thing is the storage pouch. That really can hold a decent amount - you can put quite a bit in there, but keep in mind, you can't go through security with the seat in the bag!
