• The perfect travel car seat can help your kid stay safe and comfortable on any trip, and finding one that’s light and compact makes your life so much easier too. 
• To save weight and space, travel car seats don’t have all the bells and whistles of other seats, making it hard to choose which features are most important to you and which you can do without. 
• Our top pick is the Safety 1st Guide 65 because it’s a convertible seat that is lightweight and compact yet still comfortable for your baby or toddler. 

I’m not one to buy extra things just to buy them, but I’m okay with spending some extra money on a safe car seat that makes my life easier. When my daughter was born, my husband and I didn’t stop traveling, and with Uber, flights, and rental cars, the need for a travel car seat quickly became apparent. They’re lighter, less cumbersome, and take up less room. 

Finding the right travel car seat is difficult, though. You need to find the perfect mix of affordability, portability, comfort, and safety. An uncomfortable kid can make for a miserable flight or road trip.  

If you’re planning on taking any flights, your car seat must be approved for use by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Otherwise, it will need to be checked, and your child will not be able to sit in it on the plane. Babies and kids don’t need to sit in car seats on planes, but it’s safer and more comfortable for your child. All of our picks are approved by the FAA, with the exception of our booster seat pick. No booster seats are reviewed by the FAA.

I take car seat safety very seriously; I’ve tested my fair share of car seats and have returned the ones that didn’t meet my standards. To bring you the best travel car seats, I combined my own experience testing seats with thorough research using top consumer product websites and authentic customer reviews.  

Here are the best travel car seats you can buy:

• Best travel car seat overall: Safety 1st Guide 65
• Best booster travel car seat: BubbleBum
• Best infant travel car seat: Doona Infant Car Seat
• Best travel car seat for air travel: Evenflo Tribute LX