you know our favorite way to travel: we like to travel individually and rent a car or a campervan for this purpose. Our biggest problem: finding a good (!) child seat for our youngest to get. on mallorca this is no longer a problem, because here the child seat professionals rent high quality child seats from besafe.
Mallorca by rental car: perfect!
our trip to mallorca in autumn should be one thing above all: uncomplicated and relaxed. the thought of taking two child car seats on an airplane or transporting them as bulky luggage already put me in a bad mood.
But the option to book child seats at our car rental company, I didn’t find much more refreshing either. at least i have often seen how the poor things are treated: they stand around on the dirty floor in the airport parking garages, are not professionally installed and removed, often treated quite roughly and look accordingly battered and, um, greasy.
Child seat in the rental car: bring or rent?
Going on vacation without a child seat when we want to drive there: that’s something we prefer to avoid. because the problems start with the first cab ride – most people don’t have a suitable child seat with them, and certainly not a baby seat.
(the fact that there are countries where the simple concept of a child seat is largely unknown, we ignore here – who wants to travel with small children in southeast asia and drive there, this risk must take willy-nilly. One (or two!) we would certainly not have dragged child seats through vietnam and cambodia, even if it would have been much safer…)
the road safety of a used child seat, which has already been used by tens of other families, is statistically not very good. The thing must have fallen down only once accidentally, already it can have micro cracks, which are not recognizable from the outside. And who tells me that after a "smooth" accident the seat was replaced as recommended by the manufacturer??
finally, the question is whether the child accepts a "foreign" child seat at all. does a child who rides a reboarder like a forward-facing seat? Does a child who is used to the five-point belt like a reboarder seat?? Worst case scenario: can I transport a baby, who is actually still too small for it, in a group I seat because the rental company no longer has a baby seat??
conclusion: the own child seat is in my opinion always the best option. Even better if you can use it in the airplane as well.
but… and now comes the big and new exception: if you want to go to mallorca with your child, then you can leave your own child seat at home from now on with a clear conscience. because the child seat professionals have opened a child seat rental on germany’s dearest island, which rents you high quality child seats from besafe for your stay – also reboarder!
rental car with rental child seat: on mallorca without a guilty conscience
Renting a child seat in mallorca: this is how it works
This service of the child seat professionals we had to try of course! It is much more comfortable to manage the short flight with the cares belt, not risking damage to the child seat or having to lug it across the airport.
An online order on the website, in which we indicated the age of our children and selected the appropriate child seats, printed out the rental contract sent to us, and we could sit back and relax.
after landing, we sent the father to get the rental car. Meanwhile, the rest of us went from the arrivals hall up one floor to the departures hall, where, at the AGA airlines ground assistance the child seats of the child seat professionals are kept in stock (there are also the airshells, in which you can safely transport your own child seat and stroller in the airplane).
-> the AGA is at the vueling ticket counter, opposite check-in counter 119, in the departure hall on floor 2 of the airport.
the child seat professionals station at mallorca airport is easy to find
our plane was several hours late due to storm xavier – no matter, there is always an employee waiting at this counter when a child seat customer is registered. So we had our two seats and the assembly instructions handed over to us, signed the handover protocol and drove the luggage cart out the door.
There was already waiting in the short-term parking lot the freshly picked up rental car, in which we now quickly installed the two seats.
With assembly instructions, many helpful hints on the base station and the seat itself (everything looks green only when it is installed correctly) and the quickly found youtube instructions (no more EU roaming fees, yay!)!) we were ready for takeoff in ten minutes. And off we went to our finca in the northeast of mallorca!
install, remove: with besafe it’s pretty foolproof
in the following days we had only one problem: we had to constantly change the besafe izi modular, because the world wonder baby could not decide how she wanted to drive around. (probably she enjoyed exactly this option – and with 3.5 years we let her drive forward in the meantime).)
With one press on the support foot, the seat shell was released and clicked back into place upside down. The black box called SIP+ (side impact protection +) is attached to the seat on the side of the door to increase safety in the event of a side impact. In addition, we were able to adjust the tilt angle of the shell several times, which provided more or less legroom when driving backwards and, of course, for comfortable sleep on longer journeys.
forward riding in the besafe izi modular..
… goes just as well as driving backwards!
You can rent these child seats in mallorca from the child seat professionals:
- baby car seat: besafe izi go modular i-size with isofix base station (for children from 40 to 75 cm resp. Maximum 13 kg, ADAC-test 2016 "good")
- Group I/II seat: besafe izi modular i-size with isofix base (approved as reboarder for children between 61 and 105 cm, forward between 88 and 105 cm)
- Group III seat: besafe izi up X3 fix (for children between 15 and 36 kg)
the besafe izi modular concept works according to the modular principle: on the same base station first the baby car seat izi go is clicked on, then later the group I seat. And it will be turned over to the front even later on. So the children sit from birth to about 4 years totally safe – and when they are even bigger, they move to the izi up X3 fix.
Oh, and you don’t have to worry about your kids ruining the rental car seat with sunscreen, cookies, and cocoa: they’re covered with cuddly soft terry cloth seat covers wraps. (the beige tone, however, the son found quite uncool…)
Uncool beige, but very comfortable and safe: the besafe izi modular (and next to it the izi up X3 fix)
Besafe child seat rental: the costs
no matter which seat you need, they all cost 12 euro per day (from 8 days rental period only 11 euro, from 15 days 10 euro). You have to pay a deposit of 200 euro per seat.
You need several seats? Then enter the discount code GESCHWISTER in the order form. The isofix base station and the seat cover are included in the price.
You are afraid of what will happen if your child seat is damaged in an accident? Then the child seat professionals change the seat. At your own expense. Because the most important thing is that every customer gets an accident-free, safe seat!
The right car to rent in mallorca: what to look for
to use the besafe izi go base station, you need a car with isofix eyelets. These should be part of the equipment in every car by now – but it doesn’t hurt to ask again just to be on the safe side. in our rental car the isofix-eyelets were hidden in the upholstery and were not easily accessible. The infant carrier and the izi up X3 can also be installed using only the vehicle harness.
In addition, the besafe base station uses a footrest. This means: there must be no hollow space under this footrest! Check beforehand in the type list or directly on site, whether there is really a space for the child seat in the place where it is to be installed no storage compartment is located. If there is one, you have to unfold it and put the support foot directly into it, so that it reaches the floor. (> here you can find a type list with all cars which are approved for the besafe izi modular base.)
the besafe izi go (or other child seats) can also be used in small cars with only two doors, but then getting in and out is of course more uncomfortable. So do yourselves a favor and choose a rental car with five doors. We always take a station wagon, so that there is enough space in the trunk for travel bag(s) and buggy – and we already have very little luggage with our one 20 kg travel bag.
Please do not choose a car that is too small: renting a car on mallorca
Since you often get a different model than the one you ordered, especially in the peak season, you should look carefully before you accept the exchange: do child seats and luggage really fit in there??
Finally, especially on mallorca, the question is whether you rent your car directly at the airport or at an off-airport parking lot rental station should pick up? the latter is often cheaper, and this time we tried it out. Even at night arrival and evening departure (which was very hectic in our case – have a look on facebook) there was immediately a shuttle bus ready, which took us to the rental station or to the car park. From there to the airport, the whole thing took about ten minutes.
So: no problem, you can do it – because you have to return the rented child seats at the airport 🙂
With the rental car on mallorca: always a good trip!
disclaimer: the two besafe child seats were provided to us by the child seat professionals.