What’s the most comfortable booster seat for long trips? (2021 reviews)

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What’s the worst part of family road trips? For us, it’s complaining. Our kids have done some seriously long drives, but even they have their limits. One of my top jobs for ensuring smooth travels is to make sure the kids are physically comfortable if I’m going to ask them to sit tight for 6 or 8 hours.

With kids who are older, opinionated and communicative they’ll be sure to let you know when somethings not working for them! Choosing a comfortable booster seat for long trips your family takes will keep everyone happy.

In this roundup of some of the best booster seats of 2021, you’ll find everything from king-sized thrones that expand in every direction to simpler backless boosters that still offer great padding.

Top picks: Most comfortable booster seats for long trips

You can read in-depth reviews below to help you decide for yourself, but if you’re in a hurry check out these top picks:

• Chicco KidFit Zip Air – recommended for ages 5-10 (also available here and may be cheapest here)
• Maxi Cosi RodiFix – recommended for ages 5-10 (free shipping/returns + lifetime warranty when you buy direct)
• Diono Monterey 4DXT – recommended for ages 5-10+, especially tall/heavy kids (**extra warranty when you buy direct)
• Chicco GoFit Plus – recommended for ages 6-10
• Diono Solana 2 – recommended for ages 6-10+, especially tall/heavy kids

Features of comfortable booster seats

Instead of guessing what kids want in comfortable booster seats, we’ve asked our kids to tell us! Here’s what they’re looking for:

• The most padded booster seat I can find
• A reclining booster seat for them to sleep on night drives
• Nice arm rests
• Good cup holders (preferably two, and with bottoms so they can keep little toys handy)

As parents, you’ll also want to pay attention to which booster seats are better for kids on the smaller end of the growth charts and which are the best booster seats for big kids. A booster may feel comfortable now, but if you foresee your child having a broad frame in the next few years there are some great options to choose from below.

What’s the most comfortable high back booster seat for long trips?

A high back booster seat is meant for kids who are at least 5 or 6, mature enough to sit properly 100% of the time and meet the size requirements of the booster seat you’re thinking about. As of this writing, my younger child is 5.5 years old and she still rides in this seat almost all the time. Especially on long trips, she often falls asleep and it would be harder for her to stay safe in a booster seat. Don’t rush it!

Once your child is ready, there’s more nuance to picking the right comfortable high back booster seat than it might first appear. Just like with their car seats, you have to make sure that the booster seat fits their bodies now and for several years to come. And not every booster seat plays nicely with every car! Where possible, I’ve provided links to Amazon because their generous return policy is helpful when you’re trying to figure out what works for you.

Check out these high back booster seat reviews to find the right one for your family:

Britax Highpoint 2-Stage review

The new Britax Highpoint 2-stage booster seat (also available here and here) has a lot to offer for your family’s next road trip! My favorite feature is the Cool Flow ventilated fabric, which will keep your kids from getting sweaty backs during summer vacation. The deep headwings offer great support if your kid still likes to sleep in the car during those long drives.

From a safety perspective, Britax is unique in offering the SecureGuard clip on their booster seats. It comes up between the legs and pulls the lap belt down a little to keep it properly positioned. It’s optional, but we used it when we rented a Britax highback booster seat and found it helpful for getting a great belt fit.

One downside from a comfort perspective is that the Britax Highpoint is not a reclining booster car seat. It sits fully upright, so younger car sleepers might not love it. The new Britax high back booster seat family isn’t quite as universally beloved as their older models like the Parkway.

The Highpoint is best for kids on the bigger end of the growth chart. If you have kids like mine who are old enough and mature enough for booster seats but still short, they may not meet the minimum requirements of the Highpoint. It’s also worth noting that the lap belt in backless mode is too far forward for all but the biggest kids, probably because the back is so robust. You can either use the Highpoint until your child passes the 5-step test to ride with an adult seatbelt or plan to buy a backless booster down the line.

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Chicco KidFit Zip Air review

As with all of their car seats, Chicco puts two things first when designing new products: comfort for kids and ease of use for parents. They’ve knocked both out of the park with the Chicco KidFit Zip Air.

We have the original KidFit Zip and we love it! Much like the Britax Highpoint Cool Flow, the Chicco KidFit Zip Air is built to keep kids cool. But the KidFit Zip has some amazing bonus features.

First off, the “zip” feature means that the main seat pad zips off in case of spills or other in-car incidents. But the brilliant design means that you can still use the seat because they’re another layer of padded seat cover underneath!

Second, Chicco knows that lots of kids suffer from leg fatigue and numbness in booster seats since their feet can’t reach the floor. Instead of rigging up a footrest with a cooler, you can just rely on the cushy, padded Chicco KidFit Zip Air leg rest to keep your kids comfortable! If you plan to fly with this booster seat, you can always detach the leg rest and leave it at home to save space.

The KidFit is technically a booster seat that reclines in that it has two positions, and that’ll work best if your car has back seats that recline (which is thankfully getting more common). But we’re keeping our younger one – who sleeps in the car often – in this awesome seat even when she’s ready for booster mode because it offers so many recline options!

The biggest downside of the Chicco KidFit line is that it’s not ideal for kids who are really tall. Even once you switch it to backless booster mode, Chicco caps riders at 57″. That said, it’s a great seat for petite kids who are old enough and mature enough to ride in a booster seat but not tall enough for some other options.

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Maxi-Cosi RodiFix review

Here’s a booster seat that doesn’t meet a bunch of the requirements I laid out above, but I’ve been so impressed with it for my own kids that I have to mention it here! I actually won the Maxi-Cosi RodiFix in a giveaway and I’m so glad it came into our lives. It has made the perfect first booster seat for our petite girl, who moved into it full-time just before her 7th birthday.

The RodiFix doesn’t have arm rests or cup holders, but don’t let that stop you. It offers excellent padding and the option to expand the sidewings a little as your child grows. It has a few recline options, but those are more to make it align properly with your vehicle seat back.

How comfortable is it? My older kid’s booster seat wasn’t installed one day so I offered to let him ride in the RodiFix. Even though he usually opts for a backless booster these days at almost 10, he was sold! He’s ridden in it whenever he gets the chance and wouldn’t be upset to have his own since it’s such a nicely cushioned car booster seat.

I especially love the RodiFix for newer booster riders for a few reasons. First, the side wings are extremely supportive to remind them to stay in proper seating position. They’re also really helpful for car sleepers. Right after we installed the RodiFix we want on a 6 hour evening road trip. Around 11pm I looked back and saw my new booster rider passed out but still sitting perfectly! I hadn’t had a chance to work on safe techniques for falling asleep in a booster, but the RodiFix did it for me – her head was tilted back slightly but her body was still exactly how it needed to be. Below you can see a more recent car nap at age 7.5, with excellent positioning.

The lowest height for the shoulder belt guide on the RodiFix is one of the lowest available. That may not matter to most families, but we make extremely short kids and our daughter also happens to have a short torso relative to her overall height. Some booster seats we tried initially did not offer a proper shoulder belt fit, but the RodiFix was perfect. On the upper end, the RodiFix is one of the tallest high back booster seats available but it’s not ideal for kids with a wider build.

Another benefit for new booster riders is that the RodiFix is fairly narrow near the buckle and lacks arm rests. That make is extremely easy for new booster riders to buckle themselves, while some boosters are tougher for young elementary schoolers to maneuver (removing some of the joy of having a boostered kid and not having to buckle them anymore).

Since it’s narrow near the buckle, it also makes for an easier 3-across in some situations. It’s not a slam dunk and will depend on the car and other seats, but I managed to safely squeeze the RodiFix, Chicco GoFit and a skinny grandma in the back of my CR-V for our 6 hour return road trip!

The Maxi-Cosi RodiFix comes is a rigid LATCH booster seat. That means you pop out the yellow lower anchor clips, line them up with your car’s anchors and then shove the booster seat in place. Done and rock solid! No matter how roughly your booster rider hops in the car, there’s no chance of it sliding out of place. You’re not required to use LATCH, so I kept the clips retracted for the tight 3-across I mentioned above and that allowed me to scoot the RodiFix closer to the door for more space.

The lack of cup holders is the biggest drawback to the Maxi-Cosi RodiFix booster seat for road trips. Since it’s fairly narrow and our middle seat isn’t usually occupied, I’d consider folding down the vehicle’s built-in center arm rest just to allow access to its cup holders. Overall it’s a solid pick to a new booster rider who you don’t expect to grow especially broad.

BTW, if you grab your RodiFix direct from Maxi-Cosi you’ll get free shipping, free and a lifetime warranty!

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Clek Oobr review

Clek has developed a great reputation over the last few years for their innovative, safety-focused car seats and boosters and the Clek Oobr booster seat is no exception. Kids and parents love it!

There’s a lot to love. For kids, it’s got good padding, deep headwings for sleeping, and even the option to recline (if it’s installed with LATCH). It’s one of only two true reclining high back booster seat options on the market currently. The seat pan may feel shallow to some kids when the back is on, but once they’re ready you can remove the back to give a more spacious ride with the Oobr as a backless booster.

The Oobr is one of the narrowest booster seats available, so it’ll give you a good chance of fitting 3-across. With 9 years until expiration, it’s a great option for families with a younger sibling to pass it down to. Some of the premium fabrics offer serious stain protection to make clean-up easy with the inevitable spilled milk after the drive through. If that’s not as important to you, the Drift fabric is still nice and quite a bit cheaper.

Like the Chicco KidFit, the Oobr tops out at 57″. If you buy it for a child on the top end of the height curve, you might need to pick up an inexpensive booster to bridge the gap at the end of their booster riding days. It’s a very nice choice for kids who are average height or shorter.

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Diono Monterey XT review

If you have a kid who’s at the top of the growth charts, you’re going to want the Diono Monterey XT (or its newer, even cushier cousin the Diono Monterey 4 DXT – more on that below). Diono pioneered the idea of booster seats that expand through the torso. It makes sense, since kids generally wider as they get taller. But since the Monterey’s size is so adjustable, it fits well for kids of many shapes and sizes. Once your child no longer needs the back or if you’re flying to start off your family trip, the Monterey XT converts to a backless booster seat similar to the Solana 2 featured in the next section.

What else do kids love about the Monterey XT? It’s easy for them to buckle, it’s an extremely cushioned booster seat and it’s got two rockin’ cup holders. This is a fantastic booster seat for long drives!

The downside of all that extra space is… extra space. This sucker is wide. If you only have two kids in the back (as we do) or you have a car with captain’s chairs, you should be fine. But don’t plan on this one to fit into any tight squeezes!

It’s also worth noting that the Monterey XT (and the other Diono highback booster below) has to have a car headrest behind it, but it does allow a gap behind the booster seat as long as the base and headrest are making contact. The backrest reclines some to accommodate your car. Welcome to the world of booster seats! Fortunately you can order from either Amazon or Walmart with free returns so you can try it out in your car to see if it works. Better yet, if you order direct here from Diono you’ll benefit from an extra two years of warranty and a free one-on-one consultation with the Diono safety team to help you install and use your booster safely.

Read reviews and check prices at Amazon

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Diono Monterey 4DXT review

There have been enough changes between the Diono Monterey XT and the new Diono Monterey 4DXT that it’s worth listing them separately. There’s a lot more than just a fancy new cover!

What’s the difference between the Diono Monterey XT and the Diono Monterey 4DXT?

For starters, the 4DXT is massive (it’s the widest booster seat money can buy). Take a look at this quick size comparison:

	Diono Monterey XT	Diono Monterey 4DXT
Width	20″	24″
Depth	16″	18″
Height	26″	28.5″
Weight	14 lbs	17 lbs
Check price	Diono* Amazon Walmart	Diono* Amazon

*Diono recently launched their “Diono Difference” program. Direct purchases include free shipping over $200, an extra 2 years of warranty, free one-on-one virtual consultations to help you through installation and membership in their VIP club! Read more about it here.

What do you get for all the extra size, weight and money? Diono has made a bunch of improvements with the latest version! The padding is plusher, the shell is more breathable, the headrest is more comfortable, the side wings are deeper. As with the Monterey XT, the Monterey 4DXT converts to a backless booster seat similar to the Diono Solana 2.

Above you can see my kiddos enjoying a road trip in their Diono booster seats – she’s in a pink Diono Cambria 2 and he’s in a gray Diono Monterey 4DXT. You can see that the Monterey is a lot of seat! This is not on the widest setting, as my son doesn’t need the extra width just yet.

But for kids at the top of the growth chart, this is the extra wide booster seat they need. The Diono Monterey 4DXT is widely viewed as the best high back booster for a tall child as well (as long as you have enough space to accommodate the width). I appreciate that the height and width adjust independently, unlike some other booster seats on the market (including the others in these high back booster reviews).

The Monterey is technically a reclining high back booster seat, but that’s more about matching the vehicle seat recline rather than giving keeps a deep recline for sleeping in the car. You’ll want to make sure there’s a vehicle head restraint behind the 4DXT head rest at all times

If you have the space and the budget, it’s an extremely comfy booster seat for long drives! It’s an excellent choice for kids with a broad build. This thing is every kid’s throne, and it’ll serve them well as either a highback or backless booster until their boostering days are done.

Read reviews and check prices at Amazon

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If you like a lot of the features of the Diono Monterey XT and 4DXT above but just feel like you don’t need quite as much booster seat, the Diono Cambria 2 might be a good balance for you. You can see my daughter happily riding in the pink one above.

The Diono Cambria 2 still offers some of the highest booster seat limits on the market and the ability to become a backless booster seat for older riders. My daughter still falls asleep on long road trips, so the deep head wings and side bolsters help her stay in a safe position. She claims it’s her most comfortable booster car seat, though objectively the padding isn’t quite as cushy as the Chicco KidFit or Maxi-Cosi RodiFix.

I find it easier to move the Cambria 2 between cars than the 4DXT because it’s not nearly as bulky or heavy. You may want to keep that in mind if you’ll need to move it around a lot.

While we shouldn’t generally choose our children’s car seats based on appearance, I’ll allow an asterisk to that here. As kids get to the age when riding in a booster seat can raise the eyebrows of peers who no longer use a booster seat (whether they should or not), having a booster seat in a color your kid loves can help them feel better about making the safe choice. My daughter loves this pink car seat, it fits her body and developmental stage and it fits our car. I wouldn’t budge on a child’s safety for the sake of a color preference, but I applaud Diono for their array of brightly-colored booster seats that appeal to big kids!

Read reviews and check prices at Amazon

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Nuna AACE review

The Monterey isn’t the only game in town when it comes to booster seats that grow with your child. The Nuna AACE may not be easy to find in local stores, but it’s definitely worth checking out! You won’t find a Nuna AACE Amazon listing but you can pick it up at Pottery Barn Kids, PishPoshBaby or The Tot, all reputable, long-standing stores.

The AACE has some awesome features you won’t find elsewhere. It actually expands in three directions. First, the headrest can go up – that’s typical of every highback booster. Second, the side supports expand; unlike the Monterey, the expand automatically with the headrest (I wish they didn’t). Third, the seat can get deeper as your child grows! This is one that I haven’t seen elsewhere and it can be a game changer for older or leggy kids.

If you install the AACE with LATCH, you have the option to recline the booster – it doesn’t need to be flush with the car’s seat with LATCH. For families who want the best booster seat for a sleeping child, be sure to consider this one. Overall, the Nuna AACE has to be one of the comfiest booster seats around!

The biggest downside of the AACE is that it’s already a wide seat, and raising the headrest only makes it wider. For kids who are tall and slim, they might not get as much support as they’d prefer and the booster will take up more room than necessary – not that you’d be fitting another car seat next to it anyway.

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If your family is flying somewhere and then going on a road trip, you might want to consider one of these travel booster seats instead. They might not be quite as comfortable, but ideally you can carry one on board and avoid the risks of checking your car seat. In particular, the new hifold folding booster seat could be a convenient option (even if it’s not quite as plush as these other ones).

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What’s the most comfortable backless booster seat for long trips?

If you’re shopping for the most comfortable backless booster car seat for long trips, chances are you’ve been in the car seat world for looong time. Backless boosters are generally recommended for kids who are at least 6 or 7, mature enough to sit properly and don’t usually fall asleep in the car.

The good news is that backless boosters are a lot simpler than all the other car seats you’ve been through! You need to make sure it fits your child and that it fits your car (especially tricky if you have younger kids), and beyond that there’s a lot of personal preference as to comfort.

You’ll see that below I’ve only recommended backless booster seats with LATCH attachments available in these backless booster seat reviews. They’re becoming increasingly common and they’re a really great convenience feature. Instead of buckling the booster seat when no one is in it, LATCH keeps it from flying around in a crash.

Chicco GoFit Plus review

We own the Chicco GoFit and love it! The padding is nice and squishy, the arm rests and cup holders are great and the price is very reasonable. It’s not terribly wide and the cupholders fold in to help it play nicely with other car seats. Installing the booster seat with LATCH is just as easy as with all of our other Chicco car seats.

This is a great booster seat for kids who are one the smaller end of the growth chart. If you have taller or broader kids, the seat may not be wide enough to hold them until the end of their booster days. There’s also a 57″ standing height limit, which may not work for the tallest kids.

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Clek Olli review

The Clek Olli gets excellent reviews for comfort thanks to Clek’s “no numb-bum” design. Cheeky, eh? The Olli is also one of the narrowest booster seats around, so it’s a good choice if you need to fit 3-across in your back seat. Just be sure to test out your seating positions, as the Olli uses rigid LATCH – it’s great for safety and ease of use, but may be harder to connect in a tight 3-across.

Like the Chicco GoFit, the Olli has a standing 57″ height limit. If you have a tall child, you might need to pick up one of these to see you through the home stretch (but you can worry about that later).

It’s also quite pricey for a backless booster seat… but not the most expensive. And remember, a comfortable kid who doesn’t complain during road trips is priceless.

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Diono Solana 2 review

If you have an older booster rider or one who’s topping the growth charts, take a look at the new Diono Solana 2 backless booster seat. It’s really well-padded and the seating area is HUGE – it’s one of the best backless booster seat options for kids . It’s also one of the more budget-friendly backless booster seats that still comes with lots of premium comfort features.

The roomy seat comes with a drawback… if you’re trying to fit three car seats in your back seat or your car’s seats are narrow and/or contoured, it may be tough to fit the Solana 2. Fortunately this version narrows toward the back for an better fit and for easier buckling.

There’s an odd bump near the back of the seat in the middle… some kids are bothered by it, others aren’t. One nice difference between the Diono Solana and the Diono Solana 2 is that the expiration has extended from 6 years to 8 years – that’s perfect for a booster seat with such a flexible size range.

Read reviews and check prices at Amazon

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Peg Perego Viaggio Shuttle 120 review

If you have a bigger, older booster rider then the Peg Perego Viaggio Shuttle 120 might be a great choice. They’ve done a great job designing a booster seat that will last forever – really, it can go for a whopping 12 years! That’ll take your oldest child all the way through to safely passing the 5-step test, and then another one or two kids after that. The standing height is 63″ – that’s my height as a full-grown adult! Thankfully the booster seat itself is low enough that kids will still have the car’s headrest behind them for support.

By making the arm rests fairly slim, Peg Perego has also made a booster seat that offers a roomy seating area and a relatively narrow footprint. You might even be able to sneak this in to a 3-across situation, but of course it’ll depend on the details.

The biggest downside of the Viaggio Shuttle 120 is the price. Granted it’ll last you for many years, but it doesn’t come cheap.

Read reviews and check prices at Amazon

If you have to fly before your road trip, it’s worth considering the Bubblebum inflatable booster seat. Especially for kids on the smaller end of the curve, it can be pretty comfortable and it can fit in their backpacks!

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Comfortable booster seat FAQs

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