UK/US car seat 'strategy'?

From searching through, this is what I'm understanding on car seats (please correct/edit/add if wrong!):
In the UK, it's illegal to use US ones.
In the US, it may be illegal to us UK ones, depending upon state rules.
US car seats may be FAA approved, however UK carseats are definitely not FAA approved.

So... how do people do it?  Our daughter is 2-1/2, and we're moving to Newbury in end of May. We have two toddler seats here, and were intending on bringing one with us for the plane ride, and use in UK.  But now realizing that we can't use it over there.  Do folks bring the US car seat over, then just store it for the plane visits back to the states? We'll be getting a car over there, so will need a car seat, however don't know which model would work best yet as we (obviously  ) don't yet have the car (I've heard which? is a great online site for figuring this out?).  And Mothercare stores are great for actually fitting the seats?

Any tips appreciated.  Just trying to figure out logistics...
Thanks!
Maureen

I don't know if this helps, but I have a car seat at my parents house, and they bring it to the airport when they come to pick us up. I keep hearing about it, but never in my lifetime have I ever seen anyone use a car seat on a plane. Has anyone here?

When we go on holiday, for instance we went to Florida last month, we just rented a car seat with the rental car. I hope this helps....

I've used the car seat on the plane.  It was great.  A safe place to leave baby and both parents can relax a bit, particularly when he's sleeping. Of course, it assumes you've either paid for a seat for the baby or are lucky enough to have an extra empty seat next to you. 

We have used the car seat often on the plane. The flight attendants on BA always seem way more flummoxed about it than on American based carriers. We stopped using it when my son was able to start kicking the seat in front of him because of it and switched to the CARES harness.

how does CARES work for you?  I've worried about our daughter just wiggling out the bottom of it...

Like Racheeee we have a carseat in the US.  Have you tried looking at international carseat models?  ie. Britax, Graco etc that have the same models available in the US & UK and then check which ones are approved for air travel? Unfortunately that won't necessarily help you for when you get a car in the UK (not all carseats fit in all cars), but it's a starting point if you want to go that route.

Halford's is another good carseat fitter in the UK (they're an automotive shop). 

Toys R Us stores with a babies r us department also fit car seats.

We used the CARES harness when Jean was 19 months with no problem AustinMo.

We moved last summer when my son was 2 and a half and found no need for a carseat on the plane whatsoever. He's big for his age, mind you, but it was nice not having to worry about lugging YET another thing with us.  We had to have so much on hand for that move in the first place. I simply could not imagine needing to carry something that would serve no purpose here in the U.K.

I do keep a UK toddler booster here for the odd occasion we take taxis (we don't own a car so rarely drive) and my parents keep our U.S. carseat for us when we visit.