Air travel with a stroller?

[Escaping]

Has anyone ever had a flight with a stroller? I took a look at the airline's policies and they mention that you can't take a stroller for a baby unless the baby has a paid seat. What would you do? (To get the stroller onto the flight)... Wearing him will totally not work for this trip. I've sent the airline an email but still waiting to hear back. 

[Skippy918]

You have to gate check the stroller. They take up too much room in the overhead compartments. I've had no problems gate checking strollers when my kids flew as lap children.

[Skippy918]

Now, you probably won't be able to bring the carseat on board if you don't have a ticket for them and all the seats are full.

[Ratchet]

and I think it's free to check the stroller

[Escaping]

Their policy says you can take a stroller for free but no stroller is allowed for infants without a paid seat... I find that kind of weird... I would be willing to pay but it isn't in their list of fees. They have everything from golf bags to hang gliders but not strollers.... really?! lol

[mamapenguin]

That sounds like a very strange policy... what airline are you flying?  I've never had a problem gate-checking a stroller - it's always been waiting for us when we get off the plane.  I've even gate-checked the stroller and car seat (we were hoping for a spare seat to install the car seat, but turned out the flight was full, so we gate-checked at the last minute).  

[rinap]

We've always been able to gate check the stroller. Without buying seats for the kids.

[P.J.]

Yeah, what airline is that.

We are frequent flyers on several airlines worldwide and I have never, ever heard of that. Do they mean you can't take it on board (you wouldn't need it there anyway, no biggie to check it at the gate), or that you have to check it with your luggage and aren't allowed to have it at the airport?

If it's the latter, check if the airport has strollers available. Many do, either for free or for a nominal fee.
 

[cali2tx]

When I fly with my infant she almost always gets her own 'infant' ticket that goes along with my paid seat. She sits on my lap but the airline knows. I always gate check my stroller & never have been charged a fee. I think the confusing policy is saying that if your flying with a baby you can gate check the stroller for free.

If your not flying with a baby, you can't bring strollers for free. So if your traveling solo with a baby shower gift that happens to be a stroller or carseat the items need to be checked like normal luggage.

Does that make sense?

[prosciencemum]

I've travelled with an infant lap baby ticket and a stroller more times than I care to admit too (international family!).

[Escaping]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I was confused because one part of the website said :

Baby/infant Accessories (stroller, car seat, playpen) No free allowance is permitted for children under 2 years of age with no paid seat. For infants with paid seats Excess weight charges apply if 20 kg (30 kg for Elite Plus) weight limit is exceeded

 

But then the they said:

Infants who have not purchased a seat are not entitled to a baggage allowance. Parents are allowed one courtesy item such as a stroller, playpen or car seat. Parents may carry a diaper bag in lieu of their individual carry-on allowance.

So I'm thinking I'm going to take my normal carry-on (it's one of those heys hard cases with wheels) with my diaper bag stuffed in it and a stroller.

Now for my next question, I have a little stroller that is pretty lightweight and folds pretty small but not very comfortable, it's bumpy and my son doesn't like it as much as the other one... the other one is a jogging stroller but pretty heavy, it does fold down but it's kinda big and heavy. I personally prefer the bulky heavy one but is that taking advantage of the plane crew?

[Springshowers]

The stroller will be free. What they are saying is that the baby doesn't get the one or two free suitcases that a person with a paid seat gets. That is totally normal. But you could gate check a stroller and a car seat.

Ask when you check in if there are any empty seats. Most airlines will give you a seat for free if one is available. It is nice for space for bags even of baby doesn't use it. And even more so no elbows from your neighbor!

[ThreeTwoFive]

I would take the more basic stroller because you can't guarantee how gently they will handle it.  I had a cheap umbrella stroller I got at a yard sale.  It survived a few flights, but it did eventually snap.  Damage to the nice one could be a hassle to get figured out.  It also depends how much you plan to be using the stroller at your destination.  If it's just for getting through the airport, bring the basic one.  If you'll be using it extensively (or actually jogging), bring the good one.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by Escaping  I personally prefer the bulky heavy one but is that taking advantage of the plane crew?

Are you kidding?! You're paying to fly on this airline. You are the customer here. It is the job of the crew and baggage handlers to take care of things like this. If you were talking about a 294 pound bag of sand then ok, you might want to think like this. But...really?!

Originally Posted by ThreeTwoFive 

I would take the more basic stroller because you can't guarantee how gently they will handle it.  I had a cheap umbrella stroller I got at a yard sale.  It survived a few flights, but it did eventually snap.  Damage to the nice one could be a hassle to get figured out.  It also depends how much you plan to be using the stroller at your destination.  If it's just for getting through the airport, bring the basic one.  If you'll be using it extensively (or actually jogging), bring the good one.

^^^^This would be my only concern. But really it only goes from the gate to some compartment onboard (not in cargo underneath) if I'm not mistaken and there isn't as far for it to travel as normal luggage. I should think this means it's less likely to be damaged, but who knows. It still has to make it out to the oversize bagggae claim. Anyway if it's a precious expensive stroller then I'd leave it at home. We like our travel stroller much much less than the everyday one. It's a cheap foldable one and it is much more work to steer it, etc. But it doesn't really bother me that much. Some strollers also come with a travel bag or you can order universal size ones online I think.....

[mamapenguin]

There are usually specifications about the size that the stroller has to fold down to - our jogger wouldn't have met the size specs.  At security, I always have to unload the stroller, fold it up, and put it through the x-ray scanner.  Something small, light, and easy to fold and unfold while juggling baby and bags is ideal IMO.  I bought an inexpensive, lightweight stroller (basically an umbrella stroller, but a bit beefier - it has a canopy, a basket, and slightly bigger wheels), and use that one for travel.  I suppose it depends how much you're planning to use the stroller at your destination, but I'd probably stick to a lightweight one.  

[Escaping]

Oddly enough, the lightweight one was about $300 and my favorite jogging one was $40 from a going out of business sale... I SO wish I bought 2 that day! It's so great, I can stuff my entire life into the basket, and it reclines flat which my son seems to enjoy for naps. He's 22lbs, I'm 5 feet tall, I'm no longer comfortable for naps lol

So on one hand, it wasn't a lot of money, but on the other, it's irreplaceable (for less than $300 at least)... Such a fork in the road lol

[chel]

I travel a lot. All my gate checked strollers get put under the plane. Often pushed down a shute to the ground. Overall very rough and since airlines specifically state they are not responsible for stroller damage I would only gate check something you don't mind being destroyed.
I use a $50 nice umbrella stroller. Minor scuffs but doing well. A cover would really help.
I also have to fold it up to get scanned. I can only assume if it doesn't fit you would have to go through the extra search

[prosciencemum]

I wouldn't recommend a stroller bag. The one time we did that they didn't recognise it as a stroller at the arrival gate and we almost lost it. You do need to accept an increased level of wear and tear on the stroller from baggage handling that's for sure.

[1babysmom]

We always fly with our Mac Twin and gate check it. I actually prefer to bag it because they can get beat up down there, and sometimes they come up wet or with nasty unidentifiable yuck on them. (Who knows!?!?!). And since we use our stroller and every airport and extensively at our destination, we want it to be useable when we arrive. We bought and inexpensive red GATE CHECK bag and it has worked perfectly. Before that I actually used an underbed storage bag (the zipper kind) and just wrote GATE CHECK all over it in bright colors.

As for size, I have seen a lady get chewed out by the crew memer who hauled her stroller up after the flight. Granted, it was a big double jogger, but she was flying alone with 2 little ones and I felt bad for her.

[Peony]

I've used bags and no bags with my strollers. They have always damaged my stroller in some manner without the bag. Most commonly is the handles getting tore up in some manner or I've had my hood ripped as well. They are rough on strollers! If I bag my strollers then I actually do it after I walk past the gate and bag them off the side when I am folding it down.