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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To box my egg pram up to avoid airline damage?

422 replies

SenoraSurf · 18/02/2019 20:35

We are going to Spain from UK with easyJet when DC1 will be 5 weeks old. We will be taking our beautifully stunning and expensive egg stroller with us. I have read online that you can take it free of charge and it will be put in the hold but naturally, I'm really worried about potential damage.
Would it be ok to box it up and check it in properly when we get to the airport? would I have to pay to do this?

Any experience or advice would be gratefully received!

Before anybody suggests it, getting a cheap one to take is not an option I would like to explore.

Thanks

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
glueandstick · 18/02/2019 21:07

I was you.

Don’t do it.

Get a sling and one of those carry bags for babies. Get a cheap lie flat.

Trust me. Airlines are not careful at the best of times.

Oh and you can totally have a baby in a sling when you’re eating.

TheCraicDealer · 18/02/2019 21:07

If you go multiple times a year to stay with family it only makes more sense to buy travel-friendly items like a travel cot and pram. You'll get your money's worth out of them. My in-laws are a flight away and I'll be buying them a travel cot with bassinet insert to keep at theirs' for when the time comes, and maybe a Babyzen Yoyo for the air travel bit if I'm feeling flash.

elizalovelace · 18/02/2019 21:09

Well OP you have been wisely advised against travelling
with your pram, if you don't want to listen to honest advise thats your call.

PennyMordauntsLadyBrain · 18/02/2019 21:09

There’s is no way on God’s earth I would be putting a £1k pram in the hold of a plane, boxed up or not.

PP are right- have you seen how baggage handlers load and unload luggage?

You can get a decent “vanity” pram for ok money on Facebook market place- you could get something like a bugaboo Bee or Yo-yo if branding means that much to you.

In six to eight months time you’re honestly going to look back on this and wonder what you were sniffing.

EncroachingLoaf · 18/02/2019 21:11

Just get a cheap buggy like the rest of us. Confused

surely you could get a cheap travel cot/crib too if you need it for sleeping... couldn't someone in your family get one for you or you could order it to be sent to their house ...so it's there when you arrive.

Or just ignore us all and cry when your uber expensive fancy pants pram gets fucked up in the hold.

Why even come on aibu ... did you just want everyone to know you have an egg pram? Grin

WaitrosePigeon · 18/02/2019 21:12

You get a lie flat Maclaren, obviously.

As you’ve been told by many other experienced mums - don’t risk taking your naice pram on a plane.

BarbaraofSevillle · 18/02/2019 21:13

I saw this thread earlier today that might help Grin

AJPTaylor · 18/02/2019 21:13

Love It.
"Can I ask the collective wisdom of mumsnet about taking a pram worth 1000 quid on easy jet?"
Mumsnet "Don't do it"
"But I want to. I have a pram to show off".

OP I wish you all the very best of luck with that.

Bigonesmallone3 · 18/02/2019 21:15

Bloody hell I wouldn't dream of putting my egg in the hold of a plane

I'd buy a from birth stroller

TidyDancer · 18/02/2019 21:18

Vain about a pram? Why?! Surely no one actually cares what pram anyone else has so why would it matter? Confused

And no, I wouldn't be risking it. Get a sling, as others have suggested, and/or a cheap buggy.

AnxietyDream · 18/02/2019 21:21

It's not cost effective to purchase a travel cot over there/ buy a stroller to leave there as normally we drive and would take our own equipment with us.

And how soon do you think you're going to happy driving 25hrs with a kid? (Not for years, if ever, I would say... not to mention of you have another baby...)

When your expensive pram is smashed up on the plane you'll want to buy a new one, so might as well just buy first...

MoreHairyThanScary · 18/02/2019 21:23

I had a lovely Jane pram and carrycot savaged on a flight, I would get a sling and a cheap buggy.

SR11 · 18/02/2019 21:23

Have you booked the flights? If it's really that important to you.. one of you drive with the equipment the other one flies with the baby.

How often do you go over? Are you not better just having some bits and pieces you leave out there?

HollyBollyBooBoo · 18/02/2019 21:27

Seriously don't do it. My Phil and Teds was a mangled mess, I literally don't know how they damaged it so much.

Just get a cheapo from Argos/Boots or second hand on eBay and use that.

ChariotsofFish · 18/02/2019 21:28

Oh God, taking a pram that expensive is insane. It will get scratched or bent. Have you actually had the baby yet? Five weeks postpartum the last thing you’re going to be feeling like doing is boxing up your £1000 pram so easyJet can fling it around.

EncroachingLoaf · 18/02/2019 21:30

Op I hardly think you can dismiss suggestions to buy cheap equipment to use/leave there because they're not not cost-effective ... You've spent a grand on a pram love!

INeedNewShoes · 18/02/2019 21:31

Would taking the ferry to Bilbao/Santander shorten the drive?

I bought a lie flat car seat so that I could do long journeys with newborn DD without having to stop every 30 minutes/2 hours. Mind you, I still stopped every 3 hours to BF and nappy change her.

Otherwise I echo PP: spend less than £100 on a lie flat lightweight buggy that's suitable for the job.

Or, another option: try and buy a 2nd hand Egg chassis...

macaroniandpizza · 18/02/2019 21:32

Dont do it ffs save yourself the hassle of a potentially wrecked expensive pram and take a cheaper one with you or get family to buy one for you arriving

PennyMordauntsLadyBrain · 18/02/2019 21:33

My parents live 8 miles away and we have a travel cot etc at theirs, which has still paid for itself.

A 25 hours non-stop drive with an older baby/toddler/small child sounds like a penance, not the start of a lovely family trip.

WhatTheNightBrings · 18/02/2019 21:33

£1k pram and flying fucking Easy Jet Grin

What is it they say... all fur coat and no knickers?

Notasunnybunny · 18/02/2019 21:34

Buy a travel bag, we push our buggie to the gate and then pack it up and hand it over with the other pushchairs. Never had damage and our buggie has done more trans Atlantic crossings than I can remember. Make sure you rehearse packing it up so you are proficient and efficient at it.

Original poster
SenoraSurf · 18/02/2019 21:34

Thank you to those who have shared their experiences.
There are some people focusing on the vanity aspect solely. I admit I like nice things and am fortunate than I can work hard enough to buy the things I like Hmm each to there own. I am not well off enough to purchase a second stroller that I like enough to leave there and would rather not buy a cheaper one/second hand one simply due to personal preference.
I mentioned paying the additional cost of having the boxed (protected) pram checked in. However, by the lack of response to this I'm assuming it's not generally done---- and perhaps nobody of yet has experience of this?

I absolutely would not take the pram without it being sufficiently wrapped/protected. I'm not careless nor stupid. I do not feel the travel bags are sufficient protection, hence why I am considering the boxed alternative option.

To those commenting on the driving in future, my sister has been driving with us with her DD's since they were very young (admittedly it takes them roughly 6 hours longer once they've stopped for more exercise breaks). I hope to follow suit with my dc.

OP posts:
PencereTencere · 18/02/2019 21:35

OP: Should I take the pram?

Everyone: Hell no, buy a cheap buggy.

OP: You're wrong.

Honestly OP, buy a cheap lie flat buggy and leave it out there with your family. Your child will be using a buggy for 2 or maybe even 3 years (long days/naps). It really will get good use. Airlines are not particularly careful with luggage - if your beautiful pram (and I mean that, egg prams are gorgeous) gets dented/scratched/broken, you'll be absolutely devastated.

Lwmommy · 18/02/2019 21:38

Hi OP i think you're absolutely right.
You should box up the Egg pram and put it in the hold.

I mean theres NO WAY you can let your family see your child in a bog standard basic pram, what the hell would they think????

You HAVE to properly accessorise your baby and yourself at all times, with only the most expensive goods, even if that means you may end up with £1000 worth of scrap metal and no way to transport your child once you arrive in Spain.

Have a fab holiday!!

bluetheskyis · 18/02/2019 21:38

If you travel then get the best smallest comfy buggy you can afford. We have parents in two different countries and live in a 3rd country. Never off a bloody plane when the kids where little. Got a 2nd hand bugaboo bee, that thing was a miracle- folded small, lay flat so kids could sleep in it, light, could push with one hand while dragging toddler and/or suitcase behind. And we could chuck the bugger in the hold of any plane without worrying. Used it till youngest was 4( well when travelling we did cos he could sleep in it in an airport still) I still miss it (sob!) and we’re quite a few years off needing a buggy...never have a a monkeys about what it looked like. It was quality/cost/practicality that were the important things.

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