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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
Jebuschristchocolatebar · 19/02/2019 08:02

i Was sitting on the plane waiting to disembark and I watched the guys open a hatch and a load of buggies and suitcases just crashed out onto the tarmac. I was glad at this point I had purchased a cheap babylo scat instead of my very expensive buggy.
I have bought a large musical instrument on flights before. It’s risky, expensive and you need very good insurance. A musical instrument is in a hard case and even then they get mangled so I wouldn’t do the buggy if you care about it’s appearance at the other end

CostanzaG · 19/02/2019 08:02

Totally missing the point of the thread ( although OP you should definitely listen to the collective wisdom on here ) but I'm so pleased your DH won't let you pierce your baby's ears. Who still does that to babies?

talktoo · 19/02/2019 08:03

OP just get over the embarrassment of being seen with a less that stellar pram. Believe me, in a few years you will wonder what was wrong with you. Genuinely. No one cares. No one in your home town will be thinking bad thoughts if they see you with a travel buggy. No one. It's not cool to be trying so hard to look good that you make ridiculous choices. Save your Egg for home, buy a decent pram that is good enough to not be awful but cheap enough that you won't be devastated when it's damaged and be like seasoned travellers -practical. It's terribly parochial and a wee bit embarrassing to be dragging an obvious not made for international travel buggy around with you. You won't look sophisticated. You will look a little tragic. You will look more jet set if you have an actual travel buggy. If that's important to you. Which apparently it is.

cliffdiver · 19/02/2019 08:04

We flew with EasyJet a couple of years ago and took DD's car seats as we were hiring a car.

We wrapped them in layers and layers of bubble wrap and then put them inside (IIRC) a tent bag.

I though they might want to see the car seats before wrapping to make sure we weren't actually sneaking a tent in but they weren't bothered (was at the general excess baggage drop off, not exclusive to EasyJet).

Jebuschristchocolatebar · 19/02/2019 08:04

Forgot to say if you box up your Buggy what will you use at the airport? If you have a cheap buggy you can bring it to the door of the plane and you won’t need to carry baby. It’s all grand carrying a newborn until you need to wait around to get luggage or your flight is delayed and you have nowhere decent to put them unless you have a sling

MrJollyLivesNextDoor · 19/02/2019 08:06

Thank goodness for your DHs refusal to pierce your baby DD's ears

Maybe he can bring some sense to the pram dilemma also?

Curiousmum69 · 19/02/2019 08:08

You're going to visit family.

Take a sling for the flight and get your family to pick up from local buy and sell sites a cheap pram and bassinet.

WhatTheNightBrings · 19/02/2019 08:13

Has the OP still not mentioned that it's her mum buying the car pram?

SoyDora · 19/02/2019 08:14

I have family in spain who we visit multiple times a year. We also used to drive pre children. We also have a very expensive pram (which is now on its third child so I don’t regret buying it). However... we have a cheap stroller for our trips. I’ve seen the damage caused to my friends nice pram after she took it on a flight. We also keep a travel cot at their house.
By the way, my children are now 5, 3 and 6 weeks and we haven’t driven since the first was born. Your sisters children might be fine with it but it would be awful with ours, so it depends on the children.

Cheby · 19/02/2019 08:17

Take the pram if you want, but it’s highly likely that it will get damaged, even if it’s boxed.

Personally I would use a stretchy sling. A 5 week old baby will be more than happy to have all their naps in there so won’t need to be put down, and they’re so small at that age they’re no issue to wear all the time, you can eat and generally get on with things without them getting in the way.

I’d then buy a £30 (new) Moses basket when you get there for baby to sleep in overnight (actually personally I would just co sleep but I get not everyone wants to do that). You’d probably spend £30 on decent packing materials for the pram so it’s not much different.

Apple103 · 19/02/2019 08:18

Op you sound a bit of an immature brat. You refuse to listen to people who are giving you the best advice of getting a cheaper travel buggy. Nobody will care that you have a fancy one.

Curiousmum69 · 19/02/2019 08:18

Op. Even if you.get insurance the pram could get damaged on the flight there...you'll then be left with nothing to use and have to manage.

There is a reason travel goods are so popular.

But actually you are in a better position than most as you could get stuff pre sorted as you are visiting family.

It's not always about money, honestly the inconvenience of being Altho Ugh a pram for a month whilst the insurance is sorted is not worth the hassle.

YourFly · 19/02/2019 08:18

If you cant afford to buy a cheap one, then you probably wont be able to afford to replace the expensive one, when it gets trashed or stolen

longwayoff · 19/02/2019 08:18

I've heard several accounts of damaged unusable wheelchairs coming off flights so reckon your pram might suffer the same. Your choice. Enjoy your holiday.

Skittlesss · 19/02/2019 08:19

Hmmm

Never heard of an egg pram, but I’ll crack on. Your husband is right not to want a newborn baby to have pierced ears. What a strange thing to want!!

LittleBearPad · 19/02/2019 08:21

Buy a travel stroller - it’ll be a lot more use than £100 each way for excess luggage.

A ferry to Bilbao and a 9 hour drive sound preferable to flying to be honest and S taying at home with a three week old sounds even more so.

iano · 19/02/2019 08:25

I've really enjoyed this thread. Thank you OP. I can't believe baby isn't born yet!!
Just to throw another option into the mix. How long would it take if you took a ferry and then train? Plane journeys aren't great with very small babies and on the train your egg wouldn't get damaged.

greenelephantscarf · 19/02/2019 08:25

totally agree with a sling/carrier.
even if you can take the pushchair to the plane it's likely you will only get it back at the luggage caroussel. which is a mile away from the plane and the passport control is in between.

longwayoff · 19/02/2019 08:26

I left our local hospital some years ago and waiting at the bus stop outside was a very glamorous young woman with a baby in an enormous shiny new Silver Cross pram that nobody would attempt to put on a bus. Couldn't hang around for the inevitable confrontation but she looked determined. She probably won.

cantlivewithoutcoffee · 19/02/2019 08:26

I'm surprised at the number of damaged pushchairs in cases on flights. We've always travelled with our main one in a padded case because I also didn't see the point in a cheap one when holidays were the time DC spent maximum time in them. Saying that, my main pushchair cost £300 rather than 1k+ so I could justify it.

there will be lots of occasions where DC will need to be out down whilst visiting and out for meals etc
I hate to break it to you but your DC will decide if they are willing to stay in the pram or not, you may find they only settle in the sling anyway after all that expense and hassle of taking it there. My eldest refused to be put down at that age and we only used the sling until 3 months.

flamingofridays · 19/02/2019 08:27

Honestly buy a cheaper buggy. If youre fussed about baby facing you (i was) look at an oyster switch or cosatto to and fro.

I bought a hauck stroller to take on hol and kept it. Its excellent.

cupoftea84 · 19/02/2019 08:28

Have you had your baby yet OP? Only as someone who is a few months in I suspect as time goes on your standards will lower.

I had high standards and such things would have bothered me a few weeks/ months ago. Experience has taught me that firstly the baby dictates everything, for example if they want to be in the sling you'll do it to keep them happy and just eat with a baby strapped to you. Every time if you need to.

If your lovely pram is damaged you'll be upset. Upset stressed mum equals upset and stressed baby. All adds up to a rubbish trip.

I get you're going home and want to take your lovely pram. That's understandable. You want everything perfect for your baby.

Please take the advice you've been given. You've asked lots of parents who have done it before and they've consistently told you what to do.

Coolaschmoola · 19/02/2019 08:30

"There will be times when baby will need to be put down during visits and meals." "as would rather not dine with a child strapped to me every time."

Bahahaha! Tell that to the MILLIONS of mothers who learnt to eat with one hand because their baby is screaming every time it's put down.

Your baby won't give a toss that you "need" to put it down, or that you would "rather not dine with a baby strapped" to you. It's not about YOU any more. Your wants are second.

The naivete of "I'm going to eat now, baby will go down." is hilarious. There's a reason mothers can do most things one handed...

Frazzled2207 · 19/02/2019 08:32

I have a funny pram in plane story. We bought a cheap second hand one for this reason (though new this brand is quite expensive). Anyway we were delayed getting to the conveyor because ds needed a nappy change by the time we got there someone had gone off with our pram. But had left theirs which was same brand/colour as ours but brand new as opposed to several years old. So we took that one, and contacted easyjet to try and swap back at the end of the holiday but we never heard anything so ended up with the brand new pram.

Easyjet live chat might help if they don't respond to your email.

UnicornRainbowsRain · 19/02/2019 08:34

I bought a cheap buggy for early holidays, the hood snapped off easily. Wish I'd just bought a decent travel bag for my more expensive pram tbh. But that only really works when you are at the fold up stage, not when you've got a giant carrycot in it. Does the egg buggy part lie flat?