Flying Aer Lingus with baby

[MollyRover]

We're going to see family soon with our 4 month old. I've booked flights but no bags because I'm not sure what you're allowed to bring and when booking for baby , there was nowhere to specify buggies etc. What can I expect? Thought I'd ask here before contacting them. Can we bring the buggy? What about car seat? Can we each have 10kgs hand luggage?

[Peridot1]

Yes you can bring the buggy. They will take it from you at the gate so you will have it at the airport until then.

you won’t get 10kg for the baby.

I’m not sure about the car seat. I’ve seen people check them in. I think you can buy bags to put them in now. Not a thing when my DS was little unfortunately. I bought another car seat to leave in Dublin.

[MollyRover]

Thanks for the reply. Was hoping to avoid checking in bags with the baggage handling mess at the moment, it'll be stressful enough without having to deal with lost luggage too. Have to suss out what can be bought or borrowed there. Half hoping that the flight gets canceled

[Insideallday]

Did you make the booking? You need to check the booking details to see what seat type you bought. 10kg is now checked in as standard on the low fare. 10kg carry on is extra. Are you travelling with someone? Make sure you booked your seats together so you’re not that person who asks someone who paid for their seat to move 😀

[Peridot1]

Actually the baggage situation is ok now. I haven’t had any issues and been flying back and forth over the last few months.

[LadySybilRamekin]

What airport are you flying to? It's handy to have a sling at Dublin airport as you have to get from the plane to the baggage area before you get the pram back. Far easier with a tiny baby than a toddler, I've thought my arms would fall off a few times!

[MollyRover]

We have a sling, good advice. We're flying to Cork but from Amsterdam so wanted to avoid baggage altogether, it's still a mess here. 4 of us so I don't think we'll be able to avoid checking something in in that case unfortunately. I think I was a bit too ambitious . Any other tips greatly appreciated, I'm a novice at flying with a very tiny one so pretty nervous about the potential stress levels.

[Insideallday]

Cork airport is the best one to fly into, it’s a doodle and stress free.

Good luck with the travels

[MollyRover]

@Insideallday I know, I love it! It's Amsterdam I'm more worried about really.

[NoddyMcdoddy]

Unless you have paid extra for hand luggage as carry on you will have to check in your 10kg bags.

[unfortunateevents]

I flew with AerLingus just yesterday and there are fairly prominent signs at check-in and on boarding saying that if you didn't pay for the fare type (I think plus and above) which allows you to carry on 10 kg of luggage but have a bag with you then you will be asked to check it in on boarding and there was a €35 fee for doing so. No idea whether they are enforcing that or not but there was even a QR code on the sign to enable payment. If you booked saver then you can only take a small carry-on with you, I don't know how long you are going for but I would think just the essentials for travelling with a baby - nappies, wipes, spare clothing (and for you as well!) – Would take up at least one if not more of those carry on bags so you are leaving yourself almost no leeway for anything else. Could you just book one suitcase on one of the tickets and use that for everyone?

[MollyRover]

@unfortunateevents I'm not trying to avoid paying for a bag, I'm trying to avoid having lost luggage because there aren't enough baggage handlers.

[MollyRover]

The booking says we have 2 checked in bags and 1 carry on bag, all 10kg. Will they allow the changing bag aswell?

[Michellebops]

Have a look at the w&a on their website, I flew with them last weekend and it was fine.

There were 2 mums with young babies, dropped prams at front of the plans and used slings.
They had checked their baggage in as not enough hands.

Schipol is one of the easier airports with baggage surely as you literally scan your cases through security as you're boarding (unless it's changed now?)

[Michellebops]

Q&A*

[MollyRover]

I'll check Q&A, thanks @Michellebops.
There are some gates where there is a security scan at the gate but these are only for Schengen countries i think. Had to check our bags at the normal bag check in desks when we were traveling through not that long ago, but before it was a total disaster.

[Michellebops]

I've only flew out of Amsterdam once and it was to Edinburgh, and confused how we got to departure gate with still our luggage 🙈

But it's a mahoosive airport so I suppose it made sense

[MollyRover]

Just read this on the website: One fully collapsible buggy/stroller is allowed free of charge for an infant or child booking, plus one of the following items: car seat, booster seat or travel cot.

So I guess we can take the car seat but not the pram?? It's not fully collapsible as far as I know.

[FamilyAreEverything]

Travelled with a six month old. Usually you can take a pram and the car seat. If you can, consider getting a bag for both items, and use bubble wrap to pad your car seat for protection.
Highly recommend using a sling for getting on and off the flight. We’ve always been able to take the pram to the gate, but often you won’t get it back until the baggage reclaim hall, so having the sling makes it easier and safer for you and baby.
Try to feed baby for take off and during the descent to protect their ears from the pressure changes. Or use a dummy.
No specific advice about Amsterdam or Aer Lingus I’m afraid.

[Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov]

You can take any type of buggy to the door of the plane but obviously if it's an expensive pram you run the risk of it getting wrecked if it's in the hold with no protection. There's places in Dublin airport where you used to be able to rent buggies so I'd try that. I found the sling invaluable in any airport. The baby bag is usually extra to the 10k. With aer lingus and an infant you can't check in online so add that to your timings.

[Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov]

Id try see if they're in cork I mean. Stork somthing they used to be called

[unfortunateevents]

@MollyRover - I know you're not trying to avoid paying for the checked in bag but it sounded as if you were trying to avoid the possibility of lost luggage. However if you now say that you actually have 3 10kg bags between you on your tickets and two are checked in then it looks like you already face that possibility? So I'm not sure what your question actually is – are you hoping that they will allow you to take the checked in bags on board instead of putting them in the hold?

[MollyRover]

@Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov unfortunately none in Dublin

@unfortunateevents yes, what was previously referred to as "hand luggage" is to be checked in. So that's inconsistent in the current climate, and more so when traveling with a baby. If it was possible to take buggy to the gate that would help but it looks like it has to be checked in aswell. I was trying to clarify this. I have never traveled with a very small baby and haven't traveled since the baggage situation got so bad so I'm asking what to expect.

[MollyRover]

@Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov meant Cork not Dublin. I'm still calling baby brain

[Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov]

Wait a minute - if you bring your luggage to the gate/the buggy it gets brought directly to the plane doesn't it? Is it just the bags that go through the airport that are going AWOL in Amsterdam? We used air tags on our bags so at least we knew where they were.

[MollyRover]

I'm trying to clarify if that's the case or we have to check it with other checked luggage, as is seemingly the situation in Dublin.