Want your buggy delivered to the gate when your flight lands?

[minesarioja]

I just worked this one out after numerous uncomfortable walks to the carousel juggling baby and hand baggage: if you fly with BMI (and maybe other airlines) when you check in at Bag Drop make sure they tag your buggy with a red label which says "Deliver to Airside". A nice chap will bring it to the door of the plane when you exit and you'll be a million times calmer.

unfortunately this does not work on every airport...
I have a carrier for that reason.

I'm sure it's not everywhere but in case it's helpful to anyone out there, the service was available at Heathrow and Dublin.

Yes, it really isn't that simple. I have flown with BMI numerous times over the past few years and most times the buggy has not arrived at the gate. When I was heavily pregnant with DC4 and DC3 was a toddler I spent over half an hour waiting at the gate at Heathrow after a night flight only to be told there were no members of staff on duty who were able to get the buggy for me. I therefore had a very long walk to baggage reclaim carrying a very heavy and exhausted toddler

You will never get your buggy back at Heathrow. You only get it at back at baggage reclaim. Invest in a buggy that goes in the over head locker on the flight. Much easier!

Can't remember where we were but there were a group of us asking for buggies at gate after a long flight and staff were willing to oblige. There was a slight language barrier problem though, we all thought the staff were asking make of buggy when they were actually asking surname. They were looking increasingly bemused that every child on the flight apparently had the surname "Maclaren"!

@gregssausage - any tips for make and model that do fit? We looked for ages and only found one that got bad reviews for being too flimsy.p

this one

We have it after being caught out coming back into Heathrow from Australian when DS was 10 months old. It was around a 2.5 hour walk and wait until we could put him down in the domestic terminal.

The look of envy when getting off a flight and you are able to put your child into it is worth every penny spent! I don't care who says what, we have travelled extensively and have never had our buggy back before baggage reclaim with the exception of Dubai and Perth who are fantastic and have loads of buggies for use by passengers.

Pros

Goes in overhead locker on flight.
Can be used as an everyday buggy.
Sturdy
Can be put up one handed

Cons
The flight bag is a bit flimsy - you just need to be careful.
Doesn't go down one handed
Does not fully recline although there is a small recline

Any questions, let me know.