Taking car seat and pram on plane

[Mum3202]

We are going on our first holiday as a family of 3 and we will be taking our infant car seat and pram. We will be handing both over before boarding at the door as we will be using it until then (is a travel system so car seat fits on pram). Both will be then taken to hold and returned when we land (hopefully!).
I was wondering if it’s worth to buy 2 travel bags (1 for car seat and 1 for pram) just to avoid/prevent scratches, dirt, etc.
It was quite an expensive travel system and I’m worried that it’s going to get damaged.
Anyone else has given pram/pushchair/car seat before boarding at the door and has any suggestions or can share their experience?
If you used travel bags for your prams/car seat do you recommend any particular ones?
I’ve been looking at Amazon and they seem quite basic, just nylon bags with no padding, but nearly £50 for 2 bags!

Uppababy Minu

I'm a big fan of the Joie Pact. It's a compact one hand fold stroller BUT it comes with maxi cosi adapters to take compatible infant carrier car seats.

We got one to take DS away at 9 weeks. It is forward facing, but he adapted quickly.

It's a lot cheaper than many others, and whilst officially slightly to big for airline hand luggage on many airlines, it's so close we've folded it up and just taken it on without being questioned countless times.

I really wouldn't ever check in an expensive travel system.

We've got iSafe check in bag and they aren't padded, but they are nice and me thick.

We arrived at our hotel in Tenerife a few years ago and this woman was screaming at her husband because she'd sent him to the baggage carousel to get their toddler's pushchair and he'd picked up the wrong one. His excuse "I didn't know someone else would have the same one"!

So I always used a buggy bag after that! I would recommend bagging it up at the gate if the weather is bad, it's no fun standing at the airplane steps in a gale force wind/pouring rain trying to get a buggy into an oversized bag.

If you do get a bag and you want to use the pushchair in the airport, remember to take the luggage label off the check in person and put it through the strap on the buggy bag. Don't let them put it on the buggy (it won't be seen in the bag) or it won't be going anywhere.

Your items will be returned on the luggage carousel with the cases, sometimes they come off first, sometimes last. I recommend taking a sling so you can wear baby after getting off the plane. You could be waiting an hour to get your pushchair back and if you're getting a transfer it's not worth unpacking it just to get to the bus/taxi.

Most are forward facing but for 2 weeks it should be fine. if you get one that does car seat adaptors then you can get them if you want the ability to use with the car seat.
Take your carrier as well so you can wear her in that sometimes.

@ElevenSeven huh? That's just a standard buggy not suitable for a 2 month old and doesn't have a bassinet for overnight sleep...

Huh?

Look again.

And maybe don’t bite the hands of people trying to help.

has anyone checked in both infant car seat and pram/pushchair frame (without the seat as we are not using it yet) at the gate? It says that you can check in 1 fully foldable pushchair at the gate or before boarding the plane but the car seat is our pram seat so not fully foldable then and 2 pieces rather than 1. Will they be funny about it?

Just check it in with luggage. You can take car seat on main pram like you want and just check both parts in with suitcase. Then check in with suitcases and collect at luggage carousel on arrival . I wouldn’t def use bags though, it protects from dirt and you can add bag of nappies to car seat.

i wouldn’t take to plane door if it’s not a one piece fold

fyi babyzen yoyo is great. We still use for almost 4 year old travelling. You can fit most car seats on it also with adapter. So check car seat in with luggage, and adapter for pram. and take babyzen yoyo as hand luggage

No, never tried that. You probably need to contact your airline specifically. If you're within the allowance per infant (typically two items) which it sounds like you are, it might be ok.

Check it all in at the checkin desks and use a sling for the airport much much easier!
then when baby’s older get a cheap travel buggy

Out of interest, what travel system is it?

My experience is not very recent. Our DC was a toddler when we went off to NYC for a sabbatical working trip. The buggy went to the aeroplane door with us. We folded it and the stewards put it in a larger locker near the exit. We collected it as we disembarked.

Yes I have seen people do that.

You leave your pram at the bottom of the airplane steps or outside the airplane door if boarding is via a bridge. You will need to get two luggage labels, one for the pram base and one for the car seat. You will need to remove the car seat from the pram base and fold it up. Then just leave them in the designated place.

If you are bused to the airplane, fold up the base and leave baby in the car seat until you get to the plane.

How upset will you be if your travel system gets damaged in transit given that you haven't even used it in pushchair mode yet? Is it worth taking it? I got my son a cheap umbrella stroller suitable from birth at four months old and he was fine with it.

I'd also go for a cheap one. That's what I did and I'm so pleased, because it came out of the hold scratched and dented!!

Definitely buy a stroller, you will get a lot of use out of it. Good luck.