Aer Lingus & size 0 car seats

[Species8472]

Does anyone know if we would be allowed to take our 5m DD's rear-facing car seat up to the gate with Aer Lingus?

I know that they don't allow babies to travel on the plane in rear-facing seats, but we need to take the seat with us when we visit my PIL in Dublin at Xmas. We were going to hire a car with suitable seat but the car hire charges are so high, as it's Xmas, so we're now thinking we'll take our Maxi Cosi with us and get lift from/to airport with relative. We're not taking a buggy as well, as we won't really need it while we're there, so am hoping that the airline would let us put the seat in the hold or cabin at the gate, really don't want it bounced around on a luggage trolley where it might get damaged of fall off, get lost etc.

Thanks!

We took the Maxi Cosi and the buggy chassis for it at no extra cost. We went ot check in, they asked us was it a 2 piece, we said yes, and they put a tag on both pieces. They then allowed us to keep the buggy until the door of the plane when they took it away to the hold.
When we disembarked it was waiting for us in the tunnel-thing leading to the terminal. Couldn't have been easier and so handy to have the whole thing with us for walks etc.

(Air-Lingus btw, wouldn't try it on Micheal O'Learys' shower)

Thanks wukter, that sounds great. However I just managed to speak to Aer Lingus on the phone and they said we'd have to check the seat in at the check-in desk, even though that's all we'd have.....maybe different airports do things differently? Where did you travel from, we're going fron Birmingham?

Well, yes we did have to check it in at the check in desk, but once the tags were on it they let us keep it right up to the door of the plane. AFAIK that's the standard procedure on all flights.

That's what I thought; what Aer Lingus told me today sounds very odd as a car seat on its own isn't really any more bulky than even a collapsible Maclaren-style stroller, or even thbe cases that some people get away with taking on-board. They actually said that we'd have to check the seat in and leave it there like ordinary checked-in luggage and we couldn't get it tagged and keep it until the gate, that surely can't be right??

thats v odd - maybe they let us keep ours becuse it was a part of th buggy and we needed th buggy to navigate airport? ( tho, it did say on website that one piece buggy was toi be treated as babys hand luggage, but it didnt matter on the day that it was 2 pieces)

Hmm, not sure what to think now! It would seem logical that they would accept both pieces, as the chassis is useless on its own. I might try ringing again and ask what the policy is on 2-piece travel systems, as so many people must have to fly with them. Maybe we should take the chassis as well, as then they'd be less likely to take it from us until the gate, as, like you say, it's needed for the baby's transport round the airport.

Argh! Travelling with a baby - I never imagined all these problems before we had DD!

The saga continues......just spoke to them again about travel systems. They said that both bits would have to be treated as checked-in baggage and would be taken off us at the check-in desk, so treated same as bags, cases etc. Sounds bizarre, I've never seen anyone having to do this?

That is strange, we were only travelling last month. And a few other people had buggies - We had to take the babies out wehile the buggy went through the security gate, there were a few people going through same time as us.
I suppose you had better expect it to be taken from you. Would that be very inconvenient? (I brought a sling for that eventuality but glad I didn't have to use it as don't get on with them).

It isn't the inconvenience of not having the buggy that bothers me, it's worrying about what might happen to the car seat and the chassis between the check-in desk and the plane. Considering what happens to cases and bags on baggage trolleys, being chucked around, dropped, lost etc.