bugaboo on a flight?

[missytequila]

Has anyone taken a bugaboo cameleon or bee on a flight? Do you have to pay for extra baggage? Also I am trying to avoid buying the 'bugaboo travel bag' as it will honestly only be used once... any suggestions...

Basically a friend is giving me one of her prams in NY and I would like to ask my mother to bring it to London on the plane, so baby will NOT be travelling with her, just the pram.

i think buggies go free - but check with the airline -
i'm sure we put ours on the plane just before we boarded - it's a really long walk from check in to plane so they were really easy about it -
could you not get one closer?!!

It does go free, but I think only if the baby is travelling with you, as it's part of their luggage allowance. How old is the child? I travelled with DD at 4 months and 8 months. I have to say I bought the bugaboo bag, we then checked in the pushchair and carried DD through in a sling (that was a MN tip from when I asked months ago), the sling was great, meant my hands were free to deal with passports. As the bugaboo doesn't fold up small I think it will be a pain to get through security and fold up at the gate.

baby is not travelling, just the pram, so do i have to pay for extra luggage? is there another way to pack the pram without buying the 'bugaboo' travel case?

I had a hefty all terrain buggy which I thought was pretty indestructible, but one of the axels was bent in the hold. You might want to buy a cheaper buggy for air travel.

Hi, we've taken our cameleon on Ryanair and Easyjet a number of times and never had to pay excess. We don't have a travel case.

to plumblossom -- how did you pack it? did you check it in with your luggage or at the gate?

I know i should get a cheaper buggy for travel, but this buggy is being given to me from someone in new york, so it will only be one flight just to get it over to me in london.

Mine got smashed in the aircraft hold. Take a cheapo one.

Hello Misstequila, sorry it's taken me so long to get back. We just checked it in at the gate as we needed it to push DD around the airport in. We didn't pack it in any way just unfolded it at the gate.

Hi all,
has anyone ever taken a Cameleon IN the travel case on a Ryanair flight and didn't check it in at the check-in but used it pram and carried the case up to the plane, then took it apart and put it in the case just before getting on the plane?
Thanks,

airport staff can be pretty ruthless with the luggage/prams.
I have seen them dropping the pushchairs that were left by the gate down to the tarmac (a good 3-4 meters). no wonder they get easily broken.
have a cheapo buggy and sling for travelling.
afaik the airlines want the pushchairs to be folded into one piece, maybe that is why a bag is advisable for bigger ones (so that it is one piece).

hm. our DD is going to be just 3mths old, so not really ideal to take a cheap stroller, we would like her to sleep lying flat.
We might just have to take our chances and use the Cameleon and take the case for it.

have a look at the obaby ones. we have one (atlas sport I think) that lies flat and was around 80£ when we bought it last year.

Having read some more about the issue, we're going to buy the Maclaren Techno XT incl. carry case so we can use it on holidays. We planned to buy one anyway at some point when our little one was a big bigger and eventually have another baby.

also read the small print of your travel insurance to make sure the pushchair is included.

I know this thread has long since finished but I would like to share my experience with taking my bugaboo cameleon on a flight.
I was really in two minds weather or not to take it on holiday but in the end I paid enough money for it so I'm gonna use it and not buy a cheap one that will be of no use when I'm at home. I decided to buy a travel case (£50 off eBay- non wheeled version) I took the shopping basket off and packed it in the suitcase and just rolled up the bag and put it where the shopping basket goes. This meant I could take it to the gate like you would any other pushchair, pack it up
In the bag which takes 2 mins (there was quite an audience) and give it in there. It traveled there and back without a scratch, well worth £50 and I can use it again and will be a good extra to have when I sell it!!

We only did it once and just the buggy seat in the hold. We used the chassis and the Maxi Cosi until we boarded the plane.

The buggy seat was wrapped in bubble wrap and then put into a garden-waste-strength binbag. No problems.

I have seen people putting chassis and seat into the hold, again wrapped in bubble wrap and duct-taped.

But if it flies without a baby then it is additional luggage and you need to pay.

missy, if the bugaboo isn't packed in a travel bag or similar, it's quite likely that it will have to be separated into seat and chassis for transit, a pain for your mum to have to wait at baggage reclaim when one bit arrives and the other bit takes ages after it to come through on the carousel.

Could you buy a preloved transport bag, or could your friend get one in the USA and you reimburse her the money? You could sell the bag on if you really weren't going to use it and get most of your money back.

It's my understanding that transporting the pushchair alone without a baby will incur a charge.