A friend of ours was chatting about strollers and carseats when flying, and although we've added a few tips and suggestions throughout our other blogs, we thought a one stop shop blog would be the way to go!
First, all airlines we've looked at in the U.S (so far) have allowed a carseat and stroller to be either gate checked or bag checked for free. Check with your specific airlines though before flying. Let me break this down, because there are a few important things to note:
- Gate checked means you take it through security with you, and when you get to the gate you stop by the gate desk and get a tag for it. (Hint- they will make you bring the physical stroller/car seat to them, and they will place on the tag.) If you have a layover, you can let the airline employee working the desk know whether you want to pick it up during your layover, or simply pick it up at your final destination. Then when you are boarding the plan, once you go through the doors to the ramp, but before you step onto the plane, there is that little door off to your right on the ramp where you drop your "gate checked" bags. Drop your stroller and car seat there. When you hop off the plane, your stroller/car seat will be there waiting for you (sometimes you have to wait patiently if there are a lot of strollers or you get off the plane quickly).
- Bag Checked means you check it with your other bags when you get to the airport, before you go to security. You won't see it again until you land at your final destination. Important item to note- car seats do NOT come out on the conveyor belt with your normal bags. They will come out in a separate area where the "over-sized" luggage is taken out. It is usually off to the side somewhere depending on the airport. Just ask any employee you see and they can direct you.
-For both gate checked or bag checked baby items, airlines make you waive any recourse if they break your items. If they lose them, the airline will reimburse, but if they break your $300 stroller....too bad. We suggest using a more durable stroller (or cheaper stroller) when traveling, I'll get to that. We also use a carseat bag for our car seat. It makes it way easier to tote it around (its a backpack--see Kevin sporting the yellow bag in the photo) and keeps it a bit more protected.
Hint: If you are flying Southwest, they offer these bags at the check-in desk for $17. It is branded "Southwest" if that bothers you!
-If you choose to gate check your car seat, you also can always ask the attendant at the desk if there are empty seats on the plane. If there are, they will usually allow you to bring your cars eat on the plane with you, but it is up to their discretion if you didn't purchase a ticket for your child. Car seats must go by the window. Because of this, we have never opted to do that....to much hassle and bulk.
What other options do you with carseats have when flying? Well you have a few!
-Public transportation. Depending on where you are going, you may not need a car seat with you. If you are traveling via buses, trains, subways, the entire trip, you may skip the car seat all together! Just remember, only a handful of cities have Uber Car Seat, and even then the car seat is usually not suitable for an infant. If you plan to Uber, you need a car seat.
-Car Rental. Most car rental companies offer car seats for a fee. If you need an infant car seat, make sure to call ahead. Don't necessarily expect your handy little infant chicco car seat. It may be a convertible car seat that doesn't allow you to unsnap from a base. If you are a AAA member, we've found that Hertz will offer a car seat for free. Usually the fee is a daily fee ($10 a day or something similar) which can add up quickly, so try to find a way to get a discount.
If you decide to bring your carseat/stroller with you on the plane, here are a few things we've learned.
When traveling with an infant, we prefer the carseat/stroller combo. This means we bring the stroller that our carseat snaps into. Depending on the age of the child, and where we are going (how many/how long our layovers are) we may simply bag check both and carry our baby through the airport in a baby carrier.
Tip: If you have your baby in a carrier (where you strap your child to your body) you do not have to remove your sleeping babe through security. You will go through the metal detectors with baby attached!
If you do bring your carseat and stroller, they will need to be put onto the security belt and run through the scanner. So hopefully you have someone to help you or a kind stranger! For this reason, we bring our carseat caddy with an infant. This thing is AMAZING. It is lightweight, you can easily fold it up one handed and pick it up without too much effort. It also still has storage underneath, which we always seem to use!
If you aren't traveling with an infant, we gate check our carseat (in the carseat bag) and use our travel stroller in the airport. Yes, some people may want to haul around a 25 lb toddler in a carrier strapped to their back...I am not one of those people. The carrier is no longer an option for us. What do we look for in a travel stroller? Lightweight, durable, fold-able one-handed, but still has room under the stroller for "stuff". This isn't just about getting through the airport, it means also using this stroller on your trip. With Lorelai, every now and then (rarely!) she will nap in the stroller. So we also like that ours leans all the way back to allow her to nap laying down. What else do we look for? USED. We have never yet bought a new stroller (4 strollers that we own now) and have never had any issue with the used ones. You'll save tons of money. We actually have an older model of this one (but it looks like ours reclines significantly more than this)
We have looked into rentals in the past, a number of cities offer baby rental items when traveling. I suggest googling the city you are going to and seeing what companies there are. Personally, we have never found them as useful, but it is always an option!
Another tip? Most airlines we've found indicate that a pump or diaper bag (when accompanied by an infant) does not count as a carry-on. We find that combining carry-ons is always easier though, as too many bags makes for too much hassle. Just a note on some of those airlines that may charge for a carry-on bag---check to see if you diaper bag is free!
Whether you are gate checking or bag checking your stroller/carsseat, make sure everything is buckled, straps aren't hanging down, no spare parts can become unattached, keep it all simple. The less "stuff" you have hanging off of the stroller or car seat, the less likely it will be damaged. This is why a car seat bag or a simple duffel can be really helpful if protecting your items!
Final reminder: Each airline is very different on policies. Sometimes they follow their online policies and sometimes they do not! For example, some airlines say only lighter weight strollers can be gate checked, where those heavy double strollers must be bag checked. Always check your airline's policies online prior to making your plans!
First, all airlines we've looked at in the U.S (so far) have allowed a carseat and stroller to be either gate checked or bag checked for free. Check with your specific airlines though before flying. Let me break this down, because there are a few important things to note:
- Gate checked means you take it through security with you, and when you get to the gate you stop by the gate desk and get a tag for it. (Hint- they will make you bring the physical stroller/car seat to them, and they will place on the tag.) If you have a layover, you can let the airline employee working the desk know whether you want to pick it up during your layover, or simply pick it up at your final destination. Then when you are boarding the plan, once you go through the doors to the ramp, but before you step onto the plane, there is that little door off to your right on the ramp where you drop your "gate checked" bags. Drop your stroller and car seat there. When you hop off the plane, your stroller/car seat will be there waiting for you (sometimes you have to wait patiently if there are a lot of strollers or you get off the plane quickly).
- Bag Checked means you check it with your other bags when you get to the airport, before you go to security. You won't see it again until you land at your final destination. Important item to note- car seats do NOT come out on the conveyor belt with your normal bags. They will come out in a separate area where the "over-sized" luggage is taken out. It is usually off to the side somewhere depending on the airport. Just ask any employee you see and they can direct you.-For both gate checked or bag checked baby items, airlines make you waive any recourse if they break your items. If they lose them, the airline will reimburse, but if they break your $300 stroller....too bad. We suggest using a more durable stroller (or cheaper stroller) when traveling, I'll get to that. We also use a carseat bag for our car seat. It makes it way easier to tote it around (its a backpack--see Kevin sporting the yellow bag in the photo) and keeps it a bit more protected.
Hint: If you are flying Southwest, they offer these bags at the check-in desk for $17. It is branded "Southwest" if that bothers you!
-If you choose to gate check your car seat, you also can always ask the attendant at the desk if there are empty seats on the plane. If there are, they will usually allow you to bring your cars eat on the plane with you, but it is up to their discretion if you didn't purchase a ticket for your child. Car seats must go by the window. Because of this, we have never opted to do that....to much hassle and bulk.
What other options do you with carseats have when flying? Well you have a few!
-Public transportation. Depending on where you are going, you may not need a car seat with you. If you are traveling via buses, trains, subways, the entire trip, you may skip the car seat all together! Just remember, only a handful of cities have Uber Car Seat, and even then the car seat is usually not suitable for an infant. If you plan to Uber, you need a car seat.-Car Rental. Most car rental companies offer car seats for a fee. If you need an infant car seat, make sure to call ahead. Don't necessarily expect your handy little infant chicco car seat. It may be a convertible car seat that doesn't allow you to unsnap from a base. If you are a AAA member, we've found that Hertz will offer a car seat for free. Usually the fee is a daily fee ($10 a day or something similar) which can add up quickly, so try to find a way to get a discount.
If you decide to bring your carseat/stroller with you on the plane, here are a few things we've learned.
When traveling with an infant, we prefer the carseat/stroller combo. This means we bring the stroller that our carseat snaps into. Depending on the age of the child, and where we are going (how many/how long our layovers are) we may simply bag check both and carry our baby through the airport in a baby carrier.
Tip: If you have your baby in a carrier (where you strap your child to your body) you do not have to remove your sleeping babe through security. You will go through the metal detectors with baby attached! If you do bring your carseat and stroller, they will need to be put onto the security belt and run through the scanner. So hopefully you have someone to help you or a kind stranger! For this reason, we bring our carseat caddy with an infant. This thing is AMAZING. It is lightweight, you can easily fold it up one handed and pick it up without too much effort. It also still has storage underneath, which we always seem to use!
If you aren't traveling with an infant, we gate check our carseat (in the carseat bag) and use our travel stroller in the airport. Yes, some people may want to haul around a 25 lb toddler in a carrier strapped to their back...I am not one of those people. The carrier is no longer an option for us. What do we look for in a travel stroller? Lightweight, durable, fold-able one-handed, but still has room under the stroller for "stuff". This isn't just about getting through the airport, it means also using this stroller on your trip. With Lorelai, every now and then (rarely!) she will nap in the stroller. So we also like that ours leans all the way back to allow her to nap laying down. What else do we look for? USED. We have never yet bought a new stroller (4 strollers that we own now) and have never had any issue with the used ones. You'll save tons of money. We actually have an older model of this one (but it looks like ours reclines significantly more than this)
We have looked into rentals in the past, a number of cities offer baby rental items when traveling. I suggest googling the city you are going to and seeing what companies there are. Personally, we have never found them as useful, but it is always an option!
Another tip? Most airlines we've found indicate that a pump or diaper bag (when accompanied by an infant) does not count as a carry-on. We find that combining carry-ons is always easier though, as too many bags makes for too much hassle. Just a note on some of those airlines that may charge for a carry-on bag---check to see if you diaper bag is free!
Whether you are gate checking or bag checking your stroller/carsseat, make sure everything is buckled, straps aren't hanging down, no spare parts can become unattached, keep it all simple. The less "stuff" you have hanging off of the stroller or car seat, the less likely it will be damaged. This is why a car seat bag or a simple duffel can be really helpful if protecting your items!
Final reminder: Each airline is very different on policies. Sometimes they follow their online policies and sometimes they do not! For example, some airlines say only lighter weight strollers can be gate checked, where those heavy double strollers must be bag checked. Always check your airline's policies online prior to making your plans!
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