Travel / umbrella stroller - hire or buy - what worked for you?

We're heading to Sydney for Easter and our first family holiday :D DD will be 8.5 months old.
I am trying to decide whether we should buy a cheapie umbrella stroller to take with us, or if we should hire one in Sydney. Was looking at something like the Steelcraft Holiday ($98) to purchase. Hiring a stroller and having it delivered/picked up from our hotel will end up costing us about $75-100.

My question is - how much of a pain is it to check-in a stroller on your flight, and do they really get completely smashed/damaged?

We are in Sydney for 4 nights, 3 full days... I will have a Baby Bjorn but at the moment DD won't stay in it for more than an hour at most, can't predict what she will be like in April.

I'm leaning towards hiring one, just because it's one less thing to be carrying at the airport, and once we land we'll probably put her in the BB anyway for handsfree convenience. But then part of me baulks at the 'disposable' cost!!

Has anyone else gone through a similar thing - what worked for you? In Sydney we are staying fairly centrally and will be walking or taking trains etc so I think we will definitely need a stroller of some sort.

Thanks!

We took DD to Queensland in March, she was 11 months. We bought an el-cheapo stroller from Target (about $30 from memory) and it was perfect. Didn't get damaged on the plane (flew from Melb) and it was so light and easy to use that we never regretted buying it. We use it now if we can't fit her proper viper pram into the car and it's just fine. Because we were familiar with it when we got to QLD, it was quick and easy to shrink when we got on buses and in transit vehicles. Enjoy your trip!

That is crazy prices to hire. I would buy and put up with the 'hassle' at the airport.

we did something similar to PacRak - DS was 13mths and we were at the Gold Coast. We bought a $60 umbrella stroller from Target. We flew from Adelaide to Brisbane but we hired a car - had a bit of travelling to do around the greater Brisbane area. We didn't use it a lot before we left with DS - he was a sling boy (close carrier) mostly - now we're walking more. But it was easy to use. even running (okay moving) around the airport was easy without it. Check in was easy - checked in bags first then went to oversize baggage to check in the stroller. Pick up at the other end was just as easy. DS coped with the stroller quite well so someone who liked the sling more.

ETA - we still use the stroller now when out and about - much smaller than the pram we had and he's usually quite okay at going in it.

i bought an umbrella el-cheapo from Aldi that had recline for $60. Took it to Hawaii no problems.

You just check it in as oversized luggage thats all.

BUT i must say you will have scratches because they just throw all the oversized luggage in one big trolley!

Thanks for replies girls - I think we will just buy an umbrella stroller! Kate07 I thought the prices were too much for hire too - the actual hire was only around $25-35 depending on the place but delivery and pick-up (which we would need) was anywhere from $35 to $69 EACH WAY! WTF?!? Crazy. Now I have a few months to keep me eye out for a good stroller on sale - and I guess it's not going to matter if it gets a bit scratched etc as it would only be used for travel or possibly by the grandparents etc.

Our stroller has survived a couple of trips to QLD and back with no probs :D.