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Hello seasoned travellers ...
Was wondering if any of you have experienced taking your pram or stroller on a plane with you (as luggage in the hold, that is)? If so what was that like? Did you have any trouble with it getting damaged and if so, do you have any suggestions for how it should be packed?
Cheers,
Mel
Mel we have done this twice now and have had no trouble or damage at all.
We had to hand the pram over when we checked in on a short flight but when we flew over from the UK they took it off us just before we boarded so we had use of it around the airport.
Most airports have a stroller that you can use till you board as well.
I've only flown interstate with Maddy & our pram etc; but I flew Virgin Blue and they were fantastic. I checked in everything bar the pram & our carry-ons before the flight and then right before we boarded, they had us bring our pram to the boarding gate and then we got to board first! hehe
I do think it helps to have a sturdy, tough pram though....I know some people who have had their prams damaged thanks to rough baggage handling; but ours was fine. It did get wet though *L* as it was raining when they took the baggage off the plane.
Oh one hint though....if you keep a hold of it, you will need to take the pram through the security gates/scans. They made me take everything out of the pram (I had TONS of loose stuff in the bottom and stupidly didn't bring enough bags to stuff them in) and then fold it up to fit through the scanning machine. *LOL*
I've never had a problem with getting a pram damaged. On international flights they usually let youu keep it until boarding.
On domestic flights VirginBlue counts a pram as 5kg regardless of its actual weight (same with porta-cots etc) but JetStar weighs them and uses the actual weight (unless its a quiet flight with a nice check-in person)
Thanks girls for your help. It will be my first flight with a child next week. It's all new to me!
Mel, I am not sure about all airlines, but Qantas usually give you a huge plastic sack to put your folded up stroller into.....
If you do check it in at the usual baggage check in time, they might ask you to take it along to the "special baggage" section.
I have taken ours domestically (Darwin to Adel, Darwin to Syd etc) and also to the UK, and never had any problems at all.......I always check it in with all the rest of the stuff and then use the BabyBjorn for around the airport/on the plane........but I generally travel without DH, hence this is easier for me, as it gives me 2 hands spare all the time.....
HTH.....
I'm sure you'll be right Mel! :) Willmartin will probably love the flight...I worried about Maddy (she was just on 9 weeks when we flew to Sydney from Brisbane) and her ears etc, but she slept & fed the whole way. Not a peep from her! *L*
That's interesting to know about Qantas Lucy re: the bags to put your stroller/pram into. Hmmm...wish they all did that for their passengers!
Virgin Blue were really good with luggage. Every full paying domestic traveller in Australia gets 20kgs baggage allowance (plus your 7kg carry on allowance), but if you're travelling with an infant you can trade in 5kgs of your allowance (so you still have 15kgs worth of baggage allowance to work with) in order to bring an extra carry on nappy bag for baby, plus you can check pretty much unlimited items & weight of items through baggage for baby. So, you could bring a small suitcase/backpack, stroller, car seat etc for baby provided it goes through baggage.
Who are you travelling with? :)
We are flying Jetstar to Qld in 6wks or so & my sis has a stroller that copllapses into a tiny backpack, so i am thinking we will just take that!
Mel,
Let me know how it all goes!!!! hee hee
Whenever I travelled to bali with maddy I NEVER took a pram... Anyone having been to Bali will know what the roads are like, plus then we were in a village most of the time so i used a carry thing & then the sarong!!!
Thanks also Tracey, Lucy and Beck ... we're travelling with Virgin. Trace will let you know how it goes! Lucy, I plan on having WM in the Hugabub for the actual flight and while at the airport. I figure that will be easier for us.
Thanks again everyone.
Cheers,
Mel
Just thought I'd duck my head in here. I just got one of the strollers I think Tracey is talking about. It's a Quicksmart one and it's the best $99 I have spent in a long time! It folds up into a tiny backpack, small enough to be counted as hand luggage. And Lucie loves it - she doesn't have all the pram/stroller fluff around her. I actually use this everyday now, and totally love it. You can get them from Target and K-mart. But bub needs to be 6 months or so, so this may not help? I find this stroller heaps better than our expensive normal one, which we have now ditched (until Sept that is when I will need a double!).