Flying with Strollers and Carseats

[Tink's Pixieduster]

My sons are both adults, and I have no grandchildren yet, but I came across an article in today's Washington Post that I thought I should share with folks on the Family board. I don't want to alarm anyone, and I'm not trying to discourage anyone from flying with strollers and/or carseats in checked baggage, but I just want to give you a heads up about this.

The "Coming and Going" (or CoGo) column on the front of the travel section describes what happened to a mom who put a stroller in checked luggage for her toddler and infant that were flying with her.

Here's the article:

COMING AND GOING
Stroller Derby
Sunday, July 8, 2007; Page P01

Parents beware: Your child's stroller may seem sturdy to you, but your airline might consider it a fragile item for which it has no liability. For Lisa Conner of Washington, that attitude meant the loss of a new $300 stroller.

Conner, loaded down with a toddler and a baby at the Des Moines airport, had pushed the children to the gate in their stroller and checked it on her American Airlines flight to Washington. On arrival at Dulles, she retrieved the stroller -- minus a wheel and with a frame twisted beyond repair. She attempted to make a claim but was told the airline has no responsibility for "fragile" items.

Turns out that American Airlines' contract of carriage, available at its Web site, specifically includes strollers and car seats in its long list of items for which it takes no responsibility.

A check of various airlines' contracts of carriage found that most do not specifically mention strollers. However, the items for which the airlines claim no liability include not only electronic items, eyewear, medicine, jewelry and artwork, but also anything "fragile." The airlines, of course, get to define the word.

CoGo's advice: Buy the cheapest stroller you can find to get your kids to the airport, and leave the good stroller at home. Further, if you're considering checking anything besides clothing, read your airline's contract of carriage about baggage liability before you hand it over.

 

[honey11dog]

Interesting information. Luckily, I have flown many times with both carseats and strollers and never had a problem. Although, I usually put the carseat in its own luggage bag and check it in with our other bags, I do keep the stroller all the way until we board the plan. I have a cheaper stroller but I think that it would be much more easy to damage if something fell on it. Thanks for the info.

 

[Stimpy]

We've taken many flights with car seats & strollers. Every time I have had to sign something stating the airlines will not cover any damage to them. The gate agents make that pretty clear, at least in my experience

 

[AmyBWV99]

Been there, done that, been burned! It's incredibly frustrating. It does depend on the airline tho, United made me sign a waiver stating they were not responsible for destroying our stroller on a 25 minute flight (I would be the woman that was crying my way across O'Hare July 05 pushing a stroller that had only 3 of 8 working wheels and squealing, if you saw me ) and that ended up costing us $95 to replace the entire frame b/c that was cheaper than replacing all the individual broken parts, it was a $350 stroller. On the flight home that trip however we were on Airtran they proceeded to tear a hole in our infant carrier hood and b/c our infant carrier exceeded the amount they were allowed to reimburse us for it they compensated us w/free round trip tickets. So that at least made us feel a little less bad still had to replace basically the entire travel system in the end. BTW we gate checked all our stuff and even put them in the travel bags to make it easier for the luggage haulers. Live and learn, since we travel alot we learned to pack our full sized stroller in it's orginal box and check it thru carrying on just a cheapie stroller to make it thru the airports.

 

[AWilliams]

You aren't allowed to carry-on a stroller are you? I thought they had to be checked - at least at the gate. Since they are required to be checked in baggage, they should be considered baggage and subject to those same terms/conditions. When we flew with ours the last time (on Delta) we didn't have any problems.

We'll use our car seat in the airplane, so at least that won't be an issue.

 

[Stimpy]

Even though you gate check them, they attach a tag to it as if it were regular baggage. Like the OP mentioned, they are considered "fragile" items and you check them at your own risk.

 

[Ally_DeVille]

Of all the airlines, I think American is the worst when it comes to gate checking and damage; I refuse to fly that airline now and I used to be an exclusive customer.

I gate-checked my brand new stroller, that was part of the travel system, and it was destroyed, looked like it had been run over. I got a very insincere sorry and too bad, so sad from them, not even any help lugging the baby, carry-ons and broken stroller down to where my family was waiting to meet the new baby. As as I am a single mom, this was a big deal for me; strangers gave me more help than American Airline employees.

They also ripped the hood on the replacement stroller that I had to buy for the return home flight (I thought the damage to the first one was a fluke).

No offer to fix or replace it, as I apparently waived all my rights when I gate checked it, not that anyone told me that when I attached the tag to it.

I now have a Sit-n-Stroller car seat/stroller combo for when we travel but occasionally bring along a regular stroller as well; Delta, US Airways and Southwest have been wonderful about gate checking-- no damage to anything.

I was told by Southwest employees to not check the regular stroller in with the luggage but to gate-check as it receives extra care when it's loaded. Since they wrapped it up in a huge plastic bag when I arrived and then had it set up when we deplaned, I totally believe them.

I just bought 2 of the strollers from Toys R Us clearance sale for our upcoming Disney trip; those will be shipped in their original boxes in regular luggage and will come home the exact same way.

 

[northriver]

Thanks for sharing this information. I love my stroller, I would be so disappointed if my stroller got damaged on the way to Orlando and I had to buy a cheapo stroller to use at Disney World - that would make for a miserable week for all of us. We have never had any problems gate checking the stroller - so far we have been lucky I guess.

However, I would never ever CHECK a carseat. What they put luggage through - how would you know if you carseat was still safe to use? I purchase a plane seat for my kids and use our carseat on the plane. I've had luggage badly damaged and I would never compromise my childrens safety by letting baggage handlers manhandle a carseat. On the other hand, I have seen some really scary carseats at car rental places (rented for almost as much as the seat costs) so if you don't purchase a plane seat for you child, your options are limited.

 

[dhardawa]

However, I would never ever CHECK a carseat. What they put luggage through - how would you know if you carseat was still safe to use? I purchase a plane seat for my kids and use our carseat on the plane. I've had luggage badly damaged and I would never compromise my childrens safety by letting baggage handlers manhandle a carseat. On the other hand, I have seen some really scary carseats at car rental places (rented for almost as much as the seat costs) so if you don't purchase a plane seat for you child, your options are limited.

You are 100% correct here! There can be significant damage to a car seat that is invisible to the eye. This (and the article in general) are why I tell people to NEVER check a car seat.