Gate checking City mini double

[stitchfan18]

If you fly with your nicer stroller, do you do anything special to protect it when gate checking? We finally splurged on a city
Mini double because we knew the cost would be worth it in the long run to own our own vs just renting every trip. Our old graco did fine without a bag, with just a few minor scratches, but i’m considering a gate check bag for the city mini. Is it a total hassle to get in/out of a gate check bag, and does putting it in a bag protect it enough to justify the extra work? Any recommendations on a bag that will fit a stroller this big?
TIA!

 

[Dawson's Mom]

We fly all the time with our City Mini-Double. We did end up buying the bag for it. The bag that everyone recommended at that time was the one for a triple (I think), not the double as it was really too small. It works great after all these years of going to WDW. We have had it for at least 8 years now. At the airport, we just fold up the bag send it through the scanner alone, after we place on the top area and it balances on the two covers. When we get to the gate, we fold down the stroller and place in the bag. Easy Peasy. One bonus of the bag, we always place our jackets inside and that helps to pad the stroller too. Good Luck with whatever you decide! P.S. I think we got it on Amazon, Maybe $80 or so??

 

[sponica]

The manufacturer makes one http://www.babyjogger.com/en-US/carry-bag---double

You could probably find a cheaper one somewhere else though.

I've never gate checked a double, but I've used a bag for my single Bob Motion. It took all of 3 seconds to load it in the bag. Made it easier to hand to the luggage people who were loading the strollers.

FYI: Without knowing what airline you fly, American can get uppity on size of the stroller. Officially their policy is a 20lb weight limit on gate checking. Now my slightly over that limit single stroller didn't have an issue, but I could totally seeing them making me check a double.

 

[stitchfan18]

We fly all the time with our City Mini-Double. We did end up buying the bag for it. The bag that everyone recommended at that time was the one for a triple (I think), not the double as it was really too small. It works great after all these years of going to WDW. We have had it for at least 8 years now. At the airport, we just fold up the bag send it through the scanner alone, after we place on the top area and it balances on the two covers. When we get to the gate, we fold down the stroller and place in the bag. Easy Peasy. One bonus of the bag, we always place our jackets inside and that helps to pad the stroller too. Good Luck with whatever you decide! P.S. I think we got it on Amazon, Maybe $80 or so??

Thanks for the idea about a triple stroller bag, I’ve been reading amazon reviews about the double bags but a lot of reviews said the double strollers wouldn’t actually fit. I’ll have to look for a triple stroller bag!

The manufacturer makes one http://www.babyjogger.com/en-US/carry-bag---double

You could probably find a cheaper one somewhere else though.

I've never gate checked a double, but I've used a bag for my single Bob Motion. It took all of 3 seconds to load it in the bag. Made it easier to hand to the luggage people who were loading the strollers.

FYI: Without knowing what airline you fly, American can get uppity on size of the stroller. Officially their policy is a 20lb weight limit on gate checking. Now my slightly over that limit single stroller didn't have an issue, but I could totally seeing them making me check a double.

We are on Southwest usually, but we had a similar experience on United last year with our other double. I’m glad the bags are quicker to use than I anticipated!

 

[ElenaRN]

We traveled and gate checked with our Uppababy twice. The first time no bag- it got damaged. Next time we bought a bag on Amazon. It still got damaged. We notified customer service @ Uppababy and they said since we didnt buy the bag from them the guarantee didn't apply. So just be careful. We've been renting ever since.

 

[sponica]

Thanks for the idea about a triple stroller bag, I’ve been reading amazon reviews about the double bags but a lot of reviews said the double strollers wouldn’t actually fit. I’ll have to look for a triple stroller bag!

We are on Southwest usually, but we had a similar experience on United last year with our other double. I’m glad the bags are quicker to use than I anticipated!

At least with my stroller it can only go in one way to the bag. My husband was struggling and couldn't get it to zip and I told him it was in the wrong way....he placated me and flipped it around, voila it slid on super easily and zipped shut...

 

[AEA1127]

We traveled and gate checked with our Uppababy twice. The first time no bag- it got damaged. Next time we bought a bag on Amazon. It still got damaged. We notified customer service @ Uppababy and they said since we didnt buy the bag from them the guarantee didn't apply. So just be careful. We've been renting ever since.

If you ever fly with your Uppababy again, definitely purchase their travel bag. All you do is notify them that you'll be flying and if you have any damage they'll take care of it. I was even told they'd send replacement wheels, etc if something happened while flying and using the bag. Just knowing that took a little stress out of flying with an expensive stroller and worrying about it not reaching the destination usable.

This trip we are going to rent and bring our G-Luxe for the airport but only because I worry about my Vista being stollen and we now have two little ones so we need the double.

 

[MomOTwins]

Feel bad for everyone who had such bad luck with damaged strollers! FWIW, we gate checked our city mini double with no bag many, many times and it was never damaged. That is one sturdy stroller! We did try to bag it once, but it was too much of a hassle for us.

 

[jessiegirl1982]

We bought an expensive City Mini GT Double exclusive color from Buy Buy Baby...but we are still going to rent the same model for WDW. Bag or not, it will get damaged. A 7 day rental costs about $80 including the rain cover and cooler. I would have to pay $80 for the bag plus another $50 for the rain cover (absolutely necessary in August), plus damage our stroller in transit! No thank you!!

 

[2019TripIdeas]

We travel with our City GT Double often. We've never put it in a bag. It's probably gone on 20-30 flights? It has never been damaged.

We check it at the gate typically. We usually fly Southwest, and I'm pretty sure they have a separate compartment that wheelchairs and strollers go in. When you come off the flight, it's typically waiting for you right outside the door to the plane.

I probably just jinxed myself, but honestly, no big issues. We HAVE had minor tears to the fabric of our Britax carseats, but we've always checked those directly at check in.

 

[Crystal824]

We always gate check our double City Mini. We have probably gated checked it at least 6 times. We do have a bag that we bought on Amazon and typically use it. Last trip, we realized at the airport, we left the bag in the garage. I was worried, but it ended up being fine. Obviously, strollers do get broken sometimes so YMMV.

 

[Shsmith341]

On our last Disney trip, we gate checked our double city mini without a bag on Jet Blue. It was fine going but on the return the belly bar was broken off.