how the airline handles strollers and carseats?

[newfiegirl]

we will only need one stroller the day we land in orlando, so can i put those dinsey magical tags on the other stroller that we will not need, as well as the carseat? if so i have to call disney to request more tags. also, will this be considered a piece of luggage? will my infant who has no airline ticket get 2 pieces of luggage too, i heard they do. thanks

 

[kaytieeldr]

Check with YOUR airline - i.e. call - but I believe if you check anything, it counts as checked luggage, against your limit. Passengers with no ticket also have no luggage allowance. If you want your infant to be entitled to two pieces of checked luggage, you will need to purchase a ticket.

 

[Tara]

Check with YOUR airline - i.e. call - but I believe if you check anything, it counts as checked luggage, against your limit. Passengers with no ticket also have no luggage allowance. If you want your infant to be entitled to two pieces of checked luggage, you will need to purchase a ticket.

Call your airline for sure, but for many domestic carriers, a stroller and car seat can be checked even for an unticketed infant and NOT count against the baggage allowance. (note that it's the ticketed adult who is allowed to check these items over and above the baggage allowance)

Delta's policy
US Airways
American Airlines

The unticketed infant will not be allowed any checked baggage, though, so aside from the car seat/stroller, any additional baggage would be assessed a fee.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Sigh... there you go, correcting me again...

In addition to no checked luggage allowance, the unticketed infant is not entitled to any carry-on luggage either.

 

[NotUrsula]

Sure, if you want to take the chance that the stroller will be unusable once you arrive. It's not a good idea for a carseat, either.

Did you see Toy Story 2? Those bag room scenes were not that far off reality. There are lots of big conveyor belts, "squeeze gates" that keep the pace running evenly, pneumatic diverters that "punch" bags from one belt to another, and quite a few drops -- if any part of the stroller or carseat gets tangled in that machinery it can cause quite a lot of damage. And if it gets through all that unscathed, it may end up under literally TONS of other baggage in the hold of the aircraft.

The only way I would check either item through the bag room is if I had put it into a cardboard box with foam padding all around it.

 

[Tara]

Sigh... there you go, correcting me again...

I don't plan on making a habit of it.

Also, my advice to the OP - if you do plan on checking either the car seat or stroller, I'd print out the airline website page that refers to no charge for these items. I've had airlines try to charge me on more than one occasion to check something like this (for a ticketed child, not unticketed) and I had to show them where their own website said there was no charge.

 

[2binak]

...the unticketed infant is not entitled to any carry-on luggage either.

Here's JetBlue's lap infant & baggage policy. I would consider the diaper bag a carry-on, but I could see where some would not see it that way. I'm sure every airline has a different policy so it is best to get it in writing from your airline and take the written policy with you when you travel.

From JetBlue's website
Baggage Requirements for Infants
A lap infant may bring one diaper bag, one stroller and one car seat. Infants that are jetting for free do not qualify for the checked baggage allowance.

If checking a child safety seat, it will not count as one of your checked bags and there is no fee assessed.