Pushchair Travel Systems on Ryanair

[EddieC]

Hi,

We fly to Mallorca in September and wondered whether anyone has had experience of taking travel system pushchairs on Ryanair flights.

We've booked the car seat on but I'm now unsure whether I can take car seat and the frame to the plane steps or whether they will both need to be checked in. In which case will need to carry the nipper around the departure lounge until the flight.

Any thoughts or past experiences would be much appreciated!

Eddie

 

[star81]

Hi,

Have travelled a few times with Ryanair now with my little one. If you mean you have booked and paid to take the car seat in as baby equipment, I think that it needs to be checked in with hold baggage. But with the pram (which Ryanair carry for free) you can take it right up to the gate with you and fold it there.

The only thing I would say is you then have to take it to the plane steps with you (or the air tunnel) which when trying to juggle baby, hand luggage and pram even between 2 adults is not easy! I am travelling in just over a week on my own and have decided to put the pram in at check in and just take a pair of reigns with me as then he will walk lots and hopefully be tried on the flight, but this obviously will only work if your little one can walk.

Also, at Palma when landing you do not get the pram at foot of the plane, it comes out with the hold baggage on the carousel.

I have bought travel bags to put pram and car seat into, which protects them from damage and getting dirty. Would definitely recommend these.

Hope this helps.

 

[TalaiaTrio]

I agree with Stars comments - I have found much the same to be the case when travelling with small children.

I came out to PP this time as the sole adult with 3 children aged 8, 6 and not quite 2. I didn't bring a pushchair (as we have one in residence in PP) but if I'd needed to I'd have checked the whole lot in ASAP.

Security checks vary wildly - even at the same airport - guess it depends on the 'alert' level at the time but I have had in the past to remove a sleeping child from the pushchair, fold the pushchair and put it through the scanner. Luton airport also has stairs down to many of the gates and no lifts so I now take a sling/baby carrier for my little one which works a treat and leaves me with a spare hand for each of the other 2 Also once out here, a sling is a far easier device for going round the local markets and climbing the Calvari Steps

 

[EddieC]

Thanks folks, that's a great help.

The wee fella will only be 9 weeks old when we fly so it sounds like the best plan is that we check in the baby seat and the buggy frame at check in then just use a baby carrier sling for getting round the airport.

We've paid extra to check in the baby seat but any idea if the frame goes in free on Ryanair as if it is a buggy? It's one of these Bugaboo contraptions but does fold flat.

Just looking forward to getting there now!

 

[TalaiaTrio]

Pushchair frames are free with EasyJet - can't comment on RyanAir - sorry.

You'll often hear young babies screaming on a plane during takeoff and landing - as the pressure changes hurt their ears. Feeding him his usual milk during takeoff and landing should avoid this issue and make for a more relaxed flight for everyone

Have a great time in PP!

 

[CharlotteDB]

ryanair travelling with Bugaboo

Hi we have travelled quite a lot with our Bugaboo. We bought a travel bag, £70, (re-sellable on ebay). With the small babies we have packed up the chassis and carrycot into the travel bag (also sheets, shawl etc). We then took the maxi cosi car seat as well. Didn't have to pay extra for that but maybe rules have changed. I put the car seat into a strong bin bag taped up with parcel tape. Both those we checked in and then had to take them to the outsize luggage to get them onto the conveyor belt. Even though the pushchair looks HUGE it is still carried for free as it is a folded pushchair. Then we used sling to the gate and, as others have pointed out, even if you take the pushchair to the gate you still don't get it back until the luggage carousel. The baby slept in the Bugaboo carrycot at night on the holiday. Best of luck, enjoy your holiday.

 

[favie]

Oh! I almost missed that beautiful picture Talaia Trio....it's certainly not easy travelling with little ones these days, with Bugaboos etc. Having to drink babies milk in all....glad I am only the Grandparent...Lol, but all worth it to see their little faces in PP .... just wanted to say lovely picture

 

[TalaiaTrio]

Thanks Favie

 

[Elaine]

My daughter is intending to take her travel system to the gate with the baby. She says that an all-in-one car seat/stroller should be treated as a single pushchair. Does anyone knows if this is allowed? I note from the Ryanair rules that you normally have to pay £10 for a separate car seat.

 

[star81]

In my experience I was able to take a pram/buggy as my free item but then had to pay the extra charge for the car seat as 'baby equipment'.

If the car seat needs to be carried/put into hold luggage separately to the travel system then I would imagie the extra charge would apply.

Best thing to do would be to contact Ryanair to clarify, i would in this case fax them so you get a written response as evidence if required at the airport.

 

[Elaine]

Thanks. Unfortunately my daughter is adamant that a travel systm is just one item. I will let you know what happens.

 

[kate1]

Having done a couple of flights with a big, heavy pushchair (a double one - we have twins) we ended up buying two really basic, quick-folding ones for use on holidays only. We found these to be dramatically easier getting through the airport, plus they took up a lot less room at the table when we were eating out. In addition we also discovered that our big pushchair would not fit into the boot of our hire car (a decent-sized family hatchback) once we had all our luggage in there too... we had to pile cases around the babies, which I didn't feel was very safe. I was always worried about the big, expensive pushchair getting damaged in transit - the cheaper ones were only about £25 so it wouldn't have mattered so much.

We have always flown with Easyjet and were never charged for pushchairs or car seats - not sure if the rules have changed though since we last needed a pushchair. We weren't able to take either on to the flight though, as far as I recall. I think it's highly unlikely that a travel system pushchair will be treated as one item - think how heavy they are, not to mention bulky.

Make sure that you pack from the pushchair/car seats any removable items which could come loose during the flight - we once lost the padded cushion of a car seat because I forgot to take it off before checking it in, meaning we had to buy a new one.

 

[Belladonna]

I remember having a really basic McLaren which went round the world and back! It lasted for 2 children and we saw it thrown around in and out of the hold a few times but it survived! Think its a case of the the more basic something is, the less there is to break. These all singing all dancing new ones are fantastic but often dont travel well - bit like a good bottle of wine!

 

[kate1]

Yes, I think ours were McLarens too! They were literally the cheapest I could find but they did indeed last for years - because they took up hardly any room we actually ended up using them in the UK quite a bit. They weren't exactly glamorous, in fact I suspect other parents took pity on us on quite a few occasions, but they seemed indestructible.