General Advice:
- If you choose to check your stroller at the gate, make sure your stroller is tagged appropriately and you receive a corresponding receipt
- Travel with a stroller that is both easy to fold and easy to maneuver
- Consider packing an alternative carrier, such as a sling, in case there is confusion with the location of the stroller
- "My daughter was [10 months] when we took her to Italy in October... I’d been told that the car seats in rental cars are super basic and tough to strap in, etc. I didn’t experience it myself but that came from a very seasoned traveler. Instead we used Babonbo to rent a car seat from a local person. It was a great experience and the mom was also very helpful with a lot of other tips on where to buy baby/kid stuff locally. The daily rate was less than it would have been from the car rental.
We also rented a stroller from her (as well as a travel crib instead of the hotel’s)... We did still bring our travel stroller as it was super helpful in the airport, and taking the train from Milan to Bologna. But it never would have made it on the cobblestone streets! So we just kept that in our room and rented a stroller similar to our heavy duty one that we use here.
I highly recommend you check out Babonbo, I’ll definitely use it next time we travel with the little one."
Gate Checking Strollers Pros:
- Gate checking strollers allows you to easily navigate your child through the airport up to the jet way
- Some travelers believe less damage to your stroller will occur from gate checking versus regular baggage checking
Gate Checking Strollers Cons:
- Security checkpoints require you to take your child out of the stroller and fold the stroller up, which can be problematic if your child is sleeping or if you are traveling with a lot of carry on items
- The majority of airlines are not responsible for damaged items, including strollers
- Gate checked items may be confused with regular baggage items, so be prepared if your stroller is sent to the baggage carousel
Stroller Brand Advice:
PSP may receive small amounts of compensation for purchases made through affiliate links in this post. We are a community-supported site, and we include these products because they've received positive reviews from our members.
- A car seat that easily transforms into a stroller, making the transition from airport navigation to airplane seating a smooth one
- Priced between $175-$200
- An alternative, less expensive stroller to travel with. Easy to replace should any damage occur during the traveling process
- What parents are saying: "We love our UPPA G-Luxe. We used it numerous times for travel with our 10 year old when he was a toddler. So much so that we wore it out. We recently purchased it again for our two year old."
- What parents are saying: "We have the Bugaboo Ant and love it. It fold down to fit in an overhead compartment, though we always gate check it. The only down side is it does take both hands to fold it, so it is a little tougher to collapse it while also juggling bags and kids. We also use it as our primary city stroller because it takes up less space in our apartment."
- What parents are saying: "We have and like the Uppa Minu but it will not fit in 100% of overhead bins - it fits in something like 90-95% (I forget). The Babyzen Yoyo fits in more (all?) overhead bins) and I know some other families that have and love theirs. I preferred the Minu bc you can collapse it one-handed and it felt a *bit* sturdier."
- What parents are saying: "We have the baby zen yoyo stroller and love it. It's light, folds up easy and doesn't take up a lot of space when we go out. I know a lot of parents who said they had a bigger stroller and the yoyo and said they never ended up using their bigger stroller. The only downside is that there's very limited storage underneath. It's also a little pricey for what you want to use it for but I'm always seeing them second hand too."
"We use our yoyo for everything and are happy with it. The one time we flew with it, everyone at the airports was familiar with it and it was very easy to put in the overhead compartment. We use it out and about in the city happily - as previously mentioned the storage is not as much as we would like and it doesn't handle as well as some of the heartier strollers on gravel."
- What parents are saying: "I’ve travelled a lot with the Silver Cross Jet. It’s a super easy one hand fold, fits in any overhead bin, and has decent storage space in the bottom. It’s also not as expensive as the yo-yo!"
- What parents are saying: "We really like the Colugo both for travel and for everyday use. I cannot lug the Uppa Cruz up and down our brownstone steps regularly, so we use the Colugo literally every day. It of course is not as smooth a ride as a full-size stroller, but it is comfortable enough that our kiddo has definitely fallen asleep in it. I couldn't make it through the worst of the slush piles this past winter, but other than that, and maybe the rough road down to the natural playground in prospect park, it has been great for general use in Brooklyn. We used it a little bit for travel pre-pandemic and ended up gate-checking it mostly because of crowded flights and not wanting to deal with it, but if we needed to I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to put it in the overhead bin."
"We recently travelled with the Colugo and it was a dream. We used it in the airport and just checked it at the gate before we boarded the plane."
- What parents are saying: "We just got back from a trip to the Big Island and we had the Zoe Tour+ (XL1) with us and I absolutely Love this stroller - fits in the overhead compartment and also through narrow airplane aisles, *one hand* fold mechanism (a lifesaver when your other arm is busy wrestling a squirmy toddler). Really large sunshade, 5 point restraint (key feature for us to hold in a climby, curious toddler) and seat reclines for naps on the go (another lifesaver especially when out and about on your travels!). You can upgrade to ball-bearing wheels for a smoother city ride but as is it's a fantastic stroller for travel and everyday too!"
- What parents are saying: "We recently flew to Chicago and used the Cosco Scenera Next attached to Mountain Buggy Nano and were very happy with combo. The Scenera is super light and I could quickly attach to airline seat (middle seats were still being blocked). It was a Delta flight but smaller regional airplane so the Nano fit under the seat in front (too big for overhead). I now leave my Uppababy Cruz at home and use this combo when taking Ubers locally. The Youtube videos for both items were helpful with set up."
Umbrella strollers
- What parents are saying: "I've traveled a lot with my two kids and still think the 25$ umbrella strollers work best for air travel. You can gate check them and if they get lost in transit you haven't spent a ton of money on them."
Carrying Cases:
- Helps protect strollers from damage and other wear and tear that occurs during traveling
- Offers more protection than the cardboard boxes and plastic bags provided by airlines
- To avoid confusion, make sure your carrying case is easily identifiable as a stroller case to airline personnel
(Image via Wikimedia Commons)
