Air Travel with Bugaboo Cameleon Post Reply

[sw11_]

HI all - i'm shortly off to france with my 11 week old baby and our Bugaboo Cameleon. I'm a bit unsure about how to transport it on the plane (British Airways if that makes a difference), given that we are still using the carrycot. I understand the base will be put in the hold for us at the airplane door, but what about the carry cot - presumably they don't put that in the hold? And we will also have our car seat, which i'm reluctant to check in as i've heard they can get damaged.

Is there a magic answer or should i fork out the 90 quid for the Bugaboo Travel Case and check the base and carrycot in at the start? That doesn't solve the car seat question though...

Hoping that some of you are much more experienced than me and have mastered this...

Thanks in adnavce - quick replies would be appreciated as we fly this weekend (i've left this a bit late!) x

[mummyof1]

It does make a difference which airline as all seem to do differently and also depends on airport and if long haul or short haul so good to know.

If should be able to use the car seat and base to the airline door - then they will ask you to put both in the hold but its not the main hold. Then depending on where flying to you may be able to get once off the plane and before the main luggage.

The carry cot - i used to always use the Bugaboo carrier. The only thing to check is if BA will let you have frame , car seat and carrier FOC ( I still have mine - if you are interested in buying - let me know).

It all sounds daunting i know - but i flew almost monthly with my child - always with the bugaboo and it wasn't that bad.

Good luck!

[Suslik]

Hi. I could not face paying that price for the bag. I got a checked bag from my local household type store (like the Indian one on a corner on the way to junction). You need to get the largest size they do though, check that. Costs about 5-6 quit. I managed to fit the base, the seat and car seat all in that bag. It's very bulky. The bag got a small hole while in luggage but pram was clean and perfect. They should let you take the carrycot on the plane though. Why not call ba and ask?

[meadow15]

We looked at buying the Bugaboo bag but seemed a lot of hassle to have to dismantle the buggy, and £90 quite expensive. I actually work for BA, so do have some knowledge on the subject. What we've done in the past is buy a cheap holdall which fits the seat part,take off the small wheels and just check in the chassis as is. We take everything to the gate though and put the sat in the holdall when we get there. Car seat will fit in a oversized bin bag and we check that in at the desk before departure lounge. BMI have great heavy duty plastic bags that will fit a car seat, BA doesn't.
We've travelled loads and only ever had one breakage on Flybe where the small wheel snapped off ( hence we now take the wheels off in advance)
BA also handy as no extra charges for baby paraphenalia compared to low cost airlines. Hope this helps.