Stroller counts as luggage

[TN cruisin]

My daughter talked with Southwest Air today and was told that when she gate checks the stroller is will count as one of her 2 bags. So looks like we'll be paying $50 total to take it with us.(25 each way) I thought I'd checked this several months ago and it didnt count. Anyone know anything about this?

[kitty9]

The airlines are also going to try and pull this with people who have to check their wheelchairs. I think these airlines are going way too far in the name of profit. Charge a few buck more for their fares and stop all this nickel and diming everything.

[davenbeth7603]

I recently traveled on Southwest (as in last month) and we had to check a car seat, they did not charge us extra for this. My dad works for another airline and they don't charge for strollers or car seats either.

[TN cruisin]

Thanks for letting us know about them not charging for the car seat. I re-read the web info tonight and it said they count the car seat/stroller as 1 checked bag. I'm hoping they dont enforce that. I'm pretty sure the first time I checked it didnt say that, but it was months ago. Wish I'd kept a copy of it. I'm hoping others have flown recently and can let me know what happened about strollers.

Their current policy on wheelchairs and medical equipment is that it does not count in the total.

[Ephraim]

To clarify, for the person who mentioned a wheelchair...

 

The following items are not considered carryon bags or personal-type items and are not counted against the “one-bag plus one personal-type item” limit:

• A child restraint device for a child who has been ticketed, who has a seat reserved, or for which complimentary, available space exists.
  
• Assistive/mobility devices for individuals with a disability. There is no limit to the number of assistive/mobility devices a Customer can bring onboard the aircraft.
  
• Outer garments or other wearable articles of clothing.
  
• Food for consumption during flight contained in disposable packaging.
  
• Walking canes or umbrellas.

In other words, a wheelchair doesn't count as luggage. A stroller does count, since it isn't for someone with a disability.

 

Might I suggest a duffel bag for the stroller and pack it. You have the inconvenience of not having it on the concourses, but you still get to pack clothing with it. (A garbage bag around it should prevent it from staining the clothing.)

[davenbeth7603]

You know, if your stroller is fairly small you can just use it in the airport and then gate check it. (Which just means that they give you a tag for it, like a luggage tag, and then load it for you on the plane. It will then be waiting for you as soon as you disembark the plane.) We did this on our last Southwest trip and it was EXTREMELY helpful. This way we were able to take our kiddo through the airport in the stroller and bypass any fees. Mind you, going through security was a bit more difficult (just because you have to send the stroller through the x-ray machine) but well worth it!

[6rugrats]

You know, if your stroller is fairly small you can just use it in the airport and then gate check it. (Which just means that they give you a tag for it, like a luggage tag, and then load it for you on the plane. It will then be waiting for you as soon as you disembark the plane.) We did this on our last Southwest trip and it was EXTREMELY helpful. This way we were able to take our kiddo through the airport in the stroller and bypass any fees. Mind you, going through security was a bit more difficult (just because you have to send the stroller through the x-ray machine) but well worth it!

 

Gate checked baggage will be counted toward your checked baggage allowance. So, your idea won't work to avoid the fee. Don't you think the airlines know people will try and bring a bag/stroller or whatever to the gate, knowing it will be gate checked, to get out of paying this fee? It's not going to work, but I can see if a lot of people try this, it making a big hold-up at the gate!

[azbaby8062]

My daughter talked with Southwest Air today and was told that when she gate checks the stroller is will count as one of her 2 bags. So looks like we'll be paying $50 total to take it with us.(25 each way) I thought I'd checked this several months ago and it didnt count. Anyone know anything about this?

 

You know, if your stroller is fairly small you can just use it in the airport and then gate check it. (Which just means that they give you a tag for it, like a luggage tag, and then load it for you on the plane. It will then be waiting for you as soon as you disembark the plane.) We did this on our last Southwest trip and it was EXTREMELY helpful. This way we were able to take our kiddo through the airport in the stroller and bypass any fees. Mind you, going through security was a bit more difficult (just because you have to send the stroller through the x-ray machine) but well worth it!

 

Looks like the OP was told that gate checking it was still susceptible to the limit and fee.

[Lewski709]

WOW. You have enough luggage to put you over with a stroller?

[beckyjohns]

hmmm....we have flown many times on southwest in the past year with our twin boys who are 13 months old. they have always been lap children, so they get no baggage allowance for themselves since they aren't buying a seat. we have never had a problem with gate checking the stroller and car seats (even when we have each checked our 2 bags at the check-in counter). we didn't do this to avoid fees, we did it because it is nearly impossible to carry two infants through the airport when you have no place to put them down (i.e. stroller). we had a double snap-n-go stroller which meant we had to have the stroller and the 2 infant seats checked at the gate. never an issue. in fact, half the time you gate check things, they hand write the tag at the gate which means they never even look in the computer system to see how many bags you checked to begin with. i suppose if we had checked the stroller and infant seats at the check-in counter, they may have been counted as luggage....i'm not sure, we never tried.

[davenbeth7603]

WOW. You have enough luggage to put you over with a stroller?

 

 

Now the limit is one bag per person, so with a baby/kid it's not hard to go over the limit.

[DaisyGirl55]

I am lucky to live in Florida near so many ports! Between the added surchage for fuel, and now the single-bag allowance at the airport, I would imagine that this is going to make things much more difficult for families traveling from another state to go on a cruise.

 

If the airlines do not consider a stroller to be a necessity, maybe they should try waiting in an airport with a squirmy toddler...especially when your flight has been delayed! :eek:

[AmMom]

I think the airline in question here is Southwest, but if anyone was wondering about USAir, this is what they sent me, and I quote:

 

 

Your carseat/stroller may be checked in with your luggage or "gate

checked". If you check either of these items in with your luggage, you

would be allowed the carseat/stroller plus 1 piece of luggage. Either item is considered a ?courtesy item? and not counted towards your free luggage allowance. Gate checking the carseat will allow you to use the car seat should an empty seat become available on the aircraft. You will need to notify the gate agent that you wish to "gate check" your carseat/stroller. An agent will take the carseat/stroller down to cargo and upon arrival at your

destination city, will return the carseat/stroller to the jet way to be

ready for you when you exit the plane.

 

 

My daughter is a lap child, that's why the mentioned the carseat.

 

Hope this is helpful...

[TN cruisin]

Well, that's what my daughter was told. We need the stroller to get through the airports. So we plan to gate check it. If it costs extra it will just be an unplanned expense. (Since we leave soon and I dont think the website stated it would count when I booked everything.) None of us has flown with children before so I looked up a lot of info, but I might have not read it correctly at the time. Any way Thanks everyone for your input.

[aaklang]

I think airlines have different policies, so they might not all follow what Southwest is doing. We are taking an inter-island flight in Hawaii in a few months. I spoke to three different airlines and all three said that checking a car seat (either from the beginning or gate checking) will NOT count as one of the allowed bags per person. We can just take it as an additional item. Hopefully Southwest will not follow through with charging the fee. If they do, look into other airlines for future trips and you might get lucky with a better policy.

[wrp96]

Everyone needs to be constantly checking what their particular airline says. There have been lots of changes to checked baggage limits in the last few months. A lot of print has been made about the fact that airlines are now charging more bag fees, but they don't necessarily mention other changes that occured at the same time.

[sunrise&set]

We flew on Delta last month and gate checked the stroller with no fee. We needed the stroller in the airport. We brought a travel car seat that folded up inside the luggage so we were all set with that; DS sat on my lap. Although next year we'll probably buy him a seat (he'll be 2) and I still don't know how we'll keep it under the 1 bag/person allowance with all that I'll need to bring for him.

[Ephraim]

Now the limit is one bag per person, so with a baby/kid it's not hard to go over the limit.

 

Not on SouthWest, the limit is still two with no fees.

[RadFamily]

Since you will have to pay to check the stroller, you may want to look into buying either a stroller bag or a large dufflebag that the stroller can fit into. That way you can pack other things (extra diapers, clothing, umbrellas, jackets, etc) in with it and make use of the "extra baggage" you are paying for. That is what we do when we gate check our stroller (and we have always had a stroller gated checked with no fee) and it works out great!

[davenbeth7603]

Not on SouthWest, the limit is still two with no fees.

 

 

For now:) . Every other airline has gone or is transitioning to one piece per person and then adding fees for every extra piece.

[pms4104]

For now:) . Every other airline has gone or is transitioning to one piece per person and then adding fees for every extra piece.

Not every other airline yet ... to their credit, American Airlines has not succumbed to the industry wave of nickel and diming.

[davenbeth7603]

Not every other airline yet ... to their credit, American Airlines has not succumbed to the industry wave of nickel and diming.

 

 

Acttually AA will start doing this on June 1st of this year.

[pms4104]

Acttually AA will start doing this on June 1st of this year.

Do you have a link to Ameircan's announcement?

[Kate's Mom]

Now I know why we fly American.... We fly about every two months with a child on our lap and always check in a car seat which is never counted as a piece of luggae and then we gate check our stroller and that as well is not counted.....

[lovesublime]

The airlines are also going to try and pull this with people who have to check their wheelchairs. I think these airlines are going way too far in the name of profit. Charge a few buck more for their fares and stop all this nickel and diming everything.

 

Sorry. LOL!! Profit? They aren't making any. That's why they're all going bankrupt or having to merge. I agree, just charge everyone more for tickets and be done with it.

 

I did read that wheelchairs are exempt, but other medical equipment is not.