Wise to take Bugaboo on planes?

[Lula]

Hi all

We are travelling in September to Greece with our baby who will be 5 months old. We currently have a Bugaboo Bee and I was wondering whether we should/can take this buggy with us (do we need a buggy bag to protect it from rough baggage handlers?) or buy an easily collapsible McLaren or Micralite (these seem to be the two options recommended by a few friends)? We will be on a Thomson flight so imagine we won't be the only ones with a buggy. Very confused also about whether to check it in as luggage or take it to the flight door, does it depend on the buggy?

Any advice much appreciated

[ludoscotts]

hi you might need to check with airline, most say it has to be umbrella fold style buggy.

they are very rough with them(seen them being thrown onto carousel)so you might want to get a cheap second hand one to take that wont matter getting bashed around.

it is prob best to take to plane door, was a godsend having ours as flight delayed so daughter had nap while we waited but might be worth having sling for other end as they come back to you with the luggage and good to have hands free for passports etc.

[Belle]

I've flown a lot with my little one, always with a Maclaren, but have seen all sorts being loaded on - including the big bugaboo chameleons, travel systems, Plikos etc - I think you'll be fine with a bee. we flew on a Thompson flight in may and there were bigger prams than Bees being taken at the plane door. As to that point - it's up to the airport/airline - in France we had to hand it over, but every other flight we've been allowed to take it to the plane door. however we've rarely got it back at the door on the way back, and it can be a long walk to pick up luggage, so as ludo suggests a sling is a good idea.

have never used a buggy cover but then my Maclaren was pretty cheap! Might be worth getting one for the Bee if you're worried.

[Bishberro]

We've been to Majorca, Canaries, Spain and the US with our bugaboo cameleon over the past 3 years and have always been ok to take it up to the plane door. Even when we had the carry cot bit on it and it was quite big, the airline staff have been ok about it. I took the hood fabric bit off (not sure if you can do this with the Bee) so it didn't get too dirty but we didn't have a special bag for it and it's always been fine.

[BQC]

Not sure how big the bee is, but my friend had her bugaboo broken (and had to claim on insurance), and we had trouble with the bag for our frog - it was like a surfboard bag and we had to check it in rather than use it.. I'd recommend taking a cheap holiday buggy

[Lula]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond. I might invest a small lightweight one just to be sure. The sling idea is a very good one as well.