Ryanair & Pushchairs

Aislingta83

HI

has anyine flown with ryanair recently with a big push chair.

We are doing online check in but we have also paid £20 for a pushchair to be added in but it doesnt actually list pushchair it lists, car seat, or travel cot.

We definately need to get the push chair over with us from Liverpool to ireland.

any recent experiences of this etc????

Jonnytwotimes

Hi I fly with Ryanair all the time with a push chair. I do online check in and never mention the push chair and just bring it with me then just drop it in front of the plane with all the other push chairs. Once in 4 years a Ryanair assistant tried to get me to pay for it, I refused and she let me go. My mum then needed to take my daughter somewhere and I told her what to do and not worry about the push chair. She was very nervous about not checking it in but everything went according to plan. Thats what I do anyway and will continue to do.

Aislingta83

Hi

thanks so much for getting back to me on that. that is reassuring i would be fairly confident doing that too, only thing is that our pushchair is a big britax one and does not fully collapse, do you think thats alright too??

cheers

jammin_2

Aislingta83 wrote: »

We are doing online check in but we have also paid £20 for a pushchair to be added in but it doesnt actually list pushchair it lists, car seat, or travel cot.

That's because pushchairs are carried free.

peterbaker

Aislingta83 wrote: »

...our pushchair is a big britax one and does not fully collapse, do you think thats alright too?

It'll be fine. I saw a big one next to our steps the other day and thought "well that doesn't fold very small - is it folded at all?" It flew just the same. Just practice quickly folding it as far as it goes (if it looks odd and still upright might be worth pinning a note to it for the baggage loaders saying "this is as small as this pushchair is designed to go folded!")
The main things to remember are:

• YOU MUST CHECK IN ONLINE irrespective of the fact you may decide to check in a travel cot as well as your pushchair. Failing to checkin online within 4 hours of the flight will cost you very dear indeed.
• YOU DO still have to visit the check-in/baggage drop-off desk to get a baggage label attached to the pushchair even though you are checking in online and may have no other items for the hold* but see note below. Allow extra time for bag drop/check-in. This seems to contradict Jonnytwotimes experience, but for security reasons I happen to know that baggage loaders are not supposed to put anything into the hold that is not securely labelled and traceable to a named passenger who IS onboard. Can Jonny tell us if a baggage tag is put on his pushchair at the gate instead?
• Don't dally at the bottom of the front steps with the pushchair. Fold it - leave it - leg it! - don't lose your place in the queue up the steps especially if you have paid extra for priority boarding. Once out on the concrete apron next to the aircraft, priority means whoever is first up the steps is first up the steps!
• Don't worry about speaking to anyone about the pushchair when you get to the aircraft. Just leave it to the left of the front steps (as you go up) - as long as the baggage label is securely attached to it and visible, the aircraft will not leave without it, and it will be placed in the same spot when you get off. It's a worldwide standard kind of thing

Pity you spent twenty quid though if you thought it was for the pushchair. I have just checked one of my bookings coming up shortly and I see it makes it clear there that 1 pushchair is carried free:

Add Sports Equipment / Musical Instruments / Infant equipment

Baby Equipment
Travel Cots/Child Booster/Car Seats
(Maximum 20 kilos per item)
Please note: 1 pushchair/buggy is carried free of charge.

*So that means you have paid to check-in to the hold something that looks like a travel cot or child booster seat or similar and weighs up to 20 kilos (in addition to your pushchair). If you do manage to use your travelcot allowance, remember that this item will actually be taken off you at the baggage-drop/check-in desk whereas the pushchair will go with you all the way to the aircraft FRONT steps. That travel cot you paid for might be particularly handy especially if you can stuff it with all kinds of heavier useful extras which baby needs e.g. golfclubs and bottles of Guinness coming back . I am not kidding. We used to have a folding travel cot which was about 100 x 25 x 25 when folded and I am sure it only weighed about 8 kilos on its own in its tidy bag. As long as you ensure it is secured safely and will not burst, there is nothing to stop you putting your larger than 100ml liquid containers and anything else you want inside it. It's a cheap way to buy Ryanair baggage alowance. I might even buy myself a second-hand travel cot on eBay so I can use this trick - might however need to borrow a baby to qualify

The £20 you paid is a special Ryanair charge for a return trip for specifically for Baby Equipment i.e.Travel Cots/Child Booster/Car Seats. If you were childless travellers and had paid for a normal 20 kilo hold bag it would cost you £25 each way, so you are quids in