vicarious_MR'er

Yes, and you don't work for American Airlines. Like I said previously, you are more than welcome to google their stroller policies before telling me what to do. The FAs on my flight will be the ones to enforce the policy of their airline, which is umbrella strollers go in the overhead.

GUWonder

Did they generally ban carry-on bags from being placed up there too? [I have been on flights where carry-ons generally were banned and thus the overhead bins were largely empty.]

An umbrella stroller falling from an overhead bin doesn't hurt as much as getting hit by a fully-loaded wheeled carry-on bag falling from the same.

It sounds like the ban on those airlines had less to do with risk of a stroller crashing down on someone's head than with some other things.

oshelef

Why not gate check it, and then once you land, leave enough time for the gate check to be returned. Retrieve it. Swim up stream with it as far as you can, and then carry the child the last bit?

If you wait until the other passengers deplane, you won't have their bags, feet, and the like limiting the stroller, and you won't have them complaining behind you as you transfer a sleeping child.

GUWonder

Gate checking doesn't always involve reliable/timely delivery at the arrival gate. On a related note -- as a functioning stroller is desired -- I wouldn't be surprised if gate-checked strollers are more likely to be returned damaged than strollers placed in overhead bins by the stroller owner.

vicarious_MR'er

oshelef: The reason I am anti gate-checking it unless I am explicitly instructed by the FAs that I MUST do so is because at Heathrow airport is famous for not returning gate-checked strollers at the gate to passengers (both connecting and terminating).

Some have said that is airline-specific and that I "should" get it back at the gate with AA, but with two little kids and a 7 hour layover including a terminal change, I don't want to bank on "should" if I don't have to. So if it's allowed on-board (which it ought to be per guidelines, but you never know...), I will take it in so I don't run the risk of not having it at the layover.

Under any other situation I would absolutely be delighted to gate check it and not have to deal with one more thing to schlep down the aisle.

ETA: So this brings us kind of full circle, actually.... since I want to bring it onboard for the reason above, that is what made me think and ask the original question. It appears that it doesn't fit in the aisle unfolded, and that's A-OK. The real issue at the heart of all this is having it on-board to ensure I have it available for the layover at LHR.

GUWonder

With AA, my extended family had always gotten it back at LHR. And I am talking about a lot of trips to LHR on AA. The issue with AA and UA at LHR becomes how long you will have to wait for gate area delivery of a stroller -- 30-60 minutes way too often, with or without miscommunication/misunderstanding about where to wait for the stroller before heading to immigration/baggage claim.

vicarious_MR'er

LHR is just a layover point for us, so there won't be immigration/baggage claim for us. However, the time frame you've mentioned is plenty of additional reason to work the on-board angle, so thanks for your clarification. One of my kids has some special needs that makes needless waiting extremely difficult for him, so standing around 30-60 minutes is NOT what the doctor ordered if it can be avoided (but we can manage it if we must, of course). On the other hand, we've got a layover that is plenty long enough that if we're made to gate check it and wait an inordinate amount of time to get it back that we won't be jeopardizing our next flight or anything.

Thanks for filling me in on the details. I hope we don't end up running into a wait like that. I figure that if we DO have to gate check it, if we take our sweet time disembarking (which is almost a given with two small kids), then hopefully we can eat into a good bit of the waiting time to get the stroller back.

It's really quite a small stroller, so I am confident it will be able to be crammed in somewhere onboard, such as the overhead (as they recommend) wedged in the way back behind our carryon bags.