Gate checked strollers
 

I just returned from a trip flown on BA and gate checked my stroller on 3 segments. On only 1 segment did my stroller come back out at the gate on the other end. On 2 segments, the stroller came out at baggage claim: once with the general bags and once with the oversized bags.

Is this normal? This is the first time we've flown with a stroller and I expected the stroller to just come out at the gate 100% of the time that I checked it at the gate. Could it be that the stroller is too big for the gate check, or that its in a bag?

I have the Britax B-Agile stroller which folds flat, but is not an umbrella stroller. We also have the bag which goes over it so it looks like this: http://www.britaxusa.com/accessories/b-agile-travel-bag. And each time, we had both a bright orange "Gate check tag" and a standard bag tag attached to the bag handle.

I'm in Canada, travelled a lot in since 2011 with my kid since 6 months old, to USA or Asia

Umbrella stroller (Maclaren) ALWAYS waited for us at the gate (sometimes we waited for the stroller a bit), but NEVER in the baggage claim area

Only car seat (checked for free) would be in baggage claim or oversized area

Ours always came out at the gate, but we never covered it. I am guessing they didn't' know what it was.

BA didn't normally return strollers at the gate. You had to get them at baggage claim at your final destination, so any connections had to be made without. This was one of the reasons why I, and many other parents, avoided both BA and Heathrow. They're also not the only airline.

Apparently, strollers were being returned on the jetway in the run-up to the Olympics last summer (anyone with experience?) Obviously, that couldn't be confirmed.

Wonder if it's at the whim of whomever is on duty when your flight arrives, or whether it varies by airport.

They're not the only airline that does this. I avoided flying Air France for the same reason. I could take the stroller to the gate on departure but I wouldn't see it again till I got to California. That meant negotiating CDG alone with three small children and no stroller. No thanks. I just flew them again for the first time in almost 10 years last winter.

Flying Air France and KLM in Europe, it always seemed to depend on many factors where gate-checked strollers would end up. In Berlin, they invariably came out at baggage claim, only after all the "regular" luggage from the plane was out on the belt. In Amsterdam they always came out at the gate.

I'm flying LAX-RDU next month and will gate check my stroller. Really hoping it is returned to gate! Will post results.

Also hoping my upgrade clears!

Always at the gate domestically if properly tagged however international is a different story - HND for example does not deliver to the gate period (or so I was told) and iirc in a couple other places in asia we had to ask fa to call and make sure it was brought to the gate as it is not a standard protocol.

Get a claim check for it in any case and get a bag for it if possible (see WalMart or eBay) so that it remains intact.

LHR seems very hit and miss when it comes to strollers at the gate, the first time i flew with my daughter to the US on the return trip VS took my stroller on board because they said they couldn't guarantee i'd get it back at the gate. The last time i flew BA though they returned strollers at the gate :/
I've experienced the same at LGW, one of the many reasons i invested in a Trunki
Had the same at JFK, TXL, DOH to name a few with strollers coming out with main luggage/over sized bags not just in the UK