Starman

I've flown UA for 50 years, since the DC-6 days, but until now (finally a grandpa) haven't had to check a car seat. I often see UA checked car seats on the carousel wrapped in rugged plastic with a UA logo on the wrapping, but not always. How does this work? Do at least the UA hubs always offer to wrap car seats, or is it the luck of the draw? Can it be done at curbside bag check as well as the counter?

Xyzzy

Some/most check-in cunters have bags that they put certain items in. It's luck-of-the-draw as to whether they have them but I believe most stations usually do.

Often1

I see the bags all over the place now. Useful for collapsible strollers too. Bright color means that they really do get flagged as priority.

danM

In my experience, when you check the carseat at the checkin counter (vs. the gate), they put it in the bag (or they give you the bag to put it in yourself). So far it's running about 100% for counter checkin, and about 10% (mostly when it's been raining) for gate checking...

emcampbe

This actually brings me to a question, as I'll be traveling with a lap-infant for the first time soon.

We plan to check the car seat at the gate (don't want to take the chance it might get delayed to the destination). Rather than trust it in the open, or even in the UA plastic bags, we have our own protective bag for it. Is it safe to think that we will be allowed to use this (as long as there is nothing else inside).

danM

I've never done this, but have checked carseats at the gate many times (mostly when we were doing the carseat/universal carrier thing). I have a hard time imagining that it would be a problem.

Good luck on your flight! My other suggestions are (1) bring any milk you might need, since they no longer carry it for non-coffee uses, (2) drinking during descent helps a ton with the pressure-equalization issue, and (3) bulkhead rows are awesome when you've got a lapchild...

sockrebel

Yes, I've used my own car seat cover.

nnn

Totally fine to use your own cover.

However, note that gate-checking will not always save you time, especially if you put a cover on the carseat. Several times, UA has directed our covered carseat to baggage claim, rather than gateside pickup (despite proper gateside pickup tagging). So we end up standing on the jetway for a carseat that never comes out, then after it becomes apparent that it's not going to come out, going to baggage claim to find that the carseat had been sitting there for who knows how long.

CBear

You can use it, but it's not going to stop any damage from it being tossed around.

emcampbe

Thanks for the tips. We will definitely have our own milk, and never thought about bulkhead, but makes sense.

Thanks for noting that. Saving time would be nice, obviously, but much more concerned about what happens if it doesn't arrive on the same flight as me if I were to check it as a regular bag. I realize delayed bags are not likely, but the car seat not arriving with me is a way different scenario then say, my bag of clothes being a day behind me.

nnn

Makes sense. BTW, if you're bringing a car seat through the terminal anyway, you might consider getting a Go Go Babyz Travelmate (if it fits your car seat). Came in VERY handy when we used to do the same.

emcampbe

Very smart. Will have to consider it....she's still under a year, so in the infant seat now, but definitely seems like a smart thing to get once she upgrades to the next size car seat.

dcpdxtrans

Indeed, it's a great purchase. Really changed the way we fly with kids. Also, we put the plastic bags over the car seat with Travelmate attached. With the peg perego, we have a travel cover that comes equipped with wheels and backpack straps, another quality purchase

F23Coupe

What we did recently was to get JL Childress gate check bags, one each for a collapsible stroller and a car seat. When we got to the gate and done with both, we put each in the JL Childress gate check bags (they're red) and asked for gate check tags for both. We received pink tags to put on the stroller and car seat. We left them by the jet bridge upon boarding and picked them up on the jet bridge when we landed at the destination.

On the return flight, the check in counter gave us two big, clear plastic bags to put the stroller and car seat in. So we put the clear plastic bags on the outside of the stroller and car seats in their respective JL Childress red bags with gate check tags on the outside. I think this is the better method of protecting the stroller or car seat as it provided two layers of protection from the dirt and grime of being inside the cargo hold. As for protection from baggage handlers, that's mitigated by gate checking vice checking at the check-in counter where it can be handled many times and by many people before it gets inside the plane. There's always a chance it can still get damaged when you gate check so try to inspect your items after you retrieve them.

One other thing is that there are also bags with two shoulder straps so that you can wear them like a backpack. That would come in super handy if you're the sole traveler or if you only have one other person. It'll free your hands to carry the baby and any rollerboards or other luggage. We had extra hands on our flight and didn't want to spend the extra money on just one trip we're expecting to have with our baby, but for frequent travelers, I can see that'd be a valuable accessory to have. You may still want to have cheap gate check bags for any items you want to check as you have the risk of ruining whatever bag you're checking the stroller or car seat with. Some gate agents require your stroller or car seat to be tagged prior to entering the jet bridge which can be a very frustrating experience with a baby in tow.

emcampbe

Yup - I have the JL Childress bag too for the car seat. Worked well for our outbound and were able to get it on at the gate and picked up at arriving gate no problem. Both flights were express - from CVG, got the standard green gate-check tag. At ORD, they said smaller stations do that sometimes, and handed me a pink stroller tag.

I do like the backpack function on our protective bag, but also wish they would put wheels on the bottom as well, might have been useful as well.