This post is all about how to fold up the Baby Jogger City Select stroller at the gate when you are flying. This stroller comes with a lot of different parts and you don’t want to lose anything so its helpful to know what to do. If you are interested in the other strollers I use or the link to this stroller you can check out my blog post HERE.
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How to fly with your Baby Jogger
I was going on a trip to Disneyland and I really wanted to use my baby Jogger City Select stroller. I usually bring the Zoe double stroller when I fly because its so easy to fold up at the gate, but I didn’t want to use this stroller at the Disneyland park. I didn’t want to check the Baby Jogger under the plane because I needed it for walking through the airport.
I searched online to find out how other people gate checked this stroller and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I ended up calling some of my friends who also have this stroller and they had some great ideas! I wanted to make this blog post because I figured there are other people wanting to know how to do it as well. Hope this helps! If you are interested in tips on flying with toddlers you can find that blog post HERE.
How to Gate Check your Baby Jogger City Select Stroller?
STEP 1: Getting Through Security
Most likely the stroller you bring will not fit through the baggage security scanner machine. The Baby Jogger City Select stroller will for sure not fit with how wide and big the tires are. The people working at the security check will take your stroller through a side gate and check the stroller by hand. This is the same for car seats as well. Most of my car seats have fit through the machine, but if it doesn’t they will search by hand.
I usually set my stroller aside before I walk through the metal detector and they won’t see it and we will be waiting on the other side for awhile. So make sure they see that you set it to the side and point out that its your stroller. This is why its always smart to get to the airport early because the security check always takes longer with kids.
It does help a ton to get TSA pre check. I highly recommend doing that if you fly often. Check out my blog post HERE to learn more about it.
STEP 2: Baggage Claim Tag
The first thing I do when I arrive at our gate is ask the person at the front desk for baggage claim tag. You want one for each item. I have one ticket for the bag and one ticket for the stroller frame. This is important to have just in case they misplace it during the flight. These tickets also tell the people unloading the plane that these items need to go back to the gate.
STEP 3: Pack seats in bag
Once it gets close to boarding time I start to pack up the stroller. I take the two seats off and put it in the bag. I also take off the two lower polls that hold the bottom seat. I place those in the bag as well because I worry about losing those. (They would probably be okay, but for peace of mind I put them in the bag)
I found that it was a lot easier to pack up the seats before boarding. It can be stressful when you are right at the plane door and people are trying to get around you. If you are alone you might have to wait and push your kids down in the stroller and then pack up.
STEP 4: Bag on stroller
Once I pack up the seats I place the bag on the stroller frame so its easy to push down to the plane.
STEP 4: Leave it by the door
Once you get to the plane door you can just leave the bag by the outside door. I fold up the frame and lock in place and set it next to the bag. After my flight I just throw the bag on the stroller and walk out. Once i’m in the waiting area I put the stroller back together. I could do it as soon as I get off the plane, but it stresses me out having people walk by me and wait for me.
How to Gate Check without a bag
You can totally gate check this stroller without a bag. I just like the bag because it keeps the seats cleaner and it’s less of a chance of losing something.
If you don’t have a bag just make sure you get a baggage claim tag for each item. You will want one for each seat and one for the stroller frame. Once you get to the plane door take off the two seats and set them by the outside door and then fold the stroller frame up.
**If you have any more tips on gate checking this stroller please comment below!
Check out my tips on flying with toddlers HERE.
This post may contain affiliate links. See my Full Disclosure for further details.
THANK YOU for this! I’ve been searching!
One question:
I see you pulled your carseat with a cart. Which cart did you use? Did you also bag and leave the carseat at the gate, or carry on?
Planning on flying with twins this fall!
Check out my flying with Toddlers tips blog post. Head to my home page and go to my Travel section. I linked the car seat rollers I used. I used the car seats on the plane and thats why I had the car seat roller. If you check the car seats under the plane you won’t need to take them through the airport. My blog post will help a lot!
We do the same with our city select! I do have a stokke prampack that I like to throw the frame and seats in though. I also prefer to keep the adapters in my carry on just in case something rips or opens. That way they don’t fall through and get lost. So far the only issue we’ve had while using the prampack is that they’ll sometimes send the stroller with the checked luggage despite having the gate check tag.
Thank you so much for this blog post! This will be our one year olds first flight and I will be without my husband. I absolutely love our baby jogger but was stressed out about how smooth this would be! Thank you
OMG this just made my day! I’m so happy it was helpful! Flying its already stressful so knowing what to do before you go can help so much!
Curious, when you mentioned you wanted to bring the city select vs your Zoe double to Disney why was that? Looking into getting Zoe double. Have city select comparable and was going to sell for Zoe double for the more lightweight and side by side. What are your thoughts? Thanks!
I love how easy my seats lay flat in the City Select so they could nap while at the park. The zoe is hard to adjust once they fall asleep. I also love the trays that come with the seats because thats how we would feed them while at the park. I would keep them in the stroller and cut up the food and put it on the tray. They know how to slip out of the zoe stroller easily (if not buckled) and I would have to strap them up every time we went somewhere. Especially when we needed to walk a couple min to the next ride. It would have been annoying strapping them up every time. They can’t get out of the city select on their own. We also could fit more crap in the bottom of the stroller! It was so worth it!
Hi! Flying with my baby for the first time next month and this post is really helpful! Can you tell me what it was like getting the stroller through security? Did you have to take the wheels off for it to fit through the machine? If so, was it difficult?
Great question! If the stroller doesn’t fit through the machine they will take it through a side gate and do their own security search by hand. Thats why its important to get there early! Security always takes longer with kiddos!
Thank you so much for this post! It’s very helpful! Did you have any trouble with the requirements for stroller size at Disney? I’ve heard depending on the configuration, this stroller can be too big. But I’m hoping to bring it to Disneyworld!
I brought it to Disneyland a couple years ago and had no problems.
I read a post years ago that when you use a bag for a stroller and gate check it, you can put in a few extra items too. We put in coats, etc and it worked so well that we did not have to carry them onto the plane.
The link you have for the bag is the carseat bag. Is that correct? Or did you purchase the double stroller bag? Also, have you ever had issues with the lock not staying on your stroller? Wondering if I should bring zip ties to keep it folded.
Correct its the carseat bag because I just put the stroller seats in it. It was easier than trying to fit the whole stroller in the bag. With how fast you have to fold stuff up it was easier to just put the seats in the carseat bag. I haven’t had an issue but wouldn’t hurt to try the zip ties.
THANK YOU so much for this write up! I too am traveling with two kiddos (3 and 6mo) in a few weeks and desperately want to take this stroller. I have been going back and forth between bags to put it in, checking vs. gate checking and reading all the stuff I could find when I stumbled on this little gem! My still lingering question though…. what about damage??? I’ve read so many different things on how rough the airlines are with gate checked strollers/carseats and this is not a cheap stroller! I worry they will damage it. I am aware I could buy a bag/pram to put it in, but when we don’t travel often it’s hard to justify the $200 price tag. I like what you did by keeping the frame out and bagging the seats. I hadn’t thought of that and that is what I’m leaning most toward, but one fellow mother to another that travels more often – have you experienced damage with your gate-checked strollers/items? TIA!
This comment just made my day! This is exactly why I wrote this blog post because I also couldn’t find anything out there about how to gate check this stroller. I’ve taken this stroller on a flight 3 different trips now and I haven’t had an issue. If you are really nervous you could take the wheels off and put those in the bag as well. Other than that I don’t think that frame would get broken because its so sturdy. Its always a chance something could happen, but so far I’ve been fine. If you do experience damage make sure you go and tell the airline right away.
Perfect! Just what I wanted to hear! Also a good idea with the wheels, but we’ll test it out. I’ve also noticed that most airlines say no strollers over 20lbs. I am not super worried this will be an issue, but I know the Baby Jogger frame alone is slightly over 20lbs itslef. Eek. I think I’m just going to be super nice about it and if it’s questioned, I will just know that the worst thing that can happen is they take it and check it! It will be fine… it will be fine! Thanks so much for the assuring words!