One of the times you really need a travel stroller is at the airport, particularly for that long walk to baggage reclaim and the usual snaking queue at immigration. Whilst some airlines do their best to help by providing you with courtesy strollers as you disembark, this is sadly not the norm.
Cabin sized strollers or ‘airplane strollers’ can make a huge difference, especially if you have a tired child to contend with. We’ve found an airplane stroller to be so useful for this stage of travel, as mine inevitably fall asleep just as we are landing!
This guide will help you decide on which is the best compact stroller for you, and even better, they are cabin sized strollers for plane travel – they can fit in the overhead locker or stowage bin.
A carry on stroller the size of hand luggage can make things a lot easier for you when traveling with a baby, toddler or pre-schooler.
What kind of stroller can I take on a plane?
The best option is to know your airlines cabin baggage regulations and maximise them to the hilt by bringing a compact cabin sized stroller as your permittable carry on or hand luggage for the flight. A small pushchair is useful for all modes of transport.
This may mean you will have to sacrifice another travel bag depending on whether there is a lap infant baggage allowance for a diaper/nappy bag or similar. (For flying with a lap infant tips, see here)
The good news is – at the end of this post, I’ve a guide that will help you the allowances.
I’ve spent a couple of days going through over 20 airlines lap infant carry on allowance and the adult cabin baggage allowance, so you can work out which is the best stroller for air travel and which travel stroller could be used as a cabin size stroller.
This will mean you would have to sacrifice your cabin bag to bring this on. However, if you have a potentially long wait in an immigration queue or a transit stop where you can’t access your stroller, then this could be well worth the trade off.
Why you should you trust our reviews
As an ex flight attendant, I know the rules and keep up to date with the industry. I started this website when my baby was a newborn, during my generous maternity leave as we started flying with her since she was 11 weeks old.
We tried and tested a few strollers on flights with each child and found our preferences. As this site has grown and new products have become available, we have reached out to readers who have joined our Facebook groups and asked them what have been the best cabin sized travel strollers for them.
This way, we have real parents offer their personal experiences for a range of strollers under different conditions all over the world.
These strollers have been used on planes, trains and other public transport, packed in cars, brought along for a Disney trip or pushed along cobbled streets in Europe. Whereas others have been carried as a backpack when a toddler refuses to be buckled in!
We’ve carried them, folded them as hand luggage or gate checked them and tested them in everyday situations from newborns to toddlers and beyond.
Secondly, I’ve looked at models of travel pushchairs and compact strollers which can fit as hand luggage. Remember, if you have extras added such as stroller sunshade covers, you will need to make sure they can either fit in the stroller, or your luggage.
Compact and lightweight features obviously make the best and the most practical choice of travel stroller. Airplane wise, double strollers are unlikely to fit in the overhead stowage bins, but will be permitted to go in the hold, so this feature does concentrate on single pushchairs.
I’ve found 7 of the best strollers to bring on a plane, which mostly meet the carry on requirements and on the whole have positive feedback.
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The Latest Compact Cabin Sized Strollers
Jumping on the popularity of trend setters BabyZen Yoyo and the GB Pockit, travel pushchairs and strollers are evolving all the time for families – with new compact pushchairs all vying to be the lightest and smallest with desirable features added like adjustable handlebars, easy one hand folding, multi-terrain wheels with convenient maneuverability, a decent storage compartment and a good recline.
For 2024, here are the latest options of travel strollers, perfect for flights, including the Bugaboo Butterfly which meets most airline cabin baggage guidelines and have a great deal of portability and compactness. (The guide below this will show what size cabin baggage airlines allow and which strollers meet this criteria.)
I have some more really useful ideas, tips and insider info from my cabin crew days – flying over 80 flights in the baby and toddler stages too.
Top Tip: Check what your adult cabin baggage allowance is, as you may be able to bring your compact stroller with you in place of (not in addition to) your carry on allowance.
At a Glance Comparison Table of the most compact cabin sized strollers. For further details of each – see below.