You should be able to gate check the stroller, so that you don't have to bring it onto the plane and fight to find a spot for it, but do have it available when hiking around the airport.
Make sure that your car seat is actually airline approved, otherwise they will not let you use it. There must be a certified sticker somewhere on it.
Most airlines do have a 50 pound per-bag limit for checked bags, some let you get about 5 pounds over that before the surcharge kicks in, which is usually $25 each way for a bag up to 70 pounds. We get hit with this a lot, because a while before they lowered the weight limits, we purchased a HUGE Samsonite hard-side suitcase, which makes it very easy to go over the 50 lb limit (and sometimes the 70 lb limit
)
We usually totally over pack when traveling with our 3 year old, ending up with two large checked bags, and then carry on a camera bag, a huge laptop backpack (those darn 17" PowerBooks take up space! :lol: ), a moderate sized backpack full of kid stuff and a convertible airplane seat/car seat/stroller.
Rather than hassle with a separate stroller and a car seat, we opted for the
Sit-n-Stroll convertible airplane seat/car seat/stroller. Works great on the plane, in the car, and around the airport. Has smallish wheels when converted to a stroller, so not meant for off-road use, and takes getting used to hopping on/off curbs. However, it has been an absolute life saver on long trips!
