One SW specific requirement you might not have thought of is that if baby is travelling as a lap baby, you need to show proof of her being under age 2 (even if it's obvious). Bring birth certificate or immunization record.

Ive gate checked a vista on delta no problem

I gate checked uppa baby vista on air tran yesterday which is now also southwest

We gate checked a city mini on Southwest 3x. No issues whatsoever.
We had a convertible carseat that we checked as luggage in a carseat bag. Theres no fee for a carseat.

Good to know! Thanks! We are flying Southwest. It is definitely way too big to carry on but we use it with the Chicco attachment for the car seat and I'd rather gate check the car seat, and not carry it through security. I have the uppa baby travel bag so we'll just bring it all and see what happens. And I'll call Southerst first.

Has nothign to do with the size of the stroller for gate check -- has to do with the airline and their rules. When you gate check it still goes under the plane. But generally, there aren't size limits. Any stroller you can bring can be checked either at the counter or at the gate.

Are you talking about carrying on and putting overhead? In that case it's way, way too big. Only an umbrella would fit.

aa wont let you gate check. some airports dont enforce it but some do - they have a weight limit.

Is the uppa that much bigger than city mini? I traveled a lot with a four month old. We put baby in at seat the attached that to city mini for ease of going through airport. No problem gate checking either. My husband always put a lot of thought in the process of going through security. Baby stays in car seat as long as possible. Then I go first and put all my crap and shoes on belt. Take out baby and carry her trough with me, husband folds up the big crap and gets that through while I wait with baby. FWIW we never used a carrier cause she hated them. Usually they run any bottles of liquid through a different screen. I swear we have it down and are faster than half the people in line!! Just think it out ahead of time. I totally miss those days of plane travel..my toddler wouldn't last on a long flight these dAys.

Me too. Domestic and international travel.

I've gate checked mine several times

I have gate checked my a million times - I just get the tag and drop it with the baggage guy standing there after I fold it down - did it yesterday in fact. I also gate check the infant car seat, but I take a bag to zip it into when i hate check it. I counter check our big britax car seat.

The up is too big to gate check, learned that the hard way. Buy the bag and check it at check in.

We are taking our first flight soon with a 3 month old. We would like to gate check the stroller and car seat so that we will have them at arrival without having to wait for bags. Does this work with the UP Vista or is it too big?

Any other travel tips for a first flight with an infant? Thanks!