Customer Reviews

Go-Go Babyz Kidz Travelmate

5 star:		(203)
4 star:		(82)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

EDIT 11/29/09: The product description now mentions a strap that sounds like it might solve the attachment/detachment problem. I haven't seen the strap in action, but check more recent reviews to see if it's working well.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I really love the idea of this gadget. We've used on several plane trips, and it's definitely easier and more practical than bringing the carseat AND a stroller. Many people have stopped us in the airport to check it out, and our son loves riding around in it. It has great polyurethane wheels that roll over just about anything with ease, and the telescoping handle can be made long enough for the tallest parent. It's light, easy to steer, and streamlined. Our Britax Marathon fits on it beautifully and attaches securely.

However, it needs a couple of major improvements to make it worth the effort and the price. First of all, there simply MUST be a way to attach and detach the device to/from the carseat more quickly. Currently, you must attach it by twisting two long screws into their guideholes. This takes WAY too long. On just one trip, we screwed the TravelMate onto the carseat in the parking lot, then unscrewed it in the security line, screwed it back on, unscrewed it on the plane, and then screwed it back on in the jetway. This means we spent WAY too much time screwing and unscrewing those very long screws. It's even harder when the kid is asleep in the carseat. There simply MUST be a method to snap the carseat securely onto the TravelMate without frantically twisting screws on and off. It's ridiculous. Until this company comes up with a better method for attaching the carseat to the TravelMate, I would not recommend purchasing it.

Secondly, the telescoping handle is great but it feels quite flimsy. I am pretty comfortable pulling my kid along behind me, but pushing him in front of me seems risky because it feels like I'm going to snap the rails of the handle. It would be worth the extra weight to strengthen the telescoping rails and make the handle more sturdy.

In summary, this is a great idea, but wait to buy it until the company comes up with a simple snap-in to replace the screw-in attachment.

Most the negative reviews I see are due to people complaining that it doesn't fit through the security xray machines. Do some research before you travel, here is the link to the TSA website that says you can ask for a hand check:
[...]
I have traveled over 20 times with my GoGo Kidz and never taken the wheels off. I did print out and highlight the web page that says you can hand check in case somene wants to fight me over it though.
This is a lifesaver for people who fly with carseats!

I have the newest version of the gogokidz travelmate, and it now has a quick release strap along with quick release wheels. So, there are NO screws to deal with (except when you first set it up - but those screws become a permanent attachment on the product).
The handle also goes from very short to VERY long - nobody should have a problem getting the handle to a comfortable position. The handle also locks into place at all levels, so the handle does NOT slip out when you don't want it to.
The company did a great job of listening to customers and making improvements. Great buy and very easy to use.
The easiest thing is to have security check it with a wand, BUT if you need/want to put your carseat on the security belt, you can easily detach the wheels and/or just undo the quick release strap and take the carseat off of the gogokidz altogether.
This will fit down most airplane aisles, BUT some car seats are too big, so you may have to carry the car seat - but using the gogokidz, you now at least have a handle with which to lift the seat. Safe Travels!

This is a great gadget if you want to bring your child's carseat on the plane but think it would be too much hassle to have a carseat and a stroller. My almost-2-year-old daughter LOVED being wheeled through the airport in her seat -- she thought it was an amusement park ride. It's lightweight and very maneuverable, even when you're pulling a suitcase with your other hand and have various carry-on bags draped across your body!

The only problems we had were:
1 - Most airplane aisles are not wide enough to allow the child to ride down the aisle in the seat. That leaves you with a carseat, carry-on bags, and a small child to wrangle onto the plane. Not a problem if you have more than one adult per child, but a hassle for a parent traveling solo. Other passengers (or in one case the flight attendant) had to help me. (Of course, this would be a problem if you had a stroller too, since you'd need to gate-check it.)

2 - The instructions say you can use the seat on the plane with the wheels still attached, but while this is technically possible, I preferred to take them off. As the other reviewer said, the wheels tip the seat so far forward that the child doesn't recline at all, which seems uncomfortable. It's also more cumbersome to install the seat with the wheels on it than to carry them separately.

3 - It won't fit through most baggage scanners with the wheels attached, so be prepared to take them off at security and reattach them afterwards. If your child is a bolter, you may want to have a safety harness for this phase.

The wheels are pretty quick to attach and remove, though it helps a lot to practice several times at home.

We've only used this once so far, but even for that, it was worth the purchase price.

Once my baby moved out of her infant seat and into a "bigger" seat (Britax Marathon 70), I panicked about how I was going to transport her all by myself thru the airport. At this time, I was still keeping her in the carseat while on the plane. How was I going to lug a huge carseat and a squirming 1 year old through the airport? I bought this and it fit the bill. Is it perfect? No. Did it break on me? Yes. Will I buy another one? The order is already placed.

Pros:
--It serves it's main function--it converts your "big" carseat into a stroller for ease of transporting your child through the airport.

--Allows easy transport of your car seat down to the the plane. If you do not plan on using your carseat ON the plane, just ask the gate agent for a gate-check tag and you can leave the whole thing strapped together at the bottom of the jetway and pick up there when you get off the plane.

--Alleviates the need to pack a stand-alone stroller if your only purpose for needing a stroller is to travel through the airport.

--The handle bar adjusts to 2 different heights to accommodate the height of the parent.

--Easy to store when not in use.

--Once you get it strapped to the carseat properly, it rolls quite smoothly.

--It allows the child to be secured and not running loose through the airport.


Cons:
--I bought a "refurbished" unit and it wasn't packed with 4 necessary screws that secure the handle bar unit to the back plate. It was an easy fix to find screws at Home Depot that fit the holes though. It also came with no instructions and I couldn't find any online either.

--Keeping the car seat attached to the GO GO Kidz won't fit through the x-ray machines at most airports. I've only encountered 1 airport that had tall enough entrances into the machine where the whole thing fit. Just expect that it won't fit! (See my "Tips" section for more info)

--The ratchet part of the GO GO Kidz mysteriously fell off on a trip to the airport. You need that part in order to secure the strap that feeds through your car seat to attach it to the GO GO Kidz. Thankfully, we were able to jimmy rig the GO GO Kidz on the car seat with an extra car seat strap we had.

--Obviously, there's no "kick stand" on this thing. But it may not be a bad idea for them to include a little one on it. It's just a piece of plastic balanced on two slippery wheels and when your car seat is not on it, you have to lay it flat on the ground or the wheels will slide and make it crash to the ground. So, when you have your hands full wrangling a baby and keeping up with your luggage, etc. while in the process of taking it apart or putting it back on your car seat, you can't just prop it up somewhere. I guarantee if you buy this thing, you'll have this experience of it falling over when you try to prop it up against something and you'll know what I'm talking about! ;)

--You can't roll your carseat down the aisle of the plane. This is not a fault of the GO GO Kidz, but of the fact that "big" carseats are too wide for the aisles.

--If you gate check your carseat with it strapped to the GO GO Kidz, 9 times out of 10, when you pick it back up after you de-plane on the jetway, it will have been tossed around and come loose. Not a fault of the product, just something to be aware of.


Tips:
--Practice putting it on your carseat and taking it apart with your child present before you go on your first trip. At first, it can be challenging to strap it to the car seat and take it apart WITH your child sitting strapped into the carseat (so they aren't roaming about while you're trying to do this), but it can be done!
You will get into a flow with some practice.

--Figure, you will have to assemble or de-assemble this thing once you get out of your car at the airport, possibly going through security (if they won't hand-check it), possibly if you are using your car seat on the plane, and once you get into the car at your destination. So PRACTICE doing all this with your child in the seat. It will make your life easier, UNLESS, your child is old enough/willing to stand nicely next to you while you do this without them in the seat.

--Ask the TSAs to hand-check your car seat with the GO GO Kidz attached so you don't have to hassle with taking it apart from the carseat and putting it back together after you go through security. I just stand there at the x-ray machine staring at any TSA in close vicinity until they make eye contact and I ask them to hand-check it. Some TSAs will scoff and take it apart anyway to try and get the carseat and GO GO Kidz through the machine separately and there's not much you can do about that. But it never hurts to ask! And the nicer TSAs will help you put it back together after it goes through the machine. Others could care less about your dilemma if you are traveling alone....but Karma will get them in the end anyway, so don't stress!

--Gate check the car seat/GO GO Kidz at the end of the jetway before you get on the plane. Get a gate check tag from the gate agent before you go down to the plane. You can leave it (whether it's just the GO GO Kidz unit itself if baby will sit in their car seat on the plane, or the two strapped together if baby won't use the car seat on the plane). I wait to be the last off the plane (if I'm not in a rush to make a connecting flight) so that my stuff is already there waiting for me when I de-plane.)

--Use the help of others!! It doesn't matter who these people are! Whether it's TSA agents, other passengers, airline employees, etc. Accept help and ASK for help when you need it! When the baby used to use her carseat on the plane, I learned very quickly to ask the flight attendent who greets you on the plane if I could get help carrying the carseat to my seat. There's no way you can carry a baby and the big carseat at the same time without causing injury to people already seated on the plane!

Instructions:
#1--Sit the base of the carseat onto the two little "pegs" of plastic at the bottom of the GO GO Kidz so the car seat is evenly centered on the pegs, with the back of your car seat butting up against the big plastic square of the GO GO Kidz.

#2--Take the plastic strap on the right side of GO GO Kidz unit and feed it through the back of your carseat (behind the padding), so it's between the padding of the car seat and the plastic back of the car seat.

#3--Feed the plastic strap out the other opening on the opposite side of the carseat and feed the plastic strap into the silver ratchet mechanism that's attached to the left side of the GO GO Kidz unit. NOTE: As far as I can tell, you don't need to latch the GO GO Kidz strap into any of the safety mechanisms (snaps or latches) that you may have behind the padding of your carseat.

#4--Pull up on the silver wratchet several time and it will automatically tighten the strap securly around the car seat. Keep ratcheting until you can ratchet no more! That will give you a secure fit.

#5--When you need to take the thing apart from the carseat, push the black release plastic tab on the wratchet and pull the plastic strap out while keeping the release depressed.

With the Go Go Kidz attached to the car seat, it does not fit through ANY airport xray machine I have come across in the US or Europe. Therefore, you have to spend time unscrewing it from the car seat, then reattaching it when through security (and I lost one of the pieces when doing it my last and final time). Not the thing you want to do when traveling with children.

It is great to stroll through the airport with it though. The Britax does not go in to recline position if you have this attached in the airplane seat.

The travelmate is awesome, especially if you are traveling alone. It will make your life so much easier. You'll get a lot of compliments at the airport, too. I really don't think there is a better product available. It did not fit through the X-ray machine at the airport or down the aisle on the plane. While those were slight inconveniences, I would still highly recommend this product. However, make sure you get the new and improved version of the UNI06. The wheels of the original travelmate I got were held on by metal caps. The wheel fell off when I was making my connecting flight the first time I used it. I had to scour the airport in search of the tiny metal cap. Without the wheel attached it's useless! I sent that travelmate back and got a replacement. The new one I received has tension springs in the wheels and was manufactured March 2007. It looks so much more durable and safer than the previous travelmate I owned. Plus, no more tiny metal caps to worry about.

We just got back from a trip from Orlando to Chicago using the travelmate and it was quite the success!! As another reviewer noted, I had many people stop me to ask where I got it, especially the jealous looking man who was lugging his toddlers seat on his back!! This carrier is a DREAM, I was traveling alone w/ my 19 month old son and he had his own seat on the plane (if your little one is riding on your lap, you can check this at the gate just as you would a stroller so you cal have it available at your destination gate) and I planned to rent a car at our destination, so I really needed to take his carseat, but couldn't imagine how I would manage a car seat, a stroller, our carry on and him with only my 2 hands. This was the perfect solution. I was able to leave the stroller home, and w/ him strapped into the seat I could just push him along and all I had to carry was my bag. Once we got the Chicago, I was able to pop the wheels off and put the seat w/ the carrier attached right into our rental car using the latch system. You can probably even leave the wheels on, but I felt this tilted the seat a bit forward and we had quite a ways to drive and I knew my son would be dozing, I didn't want him lolling forward, but that is a personal prefeence. The only issues I had w/ the carrier aren't the carriers fault, they are the airlines. In Orlando it fit right through the X-ray machine no problem, but in Chicago it was WAY too big. Unlike some other reviwers I did not have to take it apart though, the security guy just took it aside and swiped it with a wand (simimlar to what they would do w/ a wheelchair), if you have someone try to make you take your seat off the carrier, ask them to do this instead, it was no biggie and actually was a help as I had to put shoes back on me and my son so we needed a minute anyway. The other issue I had was on our plane, I could not roll my son down the aisle in the seat, it is too wide, even after taking the wheels off (I thought that would give me enough clearance & I could just drag him) it was too wide (I have the Alpha Omega Eddie Bauer seat, which is a monster, I admit) so I had to take him out of the seat and hustle him down to row 17 and carry the seat, which was a bit difficult as I am 5'2", so I was pretty much carrying it over my head to clear the seats, but there was no way I could carry it that distance w/ my 25 lb son in it. It also would only fit in the seat w/ the wheels off, but that is no biggie, they pop right on and off. Coming home, I upgraded us to business class, and that was much easier, we were in the first row so I could roll the carseat that far and the seats were MUCH wider, I was able to put the seat in w/o taking the wheels off, if you can do this I would, it made it a snap to get in and out, I never had to take him out of the seat. We are going to NYC next month for a wedding and will take his seat and this carrier again, it was well worth the price for the ease of traveling!

My wife and I just got back from our first trip while using the TravelMate with my son. Based on the reviews I had read previously I knew that this product had some problems but thought that it was still worth a shot. I was pleased to see that my TravelMate had the improvements that other reviewers asked for. The wheels now easily come off with a clip! In addition the car seat is now attached to the TravelMate with a ratcheting belt which made hooking and unhooking the product extremely easy. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone looking to travel with their kids. My son loved riding on it through the airport and having the carseat on the plane made him much more comfortable while flying.

Pros:
-easy to take off wheels with clip
-easy ratchet mechanism to attach car seat
-great for rolling through airport

Cons:
-None, except that though the product can be rolled down a plane's aisle most car seats will not so you must carry (not the fault of the product, but keep in mind)

For the most part the Go Go Kidz Travelmate did its job and converted the car seat to a temporary stroller.

Made things very convenient. Pretty easy and straight forward to put together. Also, it went from stroller to car seat with the wheels still on pretty easily.

A couple of not so great things. On some X-ray machines through airport security, the baby seat (Britax) and attachment couldn't fit through without taking the attachment off. Had to unscrew the attachment and then rescrew it.

The bigger concern was when a wheel came off. Luckily we saw it happen while riding on a car rental van on the way to get our car. Basically the metal end cap came off and was pushed back onto the center of the wheel to lock the wheel on. Just made me wonder if it might come off at some point when in transport in the airplane and we might not be able to find wheel or metal end cap.

All in all, it got lots of looks and questions on where to get it. And it served our needs for our trip. One less "stuff" to bring on a trip.