Graco Alano Flip It Travel System

by Graco

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 37.5 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0015VW4HA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,937 in Baby (See Top 100 in Baby)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

113 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some Pros- Some Cons, July 11, 2010

By 

Jen H (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Graco Alano Flip It Travel System, Strata (Baby Product)

I bought the Flip It Travel System (From Babies R Us) when my son was two weeks old. I wish I could have gotten the turquoise color, but only a yellow/gray pattern was available (haven't seen it on Amazon)- but it's not annoying at least, so its fine. We've had the travel system now for about 6 months.

PROS: Carrier is birth-22lbs (which is what we wanted b/c I don't want to lug around a 30lb baby plus the weight of the carrier). The straps are easy to adjust and our carrier came with two head supports- the smaller one was removed when our son out-grew it, and it has adequate padding. The base is easy to install, can be done with latches and seat belt. The stroller also has two elastic bands with latches to secure the carrier in the stroller.
Stroller is sturdy and has lots of features (which does make it quite heavy, so beware)- easy to use adjustable handle, removable parent cup holder (only one though), big basket, double foot brakes, big canopy. It is easy to fold DOWN *(see addition at bottom), and it is easy to steer ***when the handle is in the normal position***.

CONS: The stroller can not be opened one-handed unless you're a magician- it takes two hands. This isn't a big deal to me because I just open it before doing anything else. The cup holder sticking out on the side gets in the way and sometimes gets hooked on things- but it is removable.
The biggest con is the steering when the handle is flipped! I was excited to use this feature when my son was big enough to sit in the stroller without the infant carrier. I've used it a couple of times now with the handle flipped and I was so disappointed- it is totally useless to push the stroller with the handle flipped. The back wheels are stationary, and when they become the front wheels- trying to turn the stroller is like skidding jammed grocery cart wheels accross carpet! It seems like common sense to me to put "all-wheel steering" on a stroller like this if the back wheels can become the front wheels.

Conclusion- I like the stroller and the carrier- but the Flip-It feature needs to have compatable engineering in the way of movable wheels for it to even be practical or useful.

Additional Info: After owning this stroller for another 6 months (1 year total) the opening/closing mechanism on the handle began to malfuncion. It sticks and makes it very difficult to open and close the stroller. I contacted Graco about the problem and they offered to send a new stroller if I would ship the broken one to them at my own expense. A good offer if it didn't cost $50+ to ship the darn thing! Alas, the flip-it stroller is being donated and will be replaced by a lighweight stroller.

46 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE this stroller combo!, May 25, 2010

By 

Brandy "Brandy" (Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Graco Alano Flip It Travel System (Baby Product)

Another review from someone who hasn't actually used this with a baby yet...but I have already purchased it, based on my researching strollers for almost a year via online reviews and in-store experimenting. There are a lot of great strollers out there that cost big bucks, but I wasn't willing to pay $500+ for a stroller. I love this one because it's lightweight and has a slightly-narrower wheel base than most of the other stroller systems I tried out (this stroller weighs 19 lbs, compared to the 28-33 lb ones I was trying out), and is VERY easily maneuvered with one hand. The color scheme is gender-neutral. BRU has it for about $30 more in a grey and yellow scheme. I like the Strata, which is what I purchased. It's very pretty, and the aqua is just slightly brighter than pictured -- not garish at all, and aqua enough to not automatically scream "baby-boy pastel blue!"

My favorite part about this stroller is that the handle swivels so that you can push the baby facing you, or facing outward. Most the travel systems let the baby face you when they're in the snap-on infant carrier, but unless you go really pricey, it's hard to find one that lets the kid face you once they're out of the infant carrier. I found one other that did, but you have to move the seat itself, which takes time, effort, and can't be done with the child in the stroller. At one year old (when the baby outgrows the infant carrier), Mom is still the most interesting thing out there for most kids, and I want to be able to interact with my baby as I'm pushing him, vs. having him isolated from me and staring out at the world. The handle swivel mechanism is very easy to use, but locks in place with a nice, secure feel.

The one and only tradeoff with this stroller (for me) is the lack of a storage tray for drinks, keys, etc. Because the handle swivels over the stroller body to change the seat from facing inward to outward, they didn't put a tray on the handle. If it were me, I would have designed a reversible tray so that it worked from both directions, but they didn't. What they did do was provide one cup-holder that sits on the handle off to the side, and can swivel with the handle. For me, that's an acceptable trade-off, but it might be a deal-breaker for others.

This came with the stroller, carseat/carrier, and the stay-in-car carseat base. As with most products containing plastic products, this smelled when I first took it out of the box. I set it outside for a couple days to off-gas, and I'm going to wash the fabric parts before using...but the smell dissipated very quickly.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't push well, rear facing, September 28, 2010

By 

Wendy J. Bock - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Graco Alano Flip It Travel System, Circa (Baby Product)

I bought this because I was impressed with the option to reverse the handle and have baby facing in or out. Most magazines will recommend having baby face you so that he can interact with you. I love the stroller in the regular position(with carseat or facing out) but when reversed so that the baby faces you, the stroller pushes like a fixed wheel stroller. I wish I had just purchased the carseat, a stroller frame and an all terrain stroller like I initially wanted to until I saw this product.

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