Airline Travel
Things to Remember:
- Use one carrier whenever possible.
- Pack the day before (at least) a trip.
- Check whatever luggage you can.
- If you have one, take along your handicap placard.
- Ask your travel agent to issue your tickets.
- Allow ample time for security.
- Ask for an escort tag for your chair.
- If you anticipate a layover, always plan to use your own chair.
- Be available to pre-board.
- Arrange for a seat near the front.
- Choose the seat best for you, if possible.
- Carry materials for stowing your chair aboard.
- Remember – first on, last off.
- Allow ample time for plane changes.
- Use a skycap.
- Get a car that is large enough.
A little yellow booklet from the United States Department of Transportation, called New Horizons: Information for the Air Traveler with a Disability, gives some positive indication of the nationwide attempt to make all airports accessible. It can be obtained by writing to The Consumer Information Center, Department 619-F, Pueblo, CO 81009.
A Special "Travel" Chair?
Airline travel can be extremely hard on a wheelchair. If you travel frequently, an investment in a really tough vehicle might actually save money. In the last six years, several parts of my chair have been replaced, including at one time the seat, back, and lumbar support. I'm on my third set of armrests, and four or five brake handles have, by necessity, been purchased. Several screws have fallen out, one even broken, and I’ve had all the tires on the chair replaced.
A Word about Tipping:
Even those who are not rich find that a few dollar bills put into the right hands will get very good service at an airport. I find it’s a good idea to be prepared with a supply of singles on any trip. International travel guides usually have up-to-date information about tipping in foreign countries. (The only chore is figuring out the foreign money...)
Margie's Personal Experience
Kent and I have one airline we use almost exclusively, providing they fly where we want to go, so we are particularly familiar with their procedures. We also fly their worldwide partners whenever we can. I've found that all carriers tend to have very similar procedures, but using one as often as possible further simplifies learning the drill. Frequent-flyer miles also add up faster that way.
We pack our bags the day before a flight. There is no time for packing on departure day. We always check whatever luggage we can, carrying only my backpack and our computers. It's just easier to tote only the necessary bags aboard. In all our experience, we've never lost a single bag - or anything in a checked bag.
My handicap placard is recognized in all the states, and is often helpful at our destination. Needed or not, it’s easy to carry, good insurance, and always a pleasant surprise to a driving host. (One friend says he thinks of us every time he hunts for a parking spot.) When renting a car, my blue card in the front window is a definite plus.
Since our travel agent issues our tickets, lines at the airline counter can be avoided and we usually go straight to the gate after checking our bags curbside.
Wheelchairs and security machines don’t mix, so a female agent wheels me around the machines through the exit corridor and deposits me inside the checkpoint. Then she hand-checks me while my purse and backpack are x-rayed.
I always make certain to ask for an escort tag for my chair at the gate. (They're also called gate-check tags.) Sometimes, when we're lucky enough to be upgraded to first-class, my chair rides in the closet.
Airport chairs are usually overused, old, unpleasant and often hard to operate. A delay can mean being stranded too long in an uncomfortable chair, ruining the trip before it's begun. I never check my chair to our final destination when a plane change is involved. I'm not totally without feeling and I like having my own chair.
Wheelchair passengers are the first passengers boarded because we take the most time. On airlines without seat assignments, pre-boarding is a must! If our seats are not too far back, I can "walk" to my seat with Kent’s aid but, if it is a long distance, I am wheeled aboard in an aisle chair, or gurney. Kent and I have "danced" our way to seats as far back as row fifteen.
Another advantage to sitting near the front of the aircraft is the "blue room" is closer. Planes have an aisle chair available if needed. Traveling alone, I plan ahead and watch my liquid intake. Don’t tell my doctor...
In an effort to better accommodate handicapped flyers, carriers will sometimes upgrade a passenger. A flight attendant secretly told me they often upgrade a very large passenger in a wheelchair, especially when he or she requires an aisle chair to board; the reason – aisle chairs are built tiny to accommodate narrow aisles. There are some advantages to being overweight! Although I’d hardly qualify at 122 pounds, I have been bumped up to first class many times. Kent and I fly so much, we are able to purchase cheap upgrade stickers and "bump" ourselves up if possible.
If seated in coach, I prefer not to sit in the first row behind the bulkhead, finding more legroom in seats further aft. I also prefer the regular fold-down trays in those seats with another in front of them. As my son says, "There is more legroom in the second seat, while all you get in the front row is additional faceroom."
One commuter airline has a row of backward seats on the bulkhead creating what is referred to as "the lounge". These groupings of seats have no trays and beverages must be held. Passengers sit knee to knee – literally - no good for you. The second standard seat is definitely a premium there.
Given a choice, I will sit on the left side of the aisle. This is because passengers today tend to carry lots of luggage aboard rather than checking it, and being constantly bumped on my sensitive right shoulder is frightfully uncomfortable.
When Kent and I travel together, he seats me first, then exits to collapse the wheelchair. He secures the seat and back cushions to it with Bungie cords, readying it for the ride in the hold. Without adequate elastic cords, the cushions must be put in the overhead bin, then handled with our other stuff – a bother!
Upon arrival, wheelchair passengers de-plane last, waiting until all the other passengers are off and the wheelchair is brought up from the hold. Often the crew leaves the aircraft before I do. At an interim airport, with a tight connection, I have de-planed first, but this is rare. At our arrival city, an Airport Services runner always meets the flight, helps me de-plane and takes me to my departure gate.
Friends, family or business associates meeting us for the first time have been somewhat frantic when we de-planed so much later than they expected. They have come precariously close to deciding we missed our flight. We’ve learned to warn people that, although late, we will come up the jetway.
Even with someone assisting, terminals can be large and confusing. I always try to know the location of Airport Services. In most major airports, this office is the only location of a unisex restroom, a frequent necessity when I travel. Airports are, of late, adding single bathrooms built to accommodate passengers with disabilities. All the proper equipment is available and caregivers, even those of the opposite sex, can accompany the handicapped person.
I often use the services of a skycap to pull the luggage from the conveyor, check it through security, take it to the curb, arrange for an adequate vehicle, and help load the car. If Kent and I rent, we’ve had drivers bring the car to baggage claim. It isn’t always offered, so we’ve learned to ask.
Perhaps our most valuable lesson? When catching a cab, renting a car or being met, we must always make certain the car is large enough to accommodate our luggage and the wheelchair. It’s infinitely better to avoid the problem than to deal with it, we've found.
On our return trips, cabs, shuttles and limousines drop us at the airport curbside check-in desk for our airline, and drivers are always willing to assist with bags. If someone takes us to the airport, as often happens, it’s even less difficult. Cheaper, too!
It's true, there's no place like home. However, I know it'll only be a matter of time before business calls again – or we take another adventurous voyage. The extremely few bad experiences don't dampen my enthusiasm. I like traveling so much I find I'm happiest when I'm packing once more.
