Wheelchairs and Airlines question

[DISNEYWORLDBORN2SHOP]

My MIL who is going with us on our cruise has been very ill with an antibiotic resistant infection that she caught in surgery. If she is even able to overcome this infection before the cruise, she will probably have to do so in a wheelchair. My question is - How do airlines handle electric wheelchairs? Do they make you pay extra to transport them? Do I need to notify them ahead of time? She is using Disney transfers and we won't have any flight info. for a while.

 

[Auntie Bon]

My local TV station just did a story on this last night. A young man with CP had his wheelchair mangled in transit with the airline and it was unuseable at DW. You can imagine his disappointed. Worse yet he discovered that for a fee (not sure $$) the airlines would rent him a box to store the chair in thereby protecting it from tough handling.

I would suggest calling the airline ahead of time to inquire as to what the cost and it they do this for their passengers.

 

[DramaTech]

DISNEYWORLDBORN2SHOP,

I, too, travel in an electric wheelchair and have a few answers for you. The airlines cannot, by law, charge you any additional fees to carry your MIL's electric wheelchair. Doing so would violate the ADA laws that apply. You should call the airline as soon as you have purchased the tickets and talk to someone in their special needs department. The airlines all do things a bit differently, but you should always let them know ahead of time what you'll need, and what you'll be bringing with you. As soon as you have flight info, be sure to let DCL know so that they can provide wheelchair accessible transportation.

Here are some tips to help the situation go a bit easier:

At the Gate:
• Inform the gate agent of your needs, and provide him/her with a copy of instructions for your MIL's wheelchair. Write or type these instructions out and provide at two copies for each leg of your trip. Give one copy to the ticket agent, and one to the gate agent. Include in these instructions what flight(s) you’ll be on, your confirmation number, if your chair has a wet-cell or a dry-cell battery (generally marked on the battery pack of the chair...), how to recline your chair (if applicable), if it is okay to stow your chair in a different position than upright (some chairs won’t fit upright through the baggage door on the plane), whether the chair is collapsible, and any other info you think the airline might be able to use.
• Most airlines provide pre-boarding privileges, although they will seldom announce that they do. Request that you would like to preboard. It will make boarding the plane less stressful as they help you get seated before loading the other passengers.
• Ask the agent whether or not your MIL's wheelchair will be “gate-checked”. This is VERY IMPORTANT. Some airlines do not “gate-check” electric wheelchairs. This means that your chair will show up through a special baggage delivery point near where the regular baggage arrives. If they will “gate-check” your MIL's chair, wait until everyone else has gotten off the plane, and that will give them enough time to transport the wheelchair up from baggage to the jet-way where it will be waiting for you.

All in all, most airlines are very good about helping those of us on wheels. Have a great trip, and let me know if you have any more questions!

 

[DramaTech]

Auntie Bon,

That is horrible thing that happened. I did want to mention that one time when I flew to WDW, American scratched up an armrest so bad that the padding inside was flying out...I was not too happy with this. I talked to a supervisor here in Dallas/Ft. Worth, and American bought me a new armrest and even paid to have it installed at my house so that I didn't have to go somewhere to have it replaced. They were great about the whole situation.

As a general tip, no matter what happens, always try to make the best of it, and don't hesitate to talk to a supervisor or manager if you are not pleased with the service. Always try to remain calm, and treat everyone in the situation with respect...most likely, they will respect you and try to help rectify the situation.

 

[DISNEYWORLDBORN2SHOP]

DramaTech=

Thank you so much for all your help. You answered every question I had.

 

[aprilgail2]

If you check the "disABILITIES" board they can help you there too.... they helped a lot when I was going to take my godson in a wheelchair.
http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=20

 

[SueM in MN]

It looks like Dramatech answered most of your questions. I just wanted to add a few things.

The airlines cannot, by law, charge you any additional fees to carry your MIL's electric wheelchair. Doing so would violate the ADA laws that apply.

They also can't count it as part of her luggage allowance. She still gets her entire luggage allowance besides the wheelchair. If she has a walker or any other medical equipment that she will bring on the plane with her, that does not count against her carry on allowance.

Most airlines provide pre-boarding privileges, although they will seldom announce that they do. Request that you would like to preboard.

This is very important. They used to announce pre=boarding, but in our experience the last few years, they seldom announce it anymore. So the only way you will get to preboard is if you ask ahead of time.

Most of the airlines have information about traveling with disabilities on their websites. Depending on the airline, it may or may not be helpful, but they all should at least have some information.

If she is not able to walk onto the plane, the airlines will provide a special, very narrow chair that fits into the plane and takes her to her seat. This is called an aisle chair. Ask about this when you make your arrangements.

If the wheelchair is a rental chair (I'm not sure if your MIL used one before the surgery and owns her own or not), the company you are renting it from may have some advice about transporting it by air (or they may not want that to be done). If it is a rental chair, you may want to check into taking a manual wheelchair with you since there are less parts to damage. Unless your MIL needs an unusual size or seat type, you should be able to rent a wheelchair in Orlando. We have not been brave enough to bring DD's power wheelchair on the airplane (although we have been traveling for almost 15 years with her manual chair by air). We did look into renting a power wheelchair in Orlando, but since DD needs a narrow seat that is fairly long for the width and needs a special seat, we were not able to.