hi depends on what your disability is? we fly with monarch regular to almeria and there is no problem with wheelchair assistance but you have to tell them at the desk when you book in also on return trip then they will allocate assistance

Hi, my mother has arthritis and has just been diagnosed with osteoporosis in her spine. She is not a regular wheelchair user but finds the long treks at some aiports exhausting and we usually request wheechair assistance from check-in onwards to the departure gate and vice-versa. I'm fairly confident about the assistance at the Manchester end - it's the Tenerife end which is concerning me and in particular being able to re-assure her that 'our' medical seats will be kept for us and not allocated to someone else at check-in as happened with the Thomas Cook flight.

We will actually be holidaying on La Gomera and it's always a fine juggling act between the ferry times and the check-in closing. I try to arrange things so that we are not hanging around the airport for too long between arriving from La Gomera off the ferry and actually flying out from TFS as all the extra sitting around makes things harder for my Mum. When using Thomas Cook we arrived at check-in in good time before the flight closed but not early enough to prevent the family that hadn't been prepared to pay extra to be guaranteed being seated together being allocated our seats because they refused to leave the check-in desk until they were seated together. Result? In order to get rid of them and prevent them from holding up the queue even longer the check-in staff gave them our seats. Watching their antics my Mum was anxious that this would happen and I kept re-assuring her that of course it wouldn't, that the seats would be kept for us! We ended up spread out over the plane and to her growing distress she sat there looking at the seats we'd sat in on the way out remain empty until the very last minute. I know that it wasn't the staff's fault but when the family concerned eventually left it so late to board the plane that their bags had already started to be off-loaded and we missed our take-off slot it just added insult to injury!

SM

seems like you had bad experience from the start hopefully it shouldn,t happen again but always allow yourself plenty of time at check in get there early to avoid type of problem you had

I know how worrying it can be. I sometimes wonder if going abroad is worth all the worry but when you have a hassle free holiday it is wonderful. 18 out 20 of our last holidays have been trouble free. It is only in the last couple of years that we have had problems. 2 years ago coming back from Lanzarote someone who was in front of us in the queue asked for wheelchair assistance at the check in desk coming home and was given our allocated seats and we had to be separated further back in the plane. I need help with cutting my food and getting to the loo and I had to pass messages to my husband when I needed him. The chap who needed our seats was pre-boarded with us in an airport wheelchair. When we landed he was asked to wait until everyone else was off the plane and the ambulift would take him off but, of course, he didn`t want to wait. He got up and ran down the steps!
Also, we have been using Jet2 for a few years now and we were always given the same seats in the front cabin. Now, on Canary Island flights, they use the front cabin, with the medical seats, for people who pay an extra £20 but you are not allowed to pre-book your seats if you need wheelchair assistance.
I think, most times, you will be OK, but there will always be selfish people who will spoil things (I think more than there used to be) and the airlines will always put making money first so there are no guarantees. Fingers crossed and good luck!

but always allow yourself plenty of time at check in get there early to avoid type of problem you had

Personally, I don't see why we should! When we booked, I offered to pay for the guarantee of us being seated together and was told that because of my mother's condition I didn't need to - that we would be pre-allocated our seats. I discussed in detail too the best time for us to plan to check-in and we were on the dot! This was not a problem of our making - the problem arose because a family with children had decided that

1) They wouldn't pay to guarantee that they would be sat together

2) Didn't get there early enough to be sure that they would get seats together as a matter of course

3) Decided that their needs took priority over those of a distressed, disabled, elderly woman - the cabin crew tried to persuade them to accept alternative seats but they refused. In the end my mother I and were seated together in more suitable seats as a result of the kindness of a couple who, seeing my mother's distress, offered to sit apart and gave up their original seats for us.

Like you, Jax, my Mum needs assistance getting to the loo and the embarassment at the thought of having to ask someone to go and ask me to come and help her was something that contributed to the distress, especially as she was origianlly put as far as you could possibly be from any of the loos. She became really anxious that with all that rigmarole she could end up being caught short and suffering even further embarassment.

SM

My husband is 6 ft 3 " and uses 2 crutches to walk due to a neurological condition. We've flown Monarch twice but never again. Despite being aware of his disability as he was standing in front of them.....the first time they put him at the very back of the plane where the seat doesn't recline so he had no space for his legs. The second time they wanted us to pay €25 euro each to choose our seats and when we didn't put him in seat 2a which if you've ever been on a Monarch plane wouldn't fit a child. It's without doubt the smallest space on the plane, where the ceiling curves downward. He spent the whole flight lying across me and with nowhere to put or move his legs (which spasm regularly) ended up getting his first ever panic attack. Meanwhile the seats we were offered for €25 were given free to the 2 people who turned up last for the flight and had actually held up the departure. Other passengers we spoke to complained they'd been separated from their 3 children because they refused to pay an extra €125 each way to sit together. It certainly felt like they were punishing us for not shelling out the extra money by ensuring we'd feel that next time we better pay it or risk the same. There's never going to be a next time. Maybe they operate differently if you specifically request disabled assistance but it seems as though their check-in staff have been trained to put money before common sense or compassion.They did ask ME (rather than him although he was standing there) if "the invalid" wanted a wheelchair to get around the airport though ...don't know if they charge for that or not. Hope you had better luck.

Hi Aish,

We haven't gone yet - it's not until mid-October. When I booked the tickets they said to phone the Customer Service Dept 8 weeks before we travel in order to book the assistance, so I'll be on the phone to them first thing in the mroning on Friday 15 August!

Maybe they operate differently if you specifically request disabled assistance but it seems as though their check-in staff have been trained to put money before common sense or compassion.

Have to say that I'd never take the chance on just turning up without having requested it in advance, regardless of the airline. I do appreciate the argument that you shouldn't have to but most flights have very limited suitable seating for people with mobility problems and given the way many people do pay extra to pre-book their seats and ensure they sit together I wouldn't want to leave it until we actually arrived at check-in. Even with those airlines we've used with a good track record on disability realted issues I would always want to try and get our seats pre-allocated and know that they were geared up to provide the wheelchair assistance my Mum needs.

for future reference, neither airlines nor airports are allowed to make a charge for this sort of service - Ryanair tried to and was knocked back and was threatened with prosecution if they did insist on levying charges so they backed down. And now there has been a ruling that this assistance must be available from arrival at the airport and not just from check-in. Even if your husband doesn't usually use a wheelchair, it might be worth thinking about requesting it in future. There can be quite a trek involved from check-in to departure gate at some airports and vice versa from plane to baggage reclaim etc. So whilst she manages quite well with a stick I always request it - it stops her getting over tired and fretting about how long it's taking her. And prior to my Dad having hi hip replacement op I requested it for both of them. It meant that I could concentrate on dealing with the luggage trolley etc without having to worry about whether either of them needed a helping hand. I woudl strongly advise you to request assistance in advance next time you are flying as well as ensuring that you get a pre-allocated medical seat. Apart from that one inbound experience with Thomas Cook we've never had problems - even though Ryanair make it difficult, they do now meet their legal obligations! But then again we've never just turned up at the airport and expected to be allocated a suitable seat for her at check-in. I think it's only fair to give them advance warning, and as I said we've then usually had an excellent service.

SM

Hi SM

You're right of course, especially where someone is using a chair. Although all my husband really requires at this stage is an aisle seat, which I don't feel is too much to ask for without paying extra. My main gripe was that that was all we were asking for and instead they seemed to go out of their way to allocate the worst seats when we declined to pay. Hopefully we were just unlucky with our particular check-in people.
As you say the new EU laws should make things easier and it'll be less daunting to ask for help if it's a right rather than feeling you're putting them to a lot of bother. Still have to talk him into taking advantage of the wheelchairs though.....he's determined not to until he has to etc.
Anyway enjoy your hol and hope all goes well.

Aish

Hi Aish, my point is that you really do need to do the asking before you arrive at the airport - that way you will get a pre-allocated 'medical' seat. Unless you do, once you've arrived at the airport, there's not necessarily that much the staff at the check-in desk can do now that so many people do pay to pre-book seats to ensure that they are sat together. And I think it's important to remember too that there aren't that many extra legroom seats that aren't also by the emergency exits.

I take your point that your husband doesn't want to use a wheechair until he has to but if he is anything like my Mum, if you can get him to do it once (and I used the argument with her that it was for my sake not hers!) then he'll be a convert once he sees how much easier it makes the whole process. And don't forget you'll get priority boarding too. And don't ever forget either that suitable assistance is a 'right' right now and has been for some years under UK law. You're not putting them to lot of bother, you're just asking to make all reasonable adjustments to the service they provide in order to enable your husband to access their services, as they are required by law to do. All the new EU regs do is make it clear that this is something that the airport authorities have to porvide from the moment you arrive at the airport and not just the airlines from the moment you check-in.

SM

Just a quick up-date - I've now been able to book the assistance and been sent a revised invoice stating that it has been booked. But what a palaver getting it booked! The telephone number given on the original invoice had been changed and there was a recorded announcement directing you to a new one. On ringing the new one, I just kept getting a recorded announcement for three days telling me that the office was now closed and giving office opening times that meant it should have been open at the time I was phoning! When I finally got through, the call centre operator just kept telling me that the office had open when it said it was and I kept trying to tell her that I wasn't saying the office had actually been closed - just that the phone system had clearly had a fault on it and would she please report it.

I'm just hoping that all this isn't an omen of things to come!

SM

Well we're back! We arrived at Manchester airport at 4.30am for our 7.00am flight (my Mum bless her likes to ensure we arrive everywhere early!) and I do wonder how they would have managed if I had not been with them. Even though we were there early before the check-in had opened, there was huge queue and no seats nearby for her to sit on so I checked at the Monarch customer service desk if we could have the use of a wheelchair immediately. I was told no problem but I'd have to go to the assistance office myself to sort it out - I just needed to present the tickets and we should be on the list. We were and I was asked where she was waiting - in the Monarch queue. Well, it took three further treks backwards and forwards over a nearly 20 mins period before any assisatance actually materialised. In other words until I refused to budge from the office until a chair and someone to push it arrived. The 'pusher' was courtesy himself and couldn't understand why we had been kept waiting. I could, the literally dozy woman in the office - on the third trip I had to nudge her as she was slumped over her desk and as it turned out hadn't done anything to get the process moving. 20 mins isn't a long time to be standing around for most people but it can be agonising for someone with arthritis and osteoporosis of the spine who needs to use 2 walking sticks for support.

From then onwards the service was excellent, including dealing with the consequences of what turned into a 2 hour delay. The cabin crew were excellent and the service at Tenerife was equally good and we were waved through quickly to a taxi. The driver took us right up to the gangway to the ferry to La Gomera from Los Christianos and dropped my Mum there and got her and my Dad sorted with the luggage while I went and collected the tickets.

On our return flight we couldn't over all fault the service at TFS - we reported to the assistance desk who had a chair and pusher available immediately and who arranged for us to be checked-in immediately - no queuing or waiting and then took us straight through to the departure gate. They kept coming back to us to check that everything was OK or if we needed anything and were boarded promptly. Again the cabin crew were great - until we arrived at manchester when it transpired that they'd only radioed through for assistance for two passengers, apparently not having noticed that they had boarded three people from wheelchairs! Still as usual it took ages to unload the baggage and despite having to wait we still got to the baggage hall before the cases appeared. However while I was waiting to grab it off the carousel my Dad told the 'pusher' he didn't need to wait and that we could manage from now on! So I can't blame the airport staff for the struggle I then had getting two 80yr olds, one of them in a wheelchair, plus a fully loaded luggage trolley through to the arrivals area! Thankfully our taxi driver was waiting and he took charge of the luggage trolley for me.

So, overall a definite 9 out of 10 - and I've made my Dad promise to never do that again until we are safely out of the terminal!

SM