no, silly, I dont mean sticking wings and a propeller on a wheelchair. not a bad idea though. i mean, of course, going on a plane with a wheelchair.
Anyhow, my wife and I (I'm the one with reduced mobility and using the chair, BTW) have travelled all over the world with my self propelled wheelchair and hardly encounter any problems except:
thomson holidays insist on knowing your disabled blue badge number, but what if you dont drive and dont possess a blue badge? does this mean you ain't disabled? I DONT THINK SO!
maltabargains/british jet. tried to tell me that my wheelchair would be counted as part of my luggage allowance. NO WAY PAL! the AIR CARRIERS ACCESS ACT published in 1990 states quite clearly that disability aids must not constitute any part of the individuals luggage allowance. actually when we got to the airport they didnt weigh it anyway. so no panic.
air france, british airways and monarch had no problems whatsoever.
flybe pre-informing the airline of my chair (a requirement always) no problem at all but when boarding the aircraft at either destination seemed to be a major problem for the cabin crew who appeared to resent a disabled person on the flight. it was as if they had decided i was going to be an inconvenience as soon as they saw me. how wrong could they be. i wasnt going to ask for the moon on a stick, i do not require any special treatment from them, just load my wheelchair and let me get on the plane ta very much, miss snotty pants.
easyjet, very helpful and understanding.
thomas cook need to know the make, model and type of wheelchair and now also want to know the dimensions and weight. what the goodness for? it is a normal lightweight collapsible self propelled wheelchair. it doesnt make any difference what size it is really since they are required, by law, to carry disability aids under the previously mentioned AIR CARRIERS ACCESS ACT. anyway, i have written the information they ask for in a very snotty letter. HA, that'll teach 'em, eh?
if you have any experience of travel with your wheelchair, good or bad, why not share it here.
blimey charlie, how dim can one person be. when my wife took the details of my wheelchair complete with my comments which were:
"Incidentally, your insistence on requiring this information is totally irrelevant since the AIR CARRIERS ACCESS ACT published in 1990 require all disabled travellers to be given access to air travel without discrimination and, regarding the carriage of wheelchairs, these are carried at no extra charge and without constituting a part of the individuals hold or carry on luggage weight limit.
I hope you find this information helpful and please remember to pass these details on to the relevant department within your company. Thank you"
the silly girl in the travel agent asked about the ACAA saying "Whats that then?" DUH! your a travel agent, you should know. she then told my wife that they needed the information about my wheelchair just in case there are a lot of wheelchair users for the flight. WHY? is she suggesting that if there are a lot of chairs they will refuse some passengers? or leave some chairs behind? both options which they are not allowed to do. even if ALL the passengers on the flight are disabled they cannot refuse to take them. and now they are insisting we fill out a form and obtain fitness to fly certificate. doesnt it make you want to spit?
"Incidentally, your insistence on requiring this information is totally irrelevant since the AIR CARRIERS ACCESS ACT published in 1990 require all disabled travellers to be given access to air travel without discrimination and, regarding the carriage of wheelchairs, these are carried at no extra charge and without constituting a part of the individuals hold or carry on luggage weight limit.
I hope you find this information helpful and please remember to pass these details on to the relevant department within your company. Thank you"
the silly girl in the travel agent asked about the ACAA saying "Whats that then?" DUH! your a travel agent, you should know. she then told my wife that they needed the information about my wheelchair just in case there are a lot of wheelchair users for the flight. WHY? is she suggesting that if there are a lot of chairs they will refuse some passengers? or leave some chairs behind? both options which they are not allowed to do. even if ALL the passengers on the flight are disabled they cannot refuse to take them. and now they are insisting we fill out a form and obtain fitness to fly certificate. doesnt it make you want to spit?
pete ... the Air Carrier Access Act which you refer to, and have linked to in another topic, is part of US legislation and applies to flights which start or finish their journey at a US aiprort.
David
David
oopsy. silly me i thought it was a universal thing but here is the very long winded (124 pages) UK/EU code of practice which is very similar to the US rules.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/transportforyou/access/aviationshipping/accesstoairtravelfordisabled.pdf
http://www.dft.gov.uk/transportforyou/access/aviationshipping/accesstoairtravelfordisabled.pdf
Pete I have travelled with both Thomson & Thomas cook with my wheelchair and never had a problem with either of them and never been asked for my blue badge number .I have always been treated with respect and when using the ambilift they have always asked if I can walk across the airbridge as my wheelchair is too wide to go across it,they then take it and put it in the hold. When I get to my destination my chair is brought in the ambilift to the plane where i get into it and then i am wheeled by trained assistants to baggage reclaim.By the way my husband is always with me in the ambilift .We go away three times a year so I do have considerable experience of air travel.
serena, it's nice to hear you have no problems when travelling. whenever i travel with any airline i always telephone them beforehand to inform them of my wheelchair and the last time i used thomson was when i was asked for my blue badge number and told to take a copy to check-in, perhaps it was a moody inexperienced telephone operator that day, i dont know. i travelled to malta recently with thomas cook and i phoned them when i got my tickets and had no problem but this time my booking confirmation informed me to tell the travel agent, which i did, and it may well be that the travel agent girl (Who appears to be just out of school) doesnt really know her coccyx from her humerus about travel. tomorrow i will go in and see somebody else about this form they want me to fill in and then i will wait till i get my tickets to confirm details about my chair as i usually do. i just hope there are no more problems or obstacles because it kind of spoils the holiday plans before we even go, you know what i mean, you book to go somewhere, all excited, looking forward to it, and then somebody says "AH but we need you to do this first, then this, then this" and you get the feeling that "My goodness me, i hope they dont cancel my holiday"
BTW serena, the use of ambilift and movement around the airport is nothing to do with your holiday company but the responsibility and duty of the airport itself and on this i have absolutely no complaint. the service within the airports is always first class wherever we go. its just some travel agents can make life a little more awkward than it needs to be. perhaps its just me, getting grumpy in my old age.
Pete,
I book online, then phone the number on the Thomson, Thomas cook website to inform them of my wheelchair etc.I dont use travel agents .I know the ambilift is the responsibilty of the airport but they have to be informed by your travel company.I have never had to fill in forms maybe it,s the type of disability that dictates the form.I have rheumatoid arthritis which stops me from walking very far because of the pain,but I can still walk across the airbrdge and to my seat in the plane.
I book online, then phone the number on the Thomson, Thomas cook website to inform them of my wheelchair etc.I dont use travel agents .I know the ambilift is the responsibilty of the airport but they have to be informed by your travel company.I have never had to fill in forms maybe it,s the type of disability that dictates the form.I have rheumatoid arthritis which stops me from walking very far because of the pain,but I can still walk across the airbrdge and to my seat in the plane.
hi serena, you could be right there about the disability( i also have chest/lung problem which prevents me from speaking). and using online or phone booking may be less of a problem because where i live most of the staff in travel agents are very young and i think not particularly trained in anything, just sales people. this form may actually be required because the silly girl booked medical seats which i dont ask for, if i get them then ok but if i dont i can get along the short distance of the aircraft by holding the seats for support, anyhow, i will look into it tomorrow. as for airport assistance, i know it is requested at the check in desk and this has never been a problem for us, they usually phone it through while we are there so the details are correct. the check in staff are ALWAYS very kind and understanding as are the specialist airport staff. its just a little niggle when some people who dont understand what there doing get things wrong or mess up and make things awkward, like having to measure my chair.
Pete I have never had my chair measured and the only time I have been asked about the weight of it was at Tenerife when we were stranded for an extra 5 days with the ash cloud...I guess it was because they were trying to get as many on the plane as possible....and then we only guessed. I always ask for medical seats with Thomas cook as you cant prebook them, but with Thomson I always prebook if possible to get the front seats as I cant walk very far.
i think i may have found a reference to a special needs form here http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=13458 in the 8th post down written by glynis. as for the measurements of my chair, this is what the silly girl at the travel agent asked my wife. she said they needed the dimensions open and closed and i had to measure it myself and also she needed to know the make, model and weight but as i said before, i dont really think she knew what she was talking about.
HI there
We travelled with Ryanair to Malta last year, my hubby uses wheelchair, and we just ticked the special assistance on booking and everything was taken care of at Luton and Luqa Airports. We were very impressed. We had our very own assistant( I had two kids in tow) who pushed hubby where he was needed and we even had seats saved for us towards the front of the aircraft.
We are going back to Malta next mth but flying with Air Malta, so will see if we receive the same treatment.
We travelled with Ryanair to Malta last year, my hubby uses wheelchair, and we just ticked the special assistance on booking and everything was taken care of at Luton and Luqa Airports. We were very impressed. We had our very own assistant( I had two kids in tow) who pushed hubby where he was needed and we even had seats saved for us towards the front of the aircraft.
We are going back to Malta next mth but flying with Air Malta, so will see if we receive the same treatment.
[quotethomson holidays insist on knowing your disabled blue badge number, but what if you dont drive and dont possess a blue badge? does this mean you ain't disabled? I DONT THINK SO!
]
]
Just found this thread looking for something else and thought that others might find it helful to know that anybody who is disabled, whether they own or drive a car or not can apply for one and it can be used in relation to any car that they are a passenger in at the time. My Mum has never been able to drive but has one and carries it with her at all times so that when in friends' or family members' car it can be used because it relates to the person not the vehicle.
It also meant that before the SNP made them toll free, any driver who had her in the car at the time was entitled to cross the Forth and Tay road bridges free on production of her 'blue badge' card and number.
SM
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