Another Scooter Question

[ebmouse]

We are trying to decide between bringing a scooter from home or renting once we are there. We are flying. This will be our first experience with a scooter on vacation. My latest question is can you check the scooter in with regular luggage at the hotel on going home day? Has anyone had bad experiences when doing so? Thanks for your help.

 

[Mrsjvb]

if you do not need one to navigate the airport( or can get by with regular WC assistance) just rent from offsite when you arrive.

what do you mean by checking it in at the hotel with regular luggage? doing valet service to the airport? not sure if it is advisable to do so or just gate check when you arrive is smarter. I don't travel with my chair as (so far) I can still do airports without too much problem. I just rent locally

 

[mamabunny]

I would *never* check an assistive device through as luggage.

"luggage" is loaded into the cargo area of the plane; while it is typically loaded so that it will not shift around much during flight, it is also not loaded in any particular order.

This matters, because if you and I were loading the trunk of a car, we might put all the suitcases flat on the bottom, then put the scooter on top. Makes sense, right? But often, ground crews load the belly of the plane in whatever order the items arrive to them - so your new mobility device can end up (literally) on the bottom of the pile, with hundreds of pounds of luggage on top of it.

Gate check your mobility device - it will go into the same hold as other wheelchairs, strollers, etc, and is FAR less likely to be damaged.

 

[Skmcpher]

I'd bring your own scooter from home. It's easy to navigate through the airport with it and you can ride it all the way to the plane's entrance. You leave the scooter on the jetway and the ground crew will take it and load it on the plane for you, and then when you arrive at MCO they will bring it up to you on the jetway (but sometimes it takes a while so you have to stand and wait). As for leaving the scooter at the hotel with luggage, I don't know about that because I always take my scooter with me when we go to the park on the last day, but I wouldn't think it would be an issue -- just keep the scooter key with you.

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't know if they would do it, but I would not check a mobility device with luggage at the resort.
It's not even necessarily that they would load things on top of it. I would be more concerned with it being possibly placed on a conveyor belt and possibly dropped.

If you can manage in the airport with using wheelchair assistance, I would probably do that and rent from one of the off site places.