kaytieeldr
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2005
- Messages
- 51,313
... and realized how much of it was actually complaints about my wheelchair experiences in the airports.
I flew to Las Vegas on JetBlue last month and had some 'interesting' encounters and experiences. Just blowing off a little steam
outbound: I'd used curbside check-in and the Skycap said to let them know when I was ready for the wheelchair (I was at the airport more than 2.5 hours prior to departure) Here's where things started going less than great. An attendant started heading out to where I was sitting, and another passenger waylaid him. By the time I got to where they were, she was arranging her own ride to her gate! She said to me, "Oh, did you order a wheelchair?". The attendant claimed he wasn't responding to a call from the Skycaps
so I hobbled back outside and told them what had happened. They called again, and I'm sure I got much better service from the man who ultimately showed up 
I'm sitting near two older women; one has approached a Gate Agent for a Gate Tag for the other's walker, but had to wait. When the other GA brought the tag over and attached it, and the walker owner looked puzzled, I - sitting nearby - explained it was the tag her friend requested earlier, so she could get her walker back when we got off the plane. She snapped (snapped!), "I know what it is!" (all this is important, as you'll see soon
).
JetBlue has made a change to its Extra Legroom seats. You get early boarding and, obviously, early access to the overhead bins. So the Gate Agent announces this, and that they'll be boarding rows 1-5 and 10 & 11 first, then passengers needing extra assistance, then they'll start general boarding. My seat is in row 1, so I start wheeling myself up to the jetway door. There's a more or less double line, and I don't want to get TOO close to the person in front of me, but I'm the second person in line... until the woman who usurped the first wheelchair jumped in front of me! Yeah, it's going to be that kind of flight.
I roll up to the Gate Agent and they tell me I can't board yet because there's nobody to push the wheelchair but someone will be there shortly - and I already know, from years of asking, that they won't trust me to propel myself. So I manuever over to the side until finally one of the GAs decides to just push me themselves. I get on the plane and fortunately the usurper and the old biddies are across the aisle; my seatmates turn out to be a nice couple going to a wedding.
The flight is uneventful; we land on schedule. But - two wheelchairs have been preordered, but FOUR passengers have decided they need wheelchairs. Who are the other two? The elderly women across the aisle. Why did I make such a big deal over the gate-checked walker? Because, despite snapping "I know!" at me, the user didn't wait for it!
That's right - they grabbed the wheelchairs I and another passenger had requested and zoomed right off to baggage claim. Another VERY big surprise? The passenger who 'stole' my wheelchair in Boston didn't need one in Las Vegas. A third wheelchair showed up quickly and the man who'd reserved it was off; mine showed up maybe ten minutes later - and then the attendant made me wait while he checked to see if there were any other passengers needing assistance
No, I'm positive there aren't, but okay...
return More wheelchair follies: there isn't one waiting, despite being requested and the crew having called for one in advance. The plane is empty, I'm the only one still on, the cleaning crew is trying to get the plane ready... finally I offer to start walking up to the terminal and wait there. About 3/4 up the ramp, a wheelchair attendant shows up. I get in, he starts pushing, we get into the terminal - and a passenger starts yelling at him, "Where did you get that wheelchair? That's my wheelchair!" The attendant apologizes, tells him it was sitting there empty (note: it's the airport's wheelchair) and we're off.
We get about halfway back to security and he sees an empty wheelchair and asks me if I mind waiting while he brings that new chair back to that passenger. So I'm sitting there in the middle of the terminal and 'my' crew stops, shocked that I'm stranded there. I explained what happened, but they refused to leave me until the attendant got back. I told them I'd be writing a nice letter to JetBlue, and we parted ways.
I flew to Las Vegas on JetBlue last month and had some 'interesting' encounters and experiences. Just blowing off a little steam
outbound: I'd used curbside check-in and the Skycap said to let them know when I was ready for the wheelchair (I was at the airport more than 2.5 hours prior to departure) Here's where things started going less than great. An attendant started heading out to where I was sitting, and another passenger waylaid him. By the time I got to where they were, she was arranging her own ride to her gate! She said to me, "Oh, did you order a wheelchair?". The attendant claimed he wasn't responding to a call from the Skycaps
so I hobbled back outside and told them what had happened. They called again, and I'm sure I got much better service from the man who ultimately showed up I'm sitting near two older women; one has approached a Gate Agent for a Gate Tag for the other's walker, but had to wait. When the other GA brought the tag over and attached it, and the walker owner looked puzzled, I - sitting nearby - explained it was the tag her friend requested earlier, so she could get her walker back when we got off the plane. She snapped (snapped!), "I know what it is!" (all this is important, as you'll see soon
).JetBlue has made a change to its Extra Legroom seats. You get early boarding and, obviously, early access to the overhead bins. So the Gate Agent announces this, and that they'll be boarding rows 1-5 and 10 & 11 first, then passengers needing extra assistance, then they'll start general boarding. My seat is in row 1, so I start wheeling myself up to the jetway door. There's a more or less double line, and I don't want to get TOO close to the person in front of me, but I'm the second person in line... until the woman who usurped the first wheelchair jumped in front of me! Yeah, it's going to be that kind of flight.
I roll up to the Gate Agent and they tell me I can't board yet because there's nobody to push the wheelchair but someone will be there shortly - and I already know, from years of asking, that they won't trust me to propel myself. So I manuever over to the side until finally one of the GAs decides to just push me themselves. I get on the plane and fortunately the usurper and the old biddies are across the aisle; my seatmates turn out to be a nice couple going to a wedding.
The flight is uneventful; we land on schedule. But - two wheelchairs have been preordered, but FOUR passengers have decided they need wheelchairs. Who are the other two? The elderly women across the aisle. Why did I make such a big deal over the gate-checked walker? Because, despite snapping "I know!" at me, the user didn't wait for it!
That's right - they grabbed the wheelchairs I and another passenger had requested and zoomed right off to baggage claim. Another VERY big surprise? The passenger who 'stole' my wheelchair in Boston didn't need one in Las Vegas. A third wheelchair showed up quickly and the man who'd reserved it was off; mine showed up maybe ten minutes later - and then the attendant made me wait while he checked to see if there were any other passengers needing assistance
No, I'm positive there aren't, but okay...return More wheelchair follies: there isn't one waiting, despite being requested and the crew having called for one in advance. The plane is empty, I'm the only one still on, the cleaning crew is trying to get the plane ready... finally I offer to start walking up to the terminal and wait there. About 3/4 up the ramp, a wheelchair attendant shows up. I get in, he starts pushing, we get into the terminal - and a passenger starts yelling at him, "Where did you get that wheelchair? That's my wheelchair!" The attendant apologizes, tells him it was sitting there empty (note: it's the airport's wheelchair) and we're off.
We get about halfway back to security and he sees an empty wheelchair and asks me if I mind waiting while he brings that new chair back to that passenger. So I'm sitting there in the middle of the terminal and 'my' crew stops, shocked that I'm stranded there. I explained what happened, but they refused to leave me until the attendant got back. I told them I'd be writing a nice letter to JetBlue, and we parted ways.
