taking own ECV on plane.

[keanda]

Hi

My mobility had deteriorated and I had been experiencing a really bad flair up at the start of the year. I bought an ecv and resigned myself to the fact it was the only way I could get out and about and the only way I could manage the parks on my holiday. Well I've took great care of myself and made sure I paced myself when doing anything, noticed an improvement and up until 2 days ago, I had started to think that perhaps I could do without the ECV. - Oh how wrong I was.
We travel on Tuesday and trying to get organised I overdid things and now I am flat out and in severe pain, I just want to sit and cry. I am so disheartened as I don't want to be confined to a scooter or wheelchair but reality has just hit like a brick. Has anyone else felt like this or am I just being silly.

Anyway enough of my feeling sorry for myself, hopefully someone can give me some practical advice. I have just phoned the airline and arranged for the scooter to be transported. The person I spoke to said to logged in my details and told me the ECV was booked in. If I need a wheelchair I've to ask for it at the check in desk. We have a very short stopover in Newark 1 hour 30 (which I think is cutting it fine), will they have my scooter for me to use or will I have to ask them to get me wheelchair assistance (the man I spoke to wasn't very clear about this.) Lastly I know that the car we booked will not take the ECV and the suitcases (booked it before I got the ECV). I am sure someone said previously that I could leave it at left luggage in MCO and pick it up later. How do I go about arranging this and how much does it cost. My alternative is to hire another car just for the day in order to take the ecv and then drop it off the next morning locally. Price wise that is fine and considerably cheaper than upgrading the car or getting a taxi, but I've never driven in the States before so is it easy enough (would be following my hubby in the other car).

Sorry about having a moan

 

[peemagg]

I just flew with mine. I didn't really have any problems. They pre-boarded us and I used my scooter all the way to the door of the plane. I didn't have any layovers so I can't really help there, but I would think that they could get you a wheelchair to help. When I check in at the airport I would ask for them to note on my reservation that I need assistance during the layover.

As far as the car issue, are you traveling with someone else who will be the driver of the car? If so what about you and the scooter taking the Magical Express bus and your travel partner take the car? This way you have your scooter and your luggage. Also saves you a trip back to the airport. Of course I am assuming you are staying on site. Another thought is call the car rental company and see about upgrading your car.

Good luck and have fun no matter what. Even if you are on your ECV the whole trip it isn't all that bad.

 

[Piper]

You should gate check your scooter--not when you check your luggage. Ride it to the gate and it will be loaded on the plane and then brought to you to use when you transfer planes. Then gate check it again.

What airline are you flying?

 

[SueM in MN]

When you check in for your flight, mention that you want to gate check the ECV (right now they know you have one, but don't know that you plan to gate check it). The check in agent may take care of it or tell you to get a gate check tag at the gate. If it's at the gate, do it before boarding begins.

For connecting flights, the gate check tag will usually have 3 choices for where you will receive the gate checked item back:
- for pick up at baggage with the checked luggage
- delivered to the gate at your connecting airport
- delivered to the gate at your final destination

When you make your choice of where it is to be delivered, check the gate check tag carefully to make sure they marked what you thought they did.

Since you have only a 90 minute layover, I would suggest not getting the ECV back until the gate at your destination city.
We have traveled with a manual wheelchair many, many times. A wheelchair is easy because it is possible for the baggage people to carry a folded wheelchair up the steps from the ground where the baggage is loaded to the gate. Even then, when we have had a short connection, the time has been cut pretty short. It takes a while to get items brought up. When we got to our connecting flight, they were already boarding on several trips. The wheelchair was not a problem to gate check on the second flight because the baggage people just carried it down the steps.

Obviously, they won't be carrying an ECV down the steps, so more time is usually needed to get it from the gate to loading on the plane and back off again. Depending on the airport, 90 minutes may or may not be enough time to get it delivered to you at the gate and then down for loading. Also, keep in mind that your 90 minutes may be shortened by weather or other delays. If you think 90 minutes is short, keep in mind that you may have more or less than that.

For the wheelchair assistance at Newark, when you check in for the first part of your flight, let them know that you will need wheelchair assistance at Newark. They will be able to put a note on your reservation so that the gate agents at Newark know you need that. You can also talk to the flight attendants as you are flying to Newark. They can verify with the gate at Newark that wheelchair assistance was ordered and will be waiting for you. They can also make sure the gate agent knows that your ECV should not be delivered to the gate at Newark.

As for getting the ECV to your resort, peemagg had some very good suggestions. If you need to use Magical Express, it is best to let them know ahead of time that you will need a lift bus. It's not required though - if you don't, it just may mean a longer wait since not all the buses are equipped with lifts. You could also use a limo service or taxi to get you and some of the luggage to the resort. That would be less problem than coming back to the airport to get the ECV.
I'm not sure if the airline would agree to keep the ECV in their 'luggage to be picked up area' if you have gate checked it. Technically, once you have received it at the gate, their responsibility has ended. A taxi/limo service would be an expense, but you also have to think of the expense in gas and time to make a round trip from your resort to the airport to pick up the ECV.

There is information about the Magical Express buses on the disABILITIES FAQs thread near the top of this board (or follow the link in my signature to get there). That thread also contains some air travel information that might be helpful.

 

[keanda]

Thanks for all the advice. I didn't know that I could keep the scooter and gate check it so thats great. I will opt for the scooter to be picked up at the final destination gate as we really do not have a lot of time. Unfortunately we are not staying on site so the Magical Express is not an option. I am going to hire another car and follow hubby to the villa, I see that I can return the car locally rather than back at the airport and it works out quite a bit less than a taxi/limo and seems to be the best option.

I really can't thank you all enough. It is appreciated.

 

[Puget Peach]

For connecting flights, the gate check tag will usually have 3 choices for where you will receive the gate checked item back:
- for pick up at baggage with the checked luggage
- delivered to the gate at your connecting airport
- delivered to the gate at your final destination

When you make your choice of where it is to be delivered, check the gate check tag carefully to make sure they marked what you thought they did.

Obviously, they won't be carrying an ECV down the steps, so more time is usually needed to get it from the gate to loading on the plane and back off again. Depending on the airport, 90 minutes may or may not be enough time to get it delivered to you at the gate and then down for loading. Also, keep in mind that your 90 minutes may be shortened by weather or other delays. If you think 90 minutes is short, keep in mind that you may have more or less than that.
.

We always gate check the power wheelchair because we know it will be at the gate when we get to our final destination. I can't imagine anything more frustrating than arriving in Orlando without the ECV. If you figure it won't take more than 30 minutes to get the chair at the gate, 30 minutes to get to the next flight, giving you time to get gate checked again before boarding. Now if you're changing planes at Chicago O'Hare, all bets are off!

Just a note about arrival at MCO. We have had various issues on arrival with a wheelchair. One time a passenger took off in our personal manual chair (it was the first chair available, so he put his mother in it and off they went. We found them in the luggage claim area with the chair.) We had the foot deck of the Hoveround damaged and had a horrible ordeal getting a claim filed at MCO (American Airlines understaffed and untrained personnel at the luggage area), and one time they took it to the wrong gate, out of our sight. It is sometimes very slow for the EVC to get to you at Orlando, as they take it to an elevator (that could be some distance from the gate) to get it from the ground level to the terminal level.

Have a great trip! Hope you're not in pain while catching that Disney magic!

 

[videogal1]

Thanks for all the advice. I didn't know that I could keep the scooter and gate check it so thats great. I will opt for the scooter to be picked up at the final destination gate as we really do not have a lot of time. Unfortunately we are not staying on site so the Magical Express is not an option. I am going to hire another car and follow hubby to the villa, I see that I can return the car locally rather than back at the airport and it works out quite a bit less than a taxi/limo and seems to be the best option.

I really can't thank you all enough. It is appreciated.

You could also take the Mears shuttle from MCO to your hotel...or take the hotel shuttle from the airport to the hotel...The hotel has to provide accessible transport if they offer hotel limo pickup at the airport... Taking a scooter apart and putting it back together again is a real pain!

 

[keanda]

Can you tell me a bit more about the mears shuttle? It is a villa that we are staying in and its on the US27 does the shuttle only do hotel drop off's or would I still be able to use it.

 

[SueM in MN]

Can you tell me a bit more about the mears shuttle? It is a villa that we are staying in and its on the US27 does the shuttle only do hotel drop off's or would I still be able to use it.

I don't think it would work for a villa. It's a large bus or small shuttle bus that usually makes stops at a number of hotels, dropping people off.
This is a link to the Mears Transportation website. They have a number of different options besides the bus.