Wheelchairs and Airplanes ?

[mansionterror]

My husband suffered a severe crush injury to his foot in January and is going in for a below the knee amp this week. Long story short, there is too much dead skin tissue and he would require a muscle flap transfer to fix it with no guarentee of being able to walk again. If all goes well he will have his prosthetic before we take our summer vacation at the end of May but I am continuing to plan with the thought in mind that he won't. Even if he has the prosthetic we will still be traveling with a chair and renting a scooter as he will be very new with it and unable to walk great distances.

If he doesn't have it yet than he will most certainly need the chair and I wonder if I should request wheelchair assistance on the plane. Normally he holds on to me to get up stairs, onto his tub seat, etc but in the narrow aisle of the plane he won't be able to. When they see him in the chair will they let us board first so that he can get on and get settled (using the plane seats for support) or do they have an aisle chair we can use to get him to his seat? The reservation site allows me to request either airport assistance (we don't need, have a chair) or plane assistance.

He gets around really well at home with his walker and in stores with his chair but I am not sure how to handle this.

Also: will the airline give me a tag to use so that we can claim his chair? What should I do to mark it for use at the resort? We will have a scooter for the parks.

TIA!!

 

[Disney4us2]

Sorry about your DH's injury. Hope everything works out well for him.

I traveled to WDW with my rollator/walker. It was gate checked both ways with no problem. I was able to pre board and get settled before the regular boarding began. I just left the scooter at the plane door and they stored it below the plane. It was up and waiting for me when I got off the plane.

Good luck with everything.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Your wheelchair will be gate-checked. They will put a tag on it at the Gaye Podium and give you a receipt. Boarding for people in wheelchairs/ECVs is always first, even before the First Class people. You will take it all the way down the ramp to the door of the aircraft. If he needs it, they will provide an aisle chair to get him to the seat. However, since he can walk a bit, he can hold onto seat backs for stability.

When you get to the destination airport the chair will be brought up directly to the aircraft door. The stewards will let you know when it has arrived.

 

[mansionterror]

Thank you both so much!!

 

[peemagg]

You can also call the airline and request seating close to the front for the 3 of you. I know that Airtran does not charge you for the seat because you have identified yourself as being handicapped. Other airlines might do this also. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

 

[SueM in MN]

If he doesn't have it yet than he will most certainly need the chair and I wonder if I should request wheelchair assistance on the plane. Normally he holds on to me to get up stairs, onto his tub seat, etc but in the narrow aisle of the plane he won't be able to.

Since he will be bringing his wheelchair, you would not probably need wheelchair assistance (airlines usually interpret that as needing a wheelchair so you can get from place to place.
If it would make it easier for him, you can choose to request an aisle chair, which is a very narrow wheelchair that can fit down the aisle of the plane. You can request it when you check in; they should have one at each gate, but don’t always. So, it’s helpful if you can give some advance warning. I would mention it both at check in and at the gate before they start boarding.
If you want to see some pictures of an aisle chair in use, post 15 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread has pictures. You can find that thread near the top of this board or follow the link in my signature to get there.
That post also has a lot more general information about air travel with disabilities.

When they see him in the chair will they let us board first so that he can get on and get settled (using the plane seats for support) or do they have an aisle chair we can use to get him to his seat? The reservation site allows me to request either airport assistance (we don't need, have a chair) or plane assistance.

In the way past (like 15 years ago) guests with wheelchairs were automatically boarded first, whether they asked for it or not. Since some people prefer to not board first, there is now the choice. If you want to preboard, I would strongly suggest requesting to preboard. Ask the agent at the gate before they start boarding and be prepared to remind them that you want to preboard. We have had some situations where the gate agents ‘forgets’ about our request to preboard and calls for general boarding before we have had a chance to preboard.
If he wants to use the aisle chair, it is much easier to preboard. He would also have the option of walking down the aisle holding onto the seat backs if he prefers.

Also: will the airline give me a tag to use so that we can claim his chair?

If you gate check it, they will issue you a gate check tag right at the gate. Be sure to ask before boarding begins.
As the others mentioned, the wheelchair will be delivered to the gate when you arrive at your destination.

What should I do to mark it for use at the resort? We will have a scooter for the parks.

TIA!!

I’m not sure what you mean by marking it for use at the resort. You can keep it in your room when he is not using it.

 

[seashoreCM]

We have had some situations where the gate agents ‘forgets’ about our request to preboard and calls for general boarding before we have had a chance to preboard..

No great loss. Unlike right of way at an intersection, extra time to board and get settled is a "thing" that is quietly and methodically taken as opposed to given. But kindly ask to preboard ahead of time to give the gate agent maximum choice and flexibility.

I haven't figured out whether it is better to sit close to the back so you can get to a restroom more quickly during flight, while the longer distance to board and alight is not as difficult because the plane is stationary on the ground. Also it is not good to lean on everyone's seat back as you make your way to the rest room.

 

[KPeveler]

No great loss. Unlike right of way at an intersection, extra time to board and get settled is a "thing" that is quietly and methodically taken as opposed to given. But kindly ask to preboard ahead of time to give the gate agent maximum choice and flexibility.

I haven't figured out whether it is better to sit close to the back so you can get to a restroom more quickly during flight, while the longer distance to board and alight is not as difficult because the plane is stationary on the ground. Also it is not good to lean on everyone's seat back as you make your way to the rest room.

I sit up front - they prefer it since I would need help evacuating in the event of an emergency. I ask the flight attendant on each flight if I can use the "first class" lavatory, since it is not safe for me to be walking all the way to rear of the plane. They never give me a hard time about it.

I also fly Southwest most of the time, so there is no first class there anyway.

I have never had a problem with them gate checking my wheelchair. I always ask to preboard, and also never have a problem with that. I tell them that it is going to take me a minute when I get to the bottom of the jetway, and to please hold the others until I get on the plane. I started doing this because they sent people with canes and difficulty walking after me who got stuck because it takes me a minute to break down the chair.

 

[SueM in MN]

No great loss. Unlike right of way at an intersection, extra time to board and get settled is a "thing" that is quietly and methodically taken as opposed to given. But kindly ask to preboard ahead of time to give the gate agent maximum choice and flexibility.

I haven't figured out whether it is better to sit close to the back so you can get to a restroom more quickly during flight, while the longer distance to board and alight is not as difficult because the plane is stationary on the ground. Also it is not good to lean on everyone's seat back as you make your way to the rest room.

Since we need the aisle chair and have to have help from the airline staff to use it, we can’t just “quietly and methodically take” preboarding.

We preboard to have extra time and space to board because the aisle chair takes up the whole aisle and while my DH and DD are boarding, I am taking apart DD’s wheelchair. That takes up gate space in front of the door, so we really need to do it before other guests start boarding.

As for place - we can’t take our DD to the restrooms during the flight, so it doesn’t really matter where we sit compared to the restroom. But, it’s easier to sit toward the front with using the aisle chair to get on.

 

[mansionterror]

Lots of information! Thank you so much. I can pick our seats online when I make the reservation and can choose seats closer to the front if I wish. I think if we are able to preboard that he will be able to get on using the seat backs and he won't get up to use the bathroom because it is a very short flight for us.

This is his first time to fly ever and then adding on being disabled I just want to make it as smooth as possible.

What do you do about luggage? We are going to be there for a week so we will probably have to check our bags, I have got to figure out how to get from "a to b" with 3 suitcases our carryons and him in a chair...any suggestions?

 

[peemagg]

If you can when you get to the airport, check your luggage at the curb with a sky cap. If you can't try and get your luggage down to as little as possible. It might mean doing laundry once during the trip, but that is better than having many pieces that you can't handle. We go for the week with 4 sets of clothes each and just do laundry once during the trip. This way you may even be able to get away with one large suitcase for all of you.

As far as your carry ons, I would use a luggage carrier that folds up small. This might allow your son to pull all of the carry ons while you push your husband. If your son can't pull it all, make sure that he carries his own carry on, and put yours and your husbands on the luggage carrier so you can pull it or maybe your husband can push it out in front of him while you push him.

Take advantage of Magical Express if you are staying on site. This way you won't have to handle your checked luggage at all after you check it at your home resort.

 

[tinka-belle]

Sometimes the handicap seating near the front of the plane can't be chosen online. If you book your flights online just call the airline and they can override and assign those seats.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

I'm a manual wheelchair user who travels alone quite a bit.

What I do for my luggage is use a backpack type thing for a carry-on. This goes on the back of my wheelchair. Then I use a duffle bag for the rest of my stuff. When wheeling myself, the duffle bag goes on my lap with the long strap around my neck (not great for my neck, but it's insurance in case the bag slips. I do keep it loose). This also works if someone is pushing me, but the strap around my neck is less necessary. And you'd be surprised how much you can pack in a relatively small space if you're willing to be creative.

I'm not clear if you're staying on-site or not, but if you are you can use Disney's Magical Express and that will take care of the bags on that end of things. Curbside check-in also works (and, yes, you can check in at the curb even if you are gate checking a wheelchair) for your home end.

I think everyone else has taken care of the pre-boarding and plane riding questions. I usually check in at the gate and ask for my gate-check tags and then hang out pretty close to the podium so that they can't forget me. Or at least when it gets close to boarding time that's where I hang.