Air Travel Tips for Travelers with Health Issues or Disabilities
Posted on | December 16, 2009 | 9 Comments
Travel by air for people with health issues, handicaps, disabilities or special needs, can be challenging. The following air travel tips will help make your flight and trip, whether domestic or international, easier, cheaper and safer.
When making your travel reservations, request any carts, wheelchair services or any other transportation you’ll need. Fully describe your limitations and needs. Get your airline ticket and boarding pass well ahead of time so you don’t have to wait in any lines. You’ll be able to arrange travel at a discount, get better travel deals, and avoid last minute travel headaches.
Talk with your airline representative or travel agent regarding the type of restrooms that are on the airplane. Call your airport and find out as much information as possible about the restrooms and handicapped parking at the airport.
You’ll need to find out how you’ll be boarding the airplane at each of the airports involved in your trip. You may need another type of airplane or alternative route so you’ll have Jetways, or jet bridges, into the plane from the airport and not have to worry about stairs.
One year my mother and I were going to fly out of the San Jose, California airport and discovered after we arrived that we had to go outside on the ground level with the wheelchair to the tarmac. Four airline employees had to carry my mother in the wheelchair up the steep steps to board the plane. This might be impossible if there are weight issues.
Think about what seat arrangement will work best for you needs. Would an aisle seat make it more convenient to get to the restroom? You’ll want to avoid sitting in the emergency exit row. The passengers in this row may be asked to help others in an emergency situation.
Let the airlines and flight attendants know if you have any assisting devices. Find out the best way to store them so they arrive without damage.
Always keep in mind what you can do easily and without assistance, as well as situations that would require help.
Can you transfer to seats by yourself? Will you need a transfer board or assistance from airline staff?
Consider hiring a travel nurse if you have serious health or medical issues. There are traveling nurses networks.
Can you describe your wheelchair, scooter or walker, dimensions, weight, type of tires, type of batteries, etc.? You may need to take along spare batteries. You also may need to rent or buy a travel wheelchair.
Make sure to mention to your travel agent or airline representative any assisting devices you may need or already have like canes and crutches. Do you need a slow pace or are you a slow walker?
If you will be traveling through different time zones, how will jet lag affect your situation?
Consider how the following will be of concern during your trip and discuss with your travel agent: upper body strength, communication ability, speech issues, voice issues, vision problems, hearing problems, heat issues, medication needs, oxygen requirements, and dietary requirements such as gluten-free meals.
Try to arrange or book your air travel through experienced travel agencies or tour operators that specialize in disabled travel. There are a large number of agencies throughout the U. S., Canada, Europe, Australia and many other countries.
Just in case you need them, it’s also good to know if there are any travel agencies that specialize in disabled travel at your destination, for return travel, local resources or travel services.
At the airport let airline boarding personnel know that you may need extra time to board the plane. Sit close to the door at the gate so you’re called first and then board at a comfortable pace.
After the plane has landed, never get off the plane until you see or have your assisting device, wheelchair, travel wheelchair, etc. Flight attendants have to stay on the airplane until the last passenger leaves. They will help you while you’re on the plane but once you’re off the plane they won’t be able to help you.
Make sure you carry your medications and back-up prescriptions with you onto the plane, along with doctors’ names, addresses, fax numbers for faxing prescriptions, phone numbers, medical diagnosis, names and dosages of medications you’re taking and any allergies you have.
Photocopy passports, airline tickets, American Express Travelers Cheques, credit cards, any important papers.
Carry your health insurance information with you on the plane. Know what you’ll do if you encounter a health problem or medical emergency on your trip. Get travel insurance to ensure less costly medical assistance. These emergency bills may not be covered under your health insurance policy. It’ll ease your mind to have this back-up travel insurance and prevent costly emergency medical charges on your trip. Emergency medical costs can run considerably higher than standard medical fees.
These air travel tips should provide good insurance and help make your airplane travel, with health issues, handicaps, disabilities or special needs, easier, safer and cheaper.
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Tags: agent > Air Travel > cheap > Disabilities > Disabled Travel > Health > tips > travel > Travel Insurance
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9 Responses to “Air Travel Tips for Travelers with Health Issues or Disabilities”
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December 16th, 2009 @ 10:49 am
From where? Greatly affects how I would answer your question. Please edit your question to add this key detail; I'll check back later.
December 16th, 2009 @ 11:52 am
1. Encashing frequent flyer miles is one of my favorite methods to get discount air tickets on subsequent purchases.
2. Online travel services like Orbitz, Travelocity and BookingBuddy allow customers to choose selected flights whenever deeper discounts become available. Other services such as Priceline may allow customers to bid for lower price airline tickets, but they can also require immediate purchase of those tickets or a much more flexible schedule.
3. If you belong to an auto club, or to Sam’s Club or Costco, it is helpful to compare rates there too. Companies like AAA or Costco sometimes offer the best prices for plane tickets online or offline.
4. A travel agency is a time-tested source for discount air tickets. Here the agent can negotiate a package deal to lower the price of airline tickets as long as a specific hotel or car rental is booked.
5. A major airline sometimes uses discounts to encourage the use of its low-price commuter service. Occasionally airlines compete for business through 'fare wars', which may lower the price of tickets by as much as 40%.
The key is to look out for those little-known ways you can travel for cheap without having to forgo the 'luxuries'.
December 17th, 2009 @ 6:45 am
cheaptickets.com…. travelocity.com…. expedia.com..the old standby, priceline.com
CAREFUL… cheap means no changes or you pay huge fees to adjust your travel days! Make real sure the schedule you're buying is one you can actually use…
December 17th, 2009 @ 3:36 pm
Priceline.com is the best!!!!
December 17th, 2009 @ 4:36 pm
Try Expedia.com . I fly to Europe several times a year and they usually have the lowest prices when I'm looking. Other things you can do to get a lower price…try to fly between Tuesday and Thursday. Weekends are higher. Avoid traveling near a major holiday, if possible. Search for tickets at any time of day if you can be flexible. Certain times of day are more expensive than others. Are you heading to a particular city in Europe or just anywhere cheap? London often has very good flight prices but it's expensive once you get there. There are some budget carriers in Europe that you might be able to use if you are planning to travel around after you arrive. Check out http://www.ryanair.com , http://www.easyjet.com and http://www.bmibaby.com These might allow you to fly to whatever European city you find good fares to and then cheaply move to another location. It's often cheaper that way than booking a US carrier into a less-traveled destination.
December 18th, 2009 @ 3:17 am
I have found that the cheapest way is generally by check the airlines page or hotel page, and yahoo travel seem to be the cheapest.
December 18th, 2009 @ 3:36 am
You don't really have much of a choice for domestic air travel in Vietnam, either Pacific Airlines or Vietnam Airlines are your best (and only) options. Air Asia, a large budget airline in Asia is planning on beginning domestic service in the future, but it's still a ways off, but that should help to bring down the costs and provide more options, but for now there isn't much of a choice. You can check online, but is easily arranged once you get to Saigon.
December 18th, 2009 @ 11:40 pm
December 19th, 2009 @ 2:56 pm
For the purposes of buying airline tickets, those kids are considered adults. You did not indicate your origin or destination city but check the following sites:
southwest.com
jetblue.com
orbitz.com
kayak.com