Airport Wheelchair Assistance—Accessible Travel for the Mobility-Challenged – Roaming Historian

Roaming’s husband has been recovering from an injury for several years now and, consequently, his mobility has been restricted. This year is his first traveling since the problem started. In the past, we took for granted the ease of traveling when one could move easily, climb many stairs, and walk far distances.

I’ve been traveling without the love of my life…and that just wouldn’t do, so I researched and planned to provide the great experiences we enjoyed before he was mobility-challenged.  I want him to have (close to) the same adventures we used to have…while not taxing his abilities.

Perhaps you have a bum knee, an old injury that restricts you, joint pain, muscle aches, or any one of the host of ailments that can restrict mobility? Maybe you have given up on travel? I’m hoping not. As I’ve been researching trips for our new reality, I haven’t found a lot of information for those who have mobility challenges but don’t fall into traditional categories of needing accessible travel. In the future, I’ll be sharing more of what works for us, but today I want to write about getting around an airport when you have limited mobility.

Here are some tips I’ve created based on our experiences with wheelchair assistance at US carriers. If you need more accessible travel, I highly recommend using airport wheelchair service—it makes flying a lot easier!

1. First, request wheelchair assistance from the airline. You can either do this on the airline’s website once you’ve booked your ticket or by phone (some carriers have a dedicated line for accessible travel). Let them know if you need a wheelchair all the way to your seat or just to the gate with you walking onto the plane unassisted.
2. Even though you book your wheelchair assistance with the airlines, the wheelchair service is run by the airport. When we arrived for our departures, we found that the distance to where the wheelchairs were located varied at each airport. We were told to check in at our airline to request the chair, but the lines were beastly for both flights (plus I had already check-in online), so I adjusted accordingly. At one airport, they had wheelchairs right by the check-in area, so I just asked to take one. They only asked to see his boarding pass and we were on our way. At another airport, I just went up to an airport worker and asked for assistance and he radioed for one. If flying solo, you may want to ask an airport worker right at the…