Flying with scooter and wheelchair

champagne123,

 

Looks like a great buy! I hope you get many years of use from that one.

Thank you!

> Will scooter and wheelchair fit in regular cabin?

Hi seashoregal, I haven't answered because I was on a cruise. <blissful sigh> Now it's back to real life.

I found that having both my scooter and my manual wheelchair was a HUGE blessing. When I was up to using the scooter, it gave me independence around the ship and at some of the ports. Just make sure it has good brakes if you want to take it off the ship - those ramps are steep! When I needed help getting it UP a ramp, there were always staffers around to push. When my back was acting up, or when I wanted to go on an excursion where the scooter wasn't allowed or wasn't appropriate (such as something with a lot of sitting), the manual wheelchair was perfect (much more comfortable than my scooter). I kept my wheelchair open and backed up against the closet, as I do a lot of shifting between bed and chair while trying to sleep. I had room in a suite to leave my scooter open and parked by the sofa. Howeverr, in a regular room, you will almost certainly NOT have room even for one, much less both. There may be exceptions on some cruise lines but that is not the way I would bet. Switch to an accessible cabin and you should have room for one at a time - you may have to keep the wheelchair folded up and unfold it in the hallway when you want to use it.

As someone else said, flying with wheelchair or scooter is really nothing these days. This trip I once again flew with both; checked the wheelchair with suitcases, rode scooter to gate, gate-checked scooter, walked to airplane seat, waited for scooter to reappear at gate at end of flight. Other than I have to wait longer than the rest of the passengers to get off the plane, there is no hassle at all. (The young man filling out the gate check ticket for my scooter on the flight home was new and didn't know what to put in some of the lines. He asked another agent for help and she told him to just ask the passenger - they knew their scooters better than the agents did! lol I told her she was a smart lady!) DH has learned to pile suitcases onto the wheelchair for ease in moving them around, on the flight back we didn't even need a skycap.

Also, if you travel with your own wheelchair, you won't have to wait for the airline's to be available, and you'll have a comfortable place to sit for the inevitable waiting. Then you can gate-check it and use it once you arrive as well.

Thanks for all the info ive never brought my chair or scooter .Ive rented i wont this time though.It sounds easy .Thanks for all the info

Sent from my SM-G928T using Forums mobile app

It is easy, you just need to be prepared and know what to expect. You need to tell the airline and cruise ship that you are bringing a scooter and they will want to know what kind of battery it has. My Triaxe only runs with the key inserted and turned to "on" so I keep the key with me and I've never had to remove the battery. The scooters that don't use a key, you will probably have to remove the battery but it's usually pretty easy. My Triaxe folds easily but doesn't stay that way, so I bring along an appropriately-sized bungee to wrap around scooter with the column folded down and it has always arrived safely. Enjoy your trip!