Traveling tips?

Traveling with a wheelchair and power scooter, tips and advice.?

• Hi My mom is totally disabled and cannot walk at all. We are planning to go on vacation from Newark to Hawaii, and there is a plane change in Chicago. I have never traveled by air before, and we plan on taking my moms wheel chair, and power scooter. I need tips and advice for this. Can we bring both on the airplane, if not can we bring one of the items. How can she get to/use the bathroom. Do we have to book the items as baggage During the plane change will she have access to her wheelchair/scooter so she can transfer planes Any other tips for traveling with this stuff Any other tips for traveling

• Answer:

  I'm not sure about whether you can take both, and have doubts about the scooter, but I know people can and do take wheel chairs when they travel by air, and that the people at the airports are very helpful. The airlines are excellent, too. One thing I urge you to do is to be absolutely sure you have plenty of time to change planes! I find that they tend to schedule those times too tightly -- at 90 minutes! -- which is fine ONLY if an airplane is not late, not held up at the gate, not -- you get the picture! And here's my biggest and most important suggestion (beyond ignoring garbage like what you saw in the previous answer!) -- deal with a travel agent! It will cost you nothing and save you a lot of worry and hassle. A travel agent can answer your questions, find out about the scooter issue, find out about any documentation you may find helpful to carry with you, arrange for air tickets and ground transportation, notify the airline about the special passenger, etc. A good travel agent is worth his or her weight in gold. I travel quite a bit and my travel agent always handles things so smoothly my biggest challenge is deciding what to pack for myself, and she always seems to be able to find prices that are better than those that are published. Have a great trip!