My grandmother, old but quite capable of taking care of herself, is flying out from her home in PHL to my home in LAX on US Airways. She is taking a morning flight (#21) and returning on a morning flight (#8).

I am curious if anyone has any special suggestions or things we should be aware of? Does US Airways have special services for elderly passengers? What seat would you suggest she request? (We can book seats ahead of time, right?) Any and all advice is welcome.

Well US Airways is one of the better flights for boarding the elderly.. they usually board them first... also, the window seat closer to the bathroom may be better... I would say Aisle seat, but if someone in the window or middle needs the bathroom, she will be up and down too much....

You can also request meals if she has special needs.

The phone center can note on her reservation that she'll need to pre-board. You can ask that the electric cart meet her at security and the gate. I've had this done in CLT and if the cart isn't at the gate, the US agent at the gate will make it happen. Even if you're there to meet her at LAX, there's no reason to make her walk all that way from the US gates at the end of the terminal.

US Airways will be more than happy to transport her by cart. In fact, CLT is such a big airport for people needing carts, it has almost turned into a bus system. One cart takes you to a transfer station (a row of chairs marked as "cart waiting area") where you wait for another one to take you to your gate.

There are so many carts that it becomes a huge pain to walk the concourses.