juniordk2000

Just completed a roundtrip CPH-GIG-CPH in CW and had to book mobility assistance due to a knee injury. Prior to the trip I read a few reports about mobility assistance at LHR and reviews were mixed.

Leaving CPH I decided to move around on my crutches due to a relatively short walk. At LHR i was met at the gate by a person from mobility assistance and driven to a mobility assistance center in Terminal A along with an american couple who were complained a lot about their outbound experiences to all the staff and pointing out that they were in First Class and should not have to wait. I waited about 10 minutes and was then driven by wheelchair thru security and to the lounge.

At the lounge the assistance spoke briefly with customer assistance and told me what time I would be picked up again. About an hour before the flight the gate was opened and as it was a short walk, I cancelled mobility assistance and walked using my crutches.
Upon arrival at GIG there was a wheelchair waiting for me at the plane and I was driven thru immigration and helped with my luggage retrieval and then taken thru customs.

So far so good.

Upon departure from GIG I was picked up at checkin by a wheelchair and driven to the lounge. Assistant told me when he would pick me up again. He drove me to the gate and after a short wait I boarded as the first passenger. On arrival in LHR I was driven from the gate to the assistance center in Terminal A and waited for about 15 minutes before being driven to the lounge. Once again it was a nearby gate so I cancelled the assistance and got out my crutches.
At CPH I was met at the gate and driven thru immigration and to luggage pickup.

All in all a very good experience. It is nice to know that you can travel half way around the world despite being physical challenged (even if it is thankfully only temporarily)

GeezerCouple

This is good to know, that there can be genuinely helpful mobility assistance at LHR.
We've also read some of "those" other reports, with some dismay.

We always try to allow plenty of extra time, so there is no rush/stress, inclding with mobility assistance. But that only works if some assistance actually shows up.
And most of the time, we've found that the various airlines/airports have been quite helpful with this, thank goodness.

The most challenging time still tends to be going through security, although that can differ considerably among the airports, not just with particular agents.

Thanks for the encouraging report.

GC

Soupey202

Our last few experiences at LHR have been dreadful but I am travelling again tomorrow so we will see.

Tobias-UK

After his last trip through LHR, when he was let down yet again my dad has decided he will never fly again because he feels like he is "an inconvenience". Heathrow special assistance is a disgrace, and when you complain it appears no one listens and no one cares.

corporate-wage-slave

There is another route which I stumbled on by accident - LHR / HAL are also part of the CAA's Alternative Dispute Resolution process for "problems faced by disabled passengers with reduced mobility when using air transport services". The bad news is that the ADR provider for LHR is CEDR....

https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Res...te-resolution/

You may have seen Frank Gardner, the BBC News' Security correspondent having an issue in LHR a few days ago, more details in the UK+Ireland forum. I think the problem in the past is that this was regarded as a necessary difficulty for airports to work around, where the passengers felt unable to complain since they saw themselves as "an inconvenience". This is not in keeping with the spirit of this age, and it probably needs a few more Frank Gardners to make it change.

GeezerCouple

Do you have any suggestions about getting appropriate assistance (if problems occur) at the time, vs. following up later?

We'll be traveling BA F, transferring at LHR with a several hour connection, so we plan to go to CCR, and then back to the boarding gate.
We believe both flights will use T5.
There will be two of us, one needing a wheelchair for any distance.

Many thanks!

GC

corporate-wage-slave

Inbound into LHR is seemingly the most difficult process. The key thing is to mention assistance in Manage My Booking. I guess it wouldn't harm sending an email to YouFirst, asking them to add a note to the PNR, the email address should also be in Manage My Booking. In CCR there is a special list on a clipboard of those requiring assistance, so BA check this as well as Omniserv. If you haven't been collected 45 minutes before departure you need to speak to the agent at the desk by the Boardroom, but typically it shouldn't come to that.

Soupey202

Well as mentioned above I did fly out of T5 today however we were lucky enough to spot a rogue wheelchair as we entered the terminal so we quickly grabbed that and one daughter pushed me to check in whilst the other wheeled our two cases. We then kept the wheelchair until boarding when we handed it over to be returned to wherever.

IAMORGAN

My experience of this with my dad was that Heathrow was not good outbound - fine getting to lounge but then wheelchair didn't show up at lounge despite the BA agent (who was very good) calling the provider repeatedly! Wasn't just us - there were others. He felt embarrassed (he needs it for distances as he has a lung condition). The end result was the wheelchair man arriving and him then needing to go elsewhere. We arrived at the gate when boarding was well underway.