BAAMEXPP

Hi all,
I am travelling with someone who requires wheelchair assistance at the airport. They are mobile in that they can walk short distances unaided (front door to car parked in the street) but not the distances involved at an airport.

We have already requested wheelchair assistance. How would this work? Would we get it from the check-in desk? Does the person pushing the wheelchair stay with us until we board the plane? What happens if we wanted to visit the shops or go to the lounge? Are there wheelchairs air side that I could push myself without having to have someone else push it?

Sorry to ask a million questions. We have had wheelchair assistance at our destination before (too tired by this point) but never from a departing airport (this person’s condition has deteriorated so they now need assistance both ends of the journey).

Lastly, what happens if we get a bussed gate and there are stairs the passenger will really really struggle with?

frankvb

Where are you departing from (and flying to)? In my experience each airport has different ways of managing this. Also do you have lounge access or not?

In general you'd walk up to the check-in and mention it, but at LHR T5 there are designated areas for wheelchair users to wait (different from most airports) - so you'd be better off going there and then drop off bagage yourself.

LHR allows you to push the wheelchair yourself, or you can have a staff member doing that. In the latter case they will likely keep you waiting much longer. They would normally take you through security and to the gate, or to the lounge, leave you there and someone else will pick you up later to go to the gate. At the gate there's usually a staff member to help you with pre-boarding and onto the jetbridge. I've never asked to do shopping so I am unsure if they would wait for that.

If the person can't go up/down stairs, ensure you select the correct assistance level (it's clear on the BA website, I think it's 'service 2'). That will ensure a lift if a remote stand is used.

Note that some airports do not allow you to push the wheelchair yourself at all.

BAAMEXPP

Thank you for that comprehensive reply.
We are flying LHR T3 to NBO in April.
We will have lounge access.

Confus

At LHR there are dedicated areas near the entrances to meet the assistance colleagues, who will then take you to check-in and through the airport. If you have a long wait (either in public areas or the lounge) then your helper will leave you but someone else will collect you for the flight. Most importantly of all do make sure you select the right level of support - if you can’t manage stairs in the event of using a remote stand then you need wither WCHC or WCHS (the third, WCHR, is taken to mean you can walk the final stretch yourself). In this case you would be taken in a fancy vehicle that lifts itself right up to an aircraft door for level boarding. If you’re not sure it’s absolutely worth giving BA a call in advance, they’ll talk you through the options (and likely even prebook you suitable seats onboard).

frankvb

My experience is mainly with T5, but I think most of it will apply to T3.

BTW: don't want to give you a bad feeling, but we had an absolutely horrible experience connecting from T5 to T3 in December. Connection time was long enough, but the flight arrived an hour or so late, and once we got to T3 my wife had to walk quite a long way (from connection bus through security) as there weren't any wheelchairs available at all, there were staff member to assist us though. After security we were taken to the gate (which seemed incredibly far away) by cart. So my advice would be to definitely show up early if you can.

GentleGiant

Badly is the best answer, especially on arrival from abroad.

We have never gone to one of these pens when departing LHR.

Simply go to the check in desk and they will call for a wheelchair for you. However don't always expect them to notice that you have booked assistance.

If you can't do stairs always book level 2 as they will provide a high lift in the event of a remote stand.

spursdebs

Make sure you factor in extra time, everything takes longer when you are in a wheelchair. They will take you to lounge and shops. Manage your expectations LHR in my opinion is woeful for assistance. Ask at check in for wheelchair check in staff will call for one.

gglands

It's actually pretty simple. I requested 2 years ago for my mom flying with AC. Basically, you can directly contact the airline customer service and they will add a note to your reservation. You may want to double check with the airline 24hr prior to the departure.

Soupey202

I would agree with badly. On my most recent flight from T3 they brought a buggy to the lounge with insufficient seats and in the end we were the last to board. They just don’t have enough staff for the number of people requiring assistance now.

BAAMEXPP

We were directed to one of these ‘Pens’ on arrival. The wait was scheduled to be an hour but I managed to push the wheelchair and we managed, somehow, to leave with a trolley of luggage and the wheelchair.

We have another trip coming up and I am considering taking our own wheelchair and travelling without bags (it’s only a SH two nights away). We have a folding wheelchair and are flying LHR to INV, returning EDI to LHR. If we take our own wheelchair, will they be able to take it off is at the aircraft door upon boarding and bring it back to the aircraft door when we land at both INV and LHR in the way they do with pushchairs? We did have an experience with a pushchair where they didn’t bring it back to the aircraft door on landing and had to instead collect it from the baggage carousel which was most annoying. I wouldn’t want this to happen with the wheelchair as we really would be stuck. It would be helpful for us to have our wheelchair with us for our trip this time which is why I’m considering taking and using our own at the airport. Any advice?

dwugson

It's worse than bad, I've been criticized for calling it abysmal. The lack of staff is one of the issues. Instead of several wheelchairs waiting at the gate there is one person who delivers each person, one at a time to the head of the ramp where you have to wait for a cart.
The problem is that airports are getting larger and larger and the distances one is expected to walk difficult for many elderly. Hence the increased demand....
I'll do anything to try to avoid LHR with my husband who requires assistance, is elderly and can get very agitated with delays. Transfers there are a nightmare. Unfortunately have to look forward to it again next month, even flying First doesn't ease the pain

Can I help you

If people ordered the correct wheelchair type of assistance it would really help, if you order the lowest assistance WCHR which means you can walk short distances you shouldn’t be using the wheelchairs at the door which are reserved for WCHS and WCHC customers only.
The more of these two grades of assistance needed the more staff that are provided.

dwugson

Always have used WCHS for my husband - I still think there's a significant lack of staff related to the increased need. Basically, not enough people to deal with the increased demand and the number of flights arriving close together at what is an incredibly busy airport. Also, when one is connecting, even with a decent connecting time, the delays in the service make the situation worse. On my own it's great, either arriving or connecting know all the tricks but it becomes a very different story travelling with someone who really needs the service.

polochick

I had to use assistance leaving from T3 recently and thought a write up of my experience might help others. I booked option 2 (WCHS).

It was an 8am flight and I arrived about 1h45 before. I went to the special assistance desk in the BA check in zone (desk #44). There was someone checking in already so I was directed to the chairs next to the desk by the BA lady at the entrance to the check in zone. The economy check in line had quite a long queue and was next to the special assistance counter so when the counter became free, I wasn’t quick enough to get up and the first person in the economy queue went to the desk. I sat back down and the person manning the queue noticed, indicated I was next. The same thing almost happened again with the next person but after shoving their trolley past me I think they realised it was an assistance check in and let me go first. The queue management person was at the other end of check in at that point. The agent checked me in, gave me a boarding pass and I waited for some instructions. She looked at me blankly so I asked where I should wait for the wheelchair and then she checked my boarding pass and realised I needed assistance. Despite manning the special assistance check in desk she didn’t know what to do and had to ask her colleague on the next door counter how to arrange wheelchair assistance. She then made the phone call and I went to sit and wait with a slight feeling of dread.

Amazingly, the wheelchair service arrived very quickly and they took me upstairs to a holding pen and checked my boarding pass. A couple of minutes later someone else took me through security and we headed towards the special assistance area which is located between some of the duty free shops and gate 9. They kindly took me straight through to the Cathay lounge, which handily is very close to the assistance lounge, where the regular Cathay lounge lady checked my boarding pass, let me in but made it clear that it was the assistance team’s responsibility to come back and get me at the right time as I wasn’t on a Cathay flight which they were fine with. Altogether it took 29 minutes from receiving the boarding pass to reaching the lounge, which included about 15 minutes in security.

I had about 15 mins in Cathay - just enough time for a coffee and some noodles before another assistance person came to get me about 55 minutes before the departure time. The gate wasn’t showing on the screens at that point but the chap explained that we needed extra time to get there as it was a distant gate and because I was only one person, they hadn’t allocated a buggy as they were all needed for larger groups on various arriving flights, so it was a wheelchair all the way.

We were the first to the gate and the gate agents indicated for us to come over and directed us to the special assistance area. The special assistance person stayed with me and about 15 minutes later boarding started. He took me in the wheelchair to the aircraft door, let me board and then gave my bag to the crew who kindly stowed it for me. This isn’t a review of the flight, but the crew were really excellent.

I’ve had some really bad experiences with assistance before, but other than the slight hiccup at check in, I was really surprised with how smoothly the process ran this time and how kind the staff were. Talking with some of the staff they clearly are not enough resources for the amount of assistance required, hence the delays. From my recent sample size of 1, early mornings seem to be better, ie before there is a backlog of requests.

Hopefully the above gives a bit of an overview of how the process works at T3!

Bluestar

I'm going to pick up this thread to ask for advice on an upcoming trip.

We are travelling as a family DUB-LHR-CVG just before Christmas, to visit US relatives for a week. My daughter C. uses a wheelchair for long distances (her own, manual, wheelchair) but can cover shorter distances with her crutches and can manage a few stairs, so this counts as WCHR, and that's the assistance we have booked with BA.

Usually when we fly point-to-point (with any airline, even Ryanair), we leave the wheelchair at the steps of the plane, or in the jetway, and it's there for us when we disembark. [We remove all the removable parts from the wheelchair before handing it over - it has already incurred a range of injuries from a range of baggage handlers!]

However we haven't done a connecting flight as a family in many years, so I'd appreciate the expert advice of the community!

1. Is this what we should expect/plan for on this occasion? Leave C.'s wheelchair at the gate in DUB, pick it up again in LHR T5, make our own way through security to the T5 departure gate (my understanding is that for WCHR, there is no LHR airport wheelchair service, is that right?), leave her wheelchair at the departure gate of the LHR-CVG flight, and then get it at the gate in CVG? Or are we better off to check the wheelchair in in DUB all the way to CVG, and arrange an airport wheelchair in LHR? (I have seen a range of concerning stories about the efficiency or otherwise of the LHR wheelchair service. We have 90 minutes between flights, obviously on the same ticket, but there is only one LHR-CVG per day and we have no desire to miss it.)

2. We are in CW for LHR-CVG (aircraft is scheduled to be a 777-200 with Club Suites). I am a lowly EC Blue as I haven't flown long haul since before the pandemic, so I have no advance seat reservation privileges. We balk at the amount of money that BA is proposing to charge us for advance seat assignment so we were planning to take our chances when online check-in opens - C. will be 15 and is quite independent, so while we'd like not to be at opposite ends of the cabin, we don't have to be in adjacent seats.
However BA tells me that since C. has booked assistance, she is entitled to free advance seat assignment. My question: is this any benefit, other than saving us 1 seat assignment fee if we were going to fork out the £hundreds? If C. and I choose her seat in advance, does that have any effect on what other seats will be assigned? Or should we just treat it as a small bonus to be able to guarantee her a window seat?

Many thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!