My Handicapped Experience on CO
 

I flew PHL-IAH-PHL to attend the OnePass VIP Day ...which I'll post about in another thread. Unlike all of my other travel, this time I traveled as a handicapped passenger ...having broken my foot just after returning from a vacation earlier in the week. I'm not able to put any weight on my left leg, so I need to hop around on crutches ..something I haven't quite mastered yet.

I was a bit concerned/worried about traveling with a broken foot (complete fracture of my 5th metatarsal :( ) but couldn't resist the chance of flying a CO 777 simulator.

I called CO and had my record flagged that I'd need special assistance throughout my flying experience. Upon arrival at PHL, I hopped to the ticket counter on crutches... where upon seeing me, they asked me to take a seat and they put in a call for a wheelchair. Within about 2-4 minutes, 2 wheelchair aids came by to take me away. (I had used online check-in and had my boarding pass in hand... and had no bags to check.)

Once I was settled in the wheelchair, one aid split to round up another special needs passenger... and the remaining aid pushed me to security. The common theme to that ride ...and all subsequent rides was how poorly those agents are tipped. I heard sob stories about how rent is due and how their credit card bills are due and how the last seemingly well-off person only tipped $1 etc. etc. In PHL, thats all the agent pushing me around talked about ...from the check-in counter to the plane.

At security, I was able to cut the line and move ahead of all people. I had a small carry-on bag with me that was x-rayed... along with my crutches. I sat in my chair and they came by and patted me around and looked at the chair. They then swabbed me down to check for explosives residue... and took extra time to swab down my broken foot, which is in a small special boot rather than a plaster cast. The process lasted about as long as if I had the dreaded SSSS's on my boarding pass... and I was able to move along. Because of the long security lines and the lack of an elite line, I think I went through security a lot faster than if I had not been in a wheelchair --even with the extra time with the TSA's getting swabbed/patted.

I was wheeled to the gate and left there to wait for the inbound equipment to arrive. While I waited, the wheelchair agent pointed me out to the gate agents and showed them my boarding pass. The agents came over to ask me how I was doing and if I would need assistance down the jetway to the plane. I told them I'd need the chair to the plane... but then could hop to my seat (1A) on my crutches from the door. They said that was fine. Considering my other experiences at PHL, I was pleasantly surprised by the agents sincere interest in my well-being.

When the equipment arrived, deplaned, and was catered/cleaned, I was able to board prior to the boarding announcement. My wheelchair agent took me to the door and helped me up onto my crutches. There, the flight crew greeted me and helped me hop into the plane. Again, the whole crew -including the cockpit crew which was in the galley at the time, expressed sincere interest in my well being... and the flight attendants were very friendly and compassionate and offered to help and helped in anyway they could.

Getting out of the wheelchair and into the plane, I tipped my wheelchair agent $15. I read FlyerTalk's disabled travelers forums to get some guidance on how I should tip... and the posts there described anything from $5-$20. Because this agent took me from the front door to the plane and all places in between, and waited with me for my somewhat delayed flight, I thought $15 would be fair.

However, once on board, it turns out there was no seat 1A. Apparently the equipment changed after I checked-in online and no one at the gate spotted the snafu with my boarding pass. The flight attendants had me seat in 1F until they could figure out how I was issued 1A. (This plane had a 14-seat 1st class cabin with no 1A/1B.) While one flight attendant went back to the gate to see what's what, first class and Elite Access started to board. Sure enough, someone with 1F came on board and the other FA in the cabin asked me to deplane until they could figure things out.

This was probably the only bumpy part to my whole experience --I had to hop off the plane with 1 crutch against onboarding traffic and stand outside the door. I rested my body against the plane on the jetway next to the door until things could be sorted out; by that time, the wheelchair and that agent were long gone.

About 1/2 way through the boarding process, the other flight attendant had returned and said I was reaccomodated into seat 2A. She apologized for the mix-up and I hopped back into the plane. The other F passengers were great and helped me to my seat ...and the gentleman in 2B was nice enough to get out of my way, help me stow my small carryon bag and the 1 crutch I had while I plopped myself into the seat.

The flying experience was fine and the flight attendants often came by to see how I was feeling and how my leg/foot was.

Upon landing at IAH, there was no wheelchair waiting for me. I was the only wheelchair passenger onboard, and the FA's said they made a point of requesting one for my arrival, but I guess IAH goofed. About 5 minutes after the plane was completely empty, a chair showed up and I went on my way. The chair took me from the bottom of the jetway up to the gate, where an electric cart was waiting. Because that agent only took me about 100 yards, I didn't bother to tip.

The electric cart whisked me to other gates where we picked up other elderly/disabled passengers. Eventually, I was dropped off pretty far away from where I had arrived ...and from where I needed to go (ground transportation for my ride to the hotel.) Again, I didn't bother to tip the cart driver.

Another wheel chair agent got me off of the cart and pushed me all the way to ground transportation. He asked me what hotel I was staying at and called them himself to have them send their shuttle. Some 30 minutes or so later when the shuttle arrived, he also helped me into the van and helped me with my bags. Because of the distance he had to push me, and because he called my hotel and waited for the shuttle to arrrive, I tipped him $20.

Returning back home, CO Insider had an Avis minivan rented for the VIP day. I traveled back with him to the airport ...and had planned to take the Avis shuttle back to the airport. However, Avis kept me in CO Insider's van while he checked-out and left...and took me to the check-in desk themselves in the same rented car. (Big ^ to Avis for that service!) While I sat in the air-conditioned van inside, the Avis agent went inside to get a wheelchair agent for me. A short time later, the chair arrived at the car...and I was able to hop from the rental van to my chair without having to walk on crutches at all.

That wheel chair agent then took me through security. As with PHL, I was able to cut the lines ...and went through the same process of being patted down. I wasn't swabbed, but they did run the wand around my broken foot. (I guess there's just hard plastics in the boot... because the wand didn't go off.) This TSA agent was a little more aggressive with his pat down (it was more like a full-body massage that I didn't really appreciate --especially the "full body" part :eek: ) but it is what it is. I was then wheeled down to my gate... only to see my flight running late. I asked the agent if he could take me to the Presidents Club (Terminal E) which he did. The agents there were very friendly and sympathetic at the check-in desk and made sure I was fine. From there, we went up to the third floor for the 45 minute wait for my plane. My wheelchair guy helped me into a comfortable chair ...but left, taking my crutches with him. So while I could watch TV, I wasn't able to do much else... include grab some water or soda. And unfortunately, there was no one around who could help me out. The wheel chair agent came back for me at the end of my 45 minute wait and we headed back to the gate. My plane was still running a bit late, so we waited there longer ...until I was able to board. They sent me down the jetway to board ...but they must have announced first class/elite boarding right after I went down, because they were right behind me on the jetway. As with the flight down, the chair took me to the door and I was able to hop, with both crutches, to my seat, 2F. The flight attendants wouldn't let any other passengers enter the plane until I was comfortably seated ...and they went out of their way again to make sure I was comfortable and well hydrated at boarding and throughout the flight. I had tipped that wheel chair agent $15 because he took me a great distance and was with me the 2 or so hours I was in the airport waiting for my flight.

When I landed in PHL, a wheelchair was waiting for me in the jetway...and that agent whisked me from the gate (D-6) to a waiting car (over in the E terminal). Because he was waiting for me and again had to wheel me a great distance, I tipped him $20.

Throughout the whole experience, the inflight agents were absolutely great. It's one thing to come by with a drink or two during a flight, but its another to engage me in a conversation to see what happened and how I was doing --they all took a sincere interest in me and my comfort and were willing to do whatever it took to keep me happy. The same is true for the gate agents and the ticket counter agents --each one I came into contact with was professional and courteous ...and despite reading horror stories of being left in jetways or ignored by gate agents, the entire Continental team treated me with respect and compassion.

It was a little awkward being asked to come off the plane in PHL due to the seat issue; in hindsight, they should have asked the able-bodied passenger to stand and wait rather than ask me to get off and wait. (If I had been in reverse shoes, I wouldn't mind standing as they sorted out a seat issue for a disabled passenger, especially if we're both seated in F.) But I guess everyone was just a little surprised that I boarded with an invalid boarding pass....so I suppose that incident could be overlooked. I think the CO agents, on the ground and in the air, did what they could do to get wheelchairs to the gates as quickly as they could. Knowing the wheelchair folks aren't CO agents, I don't blame CO for the delays in getting chairs there. To me, CO truly tried hard to get me the assistance I needed as quickly as they could from those agents.

So overall, as much as I hate traveling wounded, CO made the experience as easy and as comfortable as they could. I'd definitely recommend other disabled and handicapped passengers to try flying CO. Thinking about experiences on other carriers, I don't know if I could trust them ...let alone get the same type of interest/compassion/care that I received from Continental. And if I had to fly again in my current physical state, it'd be on CO.

Fortunately/unfortunately, I'm now under doctors orders to remain grounded... so I won't be earning any EQMs, disabled or not, anytime soon :cool:

Just out of curiosity, were you asking them about how much they got paid/enjoyed the work and then they told you how poorly paid it was? Or, did they just start spewing stories about how awful everything financial is?

If it was the second, I personally think actions like those are inappropriate...Sure they might have not got tipped well, but I have issues with people who try to guilt me into giving them money for anything...be it the guy on the street corner or someone pushing me around in a cart.

edit to add:
Aside from those issues, it is good to hear you had an overall successful experience and they worked to accommodate you....from COInsider to the agents who found a new seat for you to the several agents who called for your wheelchair assistance.

Who to tip?
 

I suspect that part of the frustration of the wheelchair operators, who depend a lot on tips as income, is that so many people don't know to tip them. Even assuming that we are Americans (citizens of other countries often have very different views on tipping), it is not clear when we should tip.

If I drop my luggage at curbside checkin, I see some, but not all people tipping; the tip jar is, of course, a good hint. However, if I take my luggage to the counter agent, I get precisely the same service, yet I have never seen anyone tip there! I haven't used a wheelchair, but there are not a lot of clues that one should tip in that situation. Similarly, do we tip the electric cart driver? Its not clear. We don't tip the flight attendants, but we tip a server in a restaurant; isn't the service provided roughly equivalent? I leave tips at the hotel for the maids, but they seem a bit surprised, which makes me think many people don't.

We tip a taxi driver, but we don't tip the pilot. Either one can get you killed, and the pilot doesn't have to deal with traffic, nor have I seen a taxi with autopilot.

I think our allowing some service workers to be paid less than minimum wage in anticipation of their receiving tips is not a good idea unless there is some way to make clear to everyone that this particular worker is underpaid and relies on tips.

I'm glad you received good service on Continental and took the time to write about it. I've almost always received good service, and that's one of the reasons I fly Continental.

Glad to hear the trip was a good overall experience for you.

Last may I severly sprained my ankle a day before a trip for the week to Manhattan, I was also on crutches. Same experience as you with the GA saying they ordered the chair (and I preordered it in CLE) but 20 minutes after deplaning the chair finally arrived at EWR gate 98. I figured it was an EWR thingy.

I thought this thread was about someone Handcapping CO whether it be the Chances for EUA or Deaprting on Time or Arriving on Time and taking Bets on it. Guess Im gonna have wait a bit longer for those to start occuring, actually Im a bit surprised Wall st hasnt started something in that area, Guess they know they will lose BIG if they did.

OP, Glad to hear that by and large everything worked out for ya, my mom needs to travel with Wheelchair assist, and boy could I would Never be able to stop if I ever started posting about what she has been put thru.

Conversations
 

Without saying anything, they automatically started sharing their own tales with how they're in bad financial shape and/or are in need of decent tips. No airport staffer (wheelchair or cart driver) even asked me what my problem was or why I needed assistance.

Continental employees, on the other hand, were all very engaged and showed genuine interest in not only my well being, but how I got myself into the predicament I was in. Continental agents acted as friends while the airport staffers acted like cold vendors. I had no expectations from either, but was glad to see Continental showing-off their good customer service in my unique situation.

Well, I think it sounds like CO people did a very good job and went out of the way to make it a good experience.

And, while I wouldn't say that an airport staff member needs to engage you in conversation about why they are helping you around.....I'd say that no matter what, they have no business sharing their personal financial issues with you. I'd also say that it is/was even more wrong to start to imply and suggest that they need money.
To clarify that a little bit....sharing a point of financial news could be acceptable if it was not about needing money....examples might be "I just bought a house" or "I'm really busy this month trying to help out my family because my wife is pregnant". But they shouldn't be sharing that they need money or that people don't tip well.

Glad to hear your experience was a plus!

If it were me and even though this may not have been a true reply, I would have said, "Hey, I hear ya! Can you imagine what I am going through too with these medical bills not to mention that I couldn't work.. and the pain I feel every minute? Hope it gets better for all of us." If he/she would still maintain good service, I would have generously tipped anyway.

Sorry to hear about your accident. I'm glad you were able to make something good (this thread) come out of it, and that you didn't miss your flight simulator.

How did that go, by the way? I look forward to reading about it in another thread.

As an aside, I never would have guessed that one is supposed to tip a wheelchair attendant (and, no, I am not a cheapskate or whatnot). Are you supposed to tip the little CO cart drivers, as well?

when it comes to Tipping its something I dont do too often if its not warranted, So a buffet breakfast cause the Lounge isnt opened and the Only way to get the OJ/Coffee is by a waiter/waitress bringing it gets them '0', if they took my order and brought me everything then a Tip.

Anyway the people on wheelchair duty usually not only push the person but will shlep the persons Carry-on as well. When landing they usually will stay with the person till they are picked-up and shlep the persons bags off the carousel. Now if none of that is done then my Mom doesnt tip, but when they end up doing alot more then simply push the WC then Id say a Tip is in order.

As for the Golf cart drivers, my Mom does at Times I tell her not to.

Looks like it cost you around $100 to tip your way through the experience. While I certainly think a tip for good service is always in order, it is a shame that someone with a disabilty might end up having to pay so much extra to travel.

I really don't like it when someone in a service industry reminds me that they need a tip. I don't mind a sign or something that says tipping is apreciated as a reminder in cases where its unclear but complaining about personal financail situation or previous bad tippers will not win me over.

I think the OP was generous and appreciative of the service he received and that what a tip should be based on.

From my experience travelling on NW with my partner, who has MS, availability of the wheelchair pushers is the biggest problem of travelling with a disability. We always arrive at the gate 45-60 minutes before departure to gate-check my partner's chair and let the GA know we need two assistants with an aisle chair. And I'm very explicit with the GA about what we need. About 2/3 of the time things work out well and we're able to pre-board and get settled in before the crush of boarding. The other 1/3, either the assistants don't arrive until after boarding starts, or they arrive but then realize they have to go look for an aisle chair, which results in our boarding last. And I don't believe the assistants have ever been waiting for us on arrival. I recognize we're going to be last off, but we end up waiting 10-15 minutes after the last passenger has left before the attendants finally show up.

As far as tipping, generally I'll push my partner through the airport while he carries the carry-ons on his lap, in which case the assistants are only doing the basics, which means no tip. There have been cases, though, where it's made sense to get more help from them, up to having one take us to luggage claim and help us out to our car. In those cases, I've tipped $5-10 dollars -- pretty reasonable for an added 15-20 minutes of time helping us (we're late enough off the plane that at least at DTW the luggage always beats us to baggage claim).

The one upside to all of this is that, at least when we're travelling at elite-light times (mostly all-day Saturday to Sunday morning), we've done pretty well at scoring UGs, because the GA's have figured out that it speeds up boarding (a standard wheelchair can just squeeze down the F-class aisle as long as we're not on a DC-9, eliminating the need for an aisle chair and one transfer). And before anyone flames me about stealing UGs from deserving elites, this has only happened during times when elites are least likely to be flying, and I have never asked a GA for the UG (it's just not my style). If she/he wants to UG us, that's great and I'll express my gratitude, but beyond that I'll assume they have done their jobs right and have cleared all elites before they've UG's us.

I have recently started to use crutches due to injuries and used the wheelchairs once (at SFO). I tipped the guy but I found the whole experience unfair. Why should someone with disability pay extra? My temporary inconvenience is an eye opener. We tip at the US restaurants because these workers were exempted from the minimum wage law. Everyone who works should be paid a living wage and not have to depend on tips. The cost of service should be included in the prices as it is done in most parts of the world. Airport staffs on the other hand are paid a living wage. Tipping should be purely for good well and not a requirement.


These agents are no different than the people who want to why they have not been invited to your parties. I used airport wheelchairs only once. I rather struggle with crutches than listen to their real or imaginary financial hardships. Later I get angry at myself for tipping out of guilt instead of good well. I should not have tipped the agent for the same reason I don’t invite people who demands an invitation.

wheelchair attendants
 

While I've not used a wheelchair, I know that tipping in that situation is expected.

I recently spent some time as a hospital patient. For those who have not, understand that your right to walk is suspended during treatment. When I needed my at-least daily x-ray, they would insist that an attendant take me to x-ray in a wheelchair or gurney, despite my protests that there was nothing wrong with my legs, that I could walk, that I knew the way to x-ray, and I needed some exercise. So during these rides, I often talked with the attendants, and heard them talking to each other while they waited outside x-ray for their fares. Most of them apparently moonlighted as wheelchair attendants at CLE. From what they said, the pay for wheelchair attendants was quite low, and they would not moonlight there but for the tips, even though many who used the service did not think to tip.

So why should a disabled person have to pay extra for transportation? That they are receiving more service than the rest of us would seem to be a good reason. They have to pay more for medications than those of us who don't need medications; they have to pay more for clothing because theirs is more subject to wear and tear. In short, they have some costs the rest of us don't. Its not as though a fellow passenger helps someone put their bag in the overhead; this is a situation where a person with no other reason for being there is there for the convenience of the passenger, and I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that passenger to pay for that extra service.