Wheelchairs at CDG?
 

My husband and I are traveling to France mid-October and I'm trying to line up all the ducks. He is still recovering from suffering with hantavirus three years ago and he has a permanent handicapped parking flag. He now gets around on foot, but can't walk very far. He can barely make it around the grocery store and only if he holds on to the shopping cart. When he does this he's exhausted for the rest of the day.

Because he had to travel with his own wheelchair for the first year after he was sick, we are reasonably familiar with disability air travel, but we don't want to have to take his wheelchair on this trip. I'm very concerned about him getting around in the airports: SAN, IAD (change planes), and especially arrival at CDG. We're traveling in F on UA, award tickets.

My specific question is about wheelchair service at CDG, disembarkation, going through immigration, baggage carousels, customs, and getting to the rental car shuttle area. Car rental is for the first few days when we will tour the Champagne region. I believe we will arrive at CDG Terminal 1. Can anyone here give me a good description of what to expect at CDG? Are the wheelchair services efficient, what is the customary tip (I know what to tip in U.S. airports), and any other pointers and hints? I could phone UA, but they wouldn't know diddly-squat compared to the readers here.

This is the first overseas trip we've been able to take since he was sick, and I want things to be smooth for DH. He has some brain damage and gets upset easily when there are hassles of any kind. I want to be thoroughly prepared. BTW, we're returning home via Eurostar Paris to London, train to Southampton, and cruise ship to FLL. Then we will fly back to SAN. I really don't want to have to take his transport chair on this trip and we'll deal with the walking situation in Europe by not doing too much for him each day.

Thanks for any help the experienced people here can provide.

I haven't been to CDG, but I have been to several European airports. The wheelchair service was essentially the same as here. However, at the airports I have used, the assistance staff was much better trained, and had better equipment. One country (Denmark) the fire department / emergency crews assist wheelchair users. I'm betting that the service at CDG will be very good. I've never tipped and I don't think it's expected. Hopefully someone who knows CDG will pop in and give more accurate info.

I have been to CDG, but with my own wheelchair. In comparison to other European airports I've been to (MUC, FRA, FCO, TLS, etc) I found attitudes/operations at CDG to be medieval.

If it were my trip, I'd fly into any other airport (well, except maybe LHR).

Oh dear, can you elaborate at all? Are the services hard to access? Poor equipment? Bad attitudes? I cannot wrangle our luggage plus push DH. He will balk at taking his own chair, thinking he doesn't need it all the time so why bother. He tires easily, so after the long flights walking through CDG will be a killer.

We really can't change our destination airport, we're stuck with CDG.

If he brings his own chair, but doesn't need it all of the time, then you can use it to put your bags on and push them around.

I'm feeling bad about saying anything, since I know you can't change it. Maybe since you're flying first the airline will be more helpful, although last time I flew into CDG I was traveling business.

Note that this was in 2006 before the new EU regulations on air travel accessibility came into effect, so hopefully things have changed.

Let's see: on arrival, there was no lift; I was hand-carried off the plane in an aisle chair. There was no alternative to the bus from the hardstand to the terminal, and I had to get into the bus on my butt, have my kids haul the chair into the bus, and get myself from the bus floor back up into the chair. Reverse process at the end of the bus trip.

On departure, instead of being able to gate-check my chair at the plane, I was forced to surrender it at check-in. Agents attempted to force my rigid wheelchair into a box intended for folding chairs. I'm pretty sure they couldn't have broken the frame, but would have broken something else in their zeal if my young daughter hadn't stopped them.

The transport chair provided by the airport had to be pushed by someone else. I was deposited at the gate approximately 2 hours before the flight and the pusher disappeared, leaving me stranded in the airport chair.

Those were the highlights. It didn't help that my French isn't very good, and neither was anyone else's English.

Please also see:

http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/e...uced-mobility/

That site seems to confirm what Katja is saying. Needing a doctor's note is ridiculous in this day and age.

Quoi?
 

I saw no "need [of] a doctor's note". There was a gentle remonstration to consult one's physician PRIOR to departing on a flight - something that to me seems remarkably intelligent to do prior to a transoceanic flight of several hours duration.

Also, Katja described several points that were distinctly particular to his/her situation six years ago. I do not think that CDG is actually saying "you will be treated as harshly as Katja was." CDG has undergone quite a bit of rework since 2006 - perhaps to also assist passengers requiring wheelchair use.

Thanks to all for the helpful and honest responses. They were not what I was hoping for, but better to know the facts and be prepared. I did look at the aeroportsdeparis website. They seem to have fairly good information regarding departures, nothing for arrivals. I suppose we will have to count on UA to be sure wheelchair services are available, that's a daunting thought given the current state of UA customer service. I'm even more thankful we had the miles to fly F on this trip.

Katja, it sounds like your previous trip was a nightmare. So sorry. I can only hope that services have improved in recent years. I really appreciate the time all the posters have taken to comment.

Okay. Maybe you're right about the doctor's notes. The language saying you may need "medical approval to travel" bothers me though. That should be between me and my doctor. I'm aware that there are certain situations where the airline could demand it, but just that short sentence seems to suggest more than those situations. However, maybe I'm overreacting based on the past.

As for Katja's, I've had the same experiences at other European airports, both before and after the EU legislation went into effect. I stated earlier that I thought it would be fine at CDG, and I still think that, but we'll just have to wait and see if the OP comes back and tells us it was fine.

I will definitely report in October, after we "sample" the services at CDG. Still hoping someone will post of very recent experience with arrivals there.

I fly PHL > CDG several times a year on USAirways and rely on a provided weelchair at both airports. The service I have received each time was excellent. USAirways placed my request for assistance into my flight record and I have been met each time with weelchair assistance at the plane door. My most recent trip was April 2012. Is there any specific questions I can answer?

We flew in and out of CDG in February. My husband and I now both require wheelchairs. We were met at the door of the plane by two very charming young women. I am always confused about the lay-out of CDG, but they delivered us to a door. Two young men then pushed us onto a lift bus. A driver delivered us to our plane and two different young men helped us to the door of the plane. It was all very smooth and managed quickly.

Our previous experiences at CDG have been similar. I hate that airport for a variety of other reasons, but the wheelchair service has always been good. As soon as the pushers arrive my husband begins speaking French to them, and they always seem to be very personable. Once our flight was delayed and my pusher got us beverages and sandwiches while we were waiting at the gate.

I think it is like any other place. You encounter some people who are happy with their work and treat passengers well, and you encounter others who do not.

Update:
Due to a recent illness it was necessary to ask for wheelchair assistance for my husband while transiting CDG. No problem when arriving from the U.S. as the A380 pulled right up to the gate where an escort was waiting for him in Terminal 2E and escorted him to Terminal 2F for our connection.
The problem was the return: Arrived at 0800 in the rain and there was no gate available so the captain parked the aircraft quite a distance from the terminal where pax were transported by bus. FA told my husband to walk down the stairs (very wet, slippery stairs) and there he was met by a man who escorted him to a van. Upon arrival at Terminal F, the escort was quite efficient at escorting us through passport control. After that, it was a mess. We were taken to a holding area where we were told to wait for a bus which would take us to Terminal E. and we waited and waited and waited. We became concerned that we would miss our connection to the U.S. There were several people in that waiting area, all looking frustrated an impatient. Finally, one hour after we arrived at CDG a bus pulled up and drove to Terminal E. There, it was another wait until someone showed up with a wheelchair. By the time we reached our gate, we had only a very few minutes to spare before boarding. Miserable situation.