use airport wheelchair without hiring a pusher
We flew out of Oakland, California last week on Southwest. They have plenty of wheelchairs lining up by the checking-in counters, just like the shopping carts at grocery stores. So the travel companions can push the wheelchair, and do not have to hire a airport staff to do that. I love this arrangement, since we can take our time push the wheelchair and browse the shops along the way to the gate. ^
We will be flying out of SFO on United in a few weeks. Does anyone know if we can just ask for the wheelchair, and push the wheelchair ourselves? |
It won't be a problem - I've done it with elderly relatives many times. Go through the Special Assistance line for the initial ID check, and sometimes you'll be directed to a line for wheelchair users. If your husband can walk through the scanner, it will save an intrusive patdown, assuming he doesn't alarm.
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Do be aware, though, that it's airport specific. I've encountered 3 variations in the US:
This may not be an exhaustive list. |
Ditching those surly, tip-hustling airport wheelchair pushers is an art form for us. It's harder to do on departure -- you have to get the chair to begin with -- but on arrival, when the chair is waiting at the jetway, I'm not going to stand there and wait for a pusher to show up maybe 20 minutes from now, maybe never.
Danger! Do not self-push a wheelchair on a moving walkway. If the chair won't go over the bump at the end of the walkway, you risk a pileup of human bodies behind you. |
I love that I am Australian. It would never occur to me in a million years to tip someone supplied by the airline to assist disabled passengers.
Whatever happened to saying "thanks mate" and flashing them a big smile? |
I have to laugh about the tip-hustling--it can really get out of hand! I broke my ankle abroad and had to have wheelchair assistance to get home. No problem in Madrid--my husband was allowed to push me all over the airport. In Germany, for the connecting flight, I was denied wheelchair assistance alltogether because I hadn't ordered it 24 hours in advance. (Sheesh...) But it was in my home airport, Seattle, that I first experienced the tip-hustle. My pusher began right away, "This job hardly pays anything, we depend on tips." I made sympathetic noises. She continued, "Yes, you wouldn't believe that some people don't tip at all!" Then she escalated to "Some guy only gave me three dollars this morning. I almost threw it in his face!" Finally we were at baggage claim and she held out her hand. I would have given her a 10 dollar tip, since she did wheel me through the customs and immigration line, but her constant whining reduced the tip to 5 bucks. She probably complained to her next client, though for the record, she didn't throw it in my face!
To be fair to her, my guess is that recently-injured people are the least likely to know the tipping regime... Since then, I've needed wheelchair assistance several times for travel. I don't mind tipping, though I wish that these folks were paid a living wage. And I really don't want to be told over and over that tipping is expected. |
If they wheeled you through the customs and immigration line then they were just doing their job. They hadn't yet done anything worthy of a tip.
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