ZenFlyer

Apart from calling the UA Accessibility desk as [MENTION=169654]SeamusSA[/MENTION] suggested , this ^ seems like far and away the best suggestion to me, irrespective of whether your parents are mentally sharp or not. Connecting flights always add a layer of unpredictability to any trip, even for experienced and able-bodied travelers. Two individuals in wheelchairs, dependent upon two wheelchair attendants, navigating a long and/or complex transfer adds many additional layers of unpredictability and stress. If you can't fly with them from TPA, at least arrange to meet them at their arriving gate (whether EWR or JFK) and put them on their direct JFK - DEL flight. Overall cost (in money and award miles) may be greater, but I suspect it will be a bargain compared to the amount of time you (and your parents) will have to spend making and then worrying about complicated transfer arrangements. Good luck!

guv1976

All fair points, but it does beg the question: How are the parents going to get back to Florida from India?

ZenFlyer

Same thing in reverse?

Annerk

There are typically 2-3 BA flights a day. One goes to LHR, two go to LGW. Playing the odds, it's very likely that they would end up in Gatwick with their connection to Air India leaving from LHR. Then you have a new problem, because BA isn't going to check the bags all the way through, and has no requirement to transfer them between airports.

Emirates only flies from MCO on certain days. If there is an issue at MCO at the gate and the flight is cancelled, they wouldn't be able to take the AC flight as it leaves YYZ around noontime. So they would have to fly a day earlier and spend the night. UA flights from MCO would present the same issues as TPA.

I still believe that the best course of action is to physically get them on their nonstop flight at JFK.

wrp96

If the OP is going to go for paid tickets, instead of relying on award travel, another option is AA. AA has a JFK-Delhi flight, and has flights (or at least codeshares on B6) from both TPA and MCO to JFK that connect with that flight. It would eliminate the need to transfer airports or have long overnight layovers.

JimInOhio

My guess is the OP knows there are many options that would work reasonably well with paid tickets. The other consideration for the OP, and if he wants to share, is how ambulatory are his parents? It's one thing to need wheelchair assistance through an airport, it's quite another to be wheelchair bound. If truly wheelchair bound, then changing terminals might not be a feasible solution, either, such as with B6 to AA at JFK. Likewise, TPA-ORD-DEL all on UA might be a good option whereas TPA-ORD-DEL on UA/AI might not be. Same scenario through EWR.

Hilmar Lehnert

DO NOT DO THIS. Sorry for shouting here but it's important to understand what you would be subjecting your parents to. We tried once a JFK to ERW transfer: it was miserable experience and we still missed our flights. United can help in the airport but in-between your parents will be on their own. Just to understand: here is the process

1. Get off the plane
2. Collect luggage and put it on a cart
3. Wheel it out to the curb, get to the taxi stand
4. There may be a line at the stand
5. Negotiate with the taxi driver. Some NY cab drivers are nice, some are not. Some will try to negotiate a fixed rate instead of the meter. Some will try to cheat you. Some will not speak English or pretend not to speak English.
6. Work your way to the other side of town. Depending on time and weekday this can take a long time. Rush hour in NYC is no fun. Some cab driver may take you the "scenic route" to run up the meter
7. Get out at JFK, pay the driver (who may or may not take credit card) and find a porter for your luggage
8. Wheel it all to the check in counter
9. Check bags, get boarding passes, wheel through security.
10. Go into the lounge to relax and recover from the ordeal.

United can help with steps 1-3 in EWR. They only have a VERY limited presence in JFK and they not flying to India from there, so you would have to make arrangements with the actual airline that operate the flight.

The only viable option for this that I can see is to book a private car with personal assistance/VIP service. These are definitely available in EWR but it will be quite expensive

malgudi

Maybe they are visiting from India?

Xyzzy

Travel between EWR and JFK is pretty miserable no matter how one does it.

I personally like the idea of a FRA or EWR connection the best. All other things equal, I'd probably opt fr FRA if I had the choice.

guv1976

Who's going to meet them at the gate at a connecting airport in Europe? And if the connecting airport is in the U.S., no one can meet them at the gate because they will be going through Immigration and Customs.

And if they are visiting from India, how did they manage to make it here? The OP's parents might not be quite as helpless as some are suggesting.

HkCaGu

If you order wheelchair service, they'll push you through a connection and even immigration and customs.

guv1976

Exactly, and that's true no matter where they connect. The point is that some poster(s) suggested up-thread that the OP meet his parents at the connecting airport. That obviously is not practical at a lot of connecting airports, whether traveling to India or from India.

Live4Upgrades

Isn't United out of JFK this Saturday?

Xyzzy

Yes.

guv1976

Yes, but its Star Alliance partner, Air India, will still be flying out of JFK.