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Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: A Walker and the TSA

[ Edited ]

The only problem with SW airline when you board first due to being in a WC they ask you to sit in the first row and there is no seat in front of you to stow your purse under.You do board first and get taken off first as well. the only time I ever did this there was no one to piush the WC and a young soldier who was waiting to get on my same flight volunteered to do it. He was delightful and I really enjoyed his company. He sat with me on the flight There was an injured soldier and his wife in the seat across the aisle and we all chatted all through the flight.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 945
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Thank you everyone for your much welcomed advice.  I am a bit confused about using a wheelchair at the same time when we have a walker.  I am thinking right now that I will contact the airline and request a wheelchair, maybe leave the walker at home because it sounds like a problem.  I am at sixes and sevens about this right now but I do thank you all for pointing me in the right way.  Hugs to all of you.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,457
Registered: ‎08-28-2010

@Raider Fan wrote:

Thank you everyone for your much welcomed advice.  I am a bit confused about using a wheelchair at the same time when we have a walker.  I am thinking right now that I will contact the airline and request a wheelchair, maybe leave the walker at home because it sounds like a problem.  I am at sixes and sevens about this right now but I do thank you all for pointing me in the right way.  Hugs to all of you.


The walker won't be a problem, many travellers use them.  I think the other posters recommended using the wheelchair at the airport because it makes it easier for someone with limited mobility to get the gates.  The airline will make sure his walker is on the plane and there for him when he deplanes.  Callng in advance couldn't hurt.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 810
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@Raider Fan wrote:

Thank you everyone for your much welcomed advice.  I am a bit confused about using a wheelchair at the same time when we have a walker.  I am thinking right now that I will contact the airline and request a wheelchair, maybe leave the walker at home because it sounds like a problem.  I am at sixes and sevens about this right now but I do thank you all for pointing me in the right way.  Hugs to all of you.

 


It's really not necessary to leave the walker at home if he is going to need it at your destination.

“We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.” Abraham Lincoln
Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

The airline will take the walker at the check in and have it there for you at baggage claim.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 810
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

If your husband is able to walk with the walker the long distances some airport have, you don't need the wheelchair. Whatever is easier and best for him.

“We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.” Abraham Lincoln
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Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,397
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@151949 wrote:

The only problem with SW airline when you board first due to being in a WC they ask you to sit in the first row and there is no seat in front of you to stow your purse under.You do board first and get taken off first as well. the only time I ever did this there was no one to piush the WC and a young soldier who was waiting to get on my same flight volunteered to do it. He was delightful and I really enjoyed his company. He sat with me on the flight There was an injured soldier and his wife in the seat across the aisle and we all chatted all through the flight.


Strange, they tell me I can't sit in the first row because it's an emergency exit and physically disabled people are not eligible for emergency service.  I could sit anywhere else.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,397
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@Raider Fan wrote:

Thank you everyone for your much welcomed advice.  I am a bit confused about using a wheelchair at the same time when we have a walker.  I am thinking right now that I will contact the airline and request a wheelchair, maybe leave the walker at home because it sounds like a problem.  I am at sixes and sevens about this right now but I do thank you all for pointing me in the right way.  Hugs to all of you.


@Raider Fan  You're making this much more complicated than it is.  I never call the airline for a wheelchair; I just tell the skycaps, and they get the chair and will take care of the walker.  They'll take you right to the door of the plane.  The walker is no problem.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,357
Registered: ‎03-23-2010

DH and I traveled one month after my knee surgery.  I had booked my ticket on-line months before I knew I was having the surgery. 

I called Southwest and explained I would need a wheelchair and they put it on the computer as we print up the boarding pass 24 hours prior to the flight.  Sure enough, it had "HANDICAP" on the printed boarding pass. 

All I needed was the wheelchair to get me to the gate but not onto the plane.  In fact, with the size of airports these days, I would still order the wheelchair just to get to the gate.  I don't have the strength and stability I once had.

Also, you can find sky caps by the entrances and for a few bucks tip, they'll get you to your gate.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 932
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Read the information on the airline's website. That's what I did when I traveled with my mobility cart and walker. Both were checked at the end of the skyway just before getting on the plane with the airline we flew (sorry...can't remember the airline). They will notice him with the walker and direct him what to do. No worries, really.

 

Briggsie