Airport/cruise disability travel support

[Jowood29]

hello folks, have any of you used disability support at the airport? I’m flying to Singapore for a cruise in October. I have purchased a sunflower lanyard, this time as it’s a long flight I’ve not done before. I have struggled in the past with ques and how busy the airport is, then the flight and transfer on other holidays, leaving me in fatigue mode for days. This holiday I really need to avoid getting so overloaded sensory wise, any experiences and tips with airport assistance would be appreciated. Thanks

[cat3]

The wearing of a Sunflower lanyard is meant to alert airport staff of a passenger's hidden disability. But Headway should be able to explain the protocol for assistance better than I can.

You can phone the helpline on freephone 0808 800 2244 during office hours. Good luck Jo. .

Cat x

[Stubble]

An inflight suggestion that has helped me on flights is to invest a good pair of noise cancelling headphones (over the ear preferably) and wear them throughout the flight.. this reduces the cabin pressure hiss dramatically which helps with managing fatigue.

It's a long flight and boredom is the other big issue. I'd suggest avoiding in flight entertainment though as this can be a cognitive drain.

I've managed in the past to use long flights to meditate for long periods - headphones and eye mask almost throughout, but don't forget to walk about too and stretch!

[Jowood29 in reply to Stubble]

Great idea thanks

[Stubble in reply to Jowood29]

Oh also, you can wear the headphones on the way to and in the airport. The quiet space they create is very comfortable in the general noise of the airport

[Ideogram]

My recent experience. Nb this was from terminal three at Manchester on a Saturday at the start of the school holidays. Hopefully a different airport in quieter times would be nicer. I'd still do it again, but some things I learnt from it.

I also did both flights on about two hours' sleep (necessary with the flight times) and in hot weather, which I think exacerbated my symptoms a good bit. Another time I might stay in Manchester the night before.

My main symptoms for these purposes were POTS (can't stand in queues) and sensory overwhelm from noise/being in a crush of people and not then being able to scan the room to spot things/getting panicked.

A few thoughts below. Pasted this from elsewhere so apologies it's a bit lengthy.

- arrive early. As in, more than two hours. We got held up by unexpected delays parking, then still had to do a long queue to check in luggage (hard with POTS - I don't know if there's a way to skip this. I did show my lanyard to a woman and she put us further ahead in the queue but there was still a long wait). Might not have been so bad earlier perhaps, but I know they only open the desks up so early so you can't always avoid crowds.

- arriving with a sunflower lanyard already (you can get them from the Hidden Disabilities website - Amazon mark them up!) helped a lot.

- by the time we got to special assistance there was no point waiting for a cart to take me (I didn't try, but it looked like others had been waiting a while) so they told us just to take the assistance line at security. The chaps there were very welcoming (which, honestly, I appreciated by this point) but then gave us the option of going into fast track or staying in assistance (I actually didn't realise that was what he was saying - my friend told me after. I was getting confused and panicked by this point). I therefore chose fast track, where it still took a few minutes to scan our stuff - people faffing in front. I'm not sure what the actual special assistance line involved - it didn't look quicker. I didn't get any extra help in fast track with getting my bags through etc. In hindsight I really wish I could have had someone wheel me through all of this.

- the one thing I didn't think about - my electrolyte tablets (for POTS) got flagged. This delayed us a bit further as there was a queue of flagged bags. Turns out my Vitassium bottle looks like a liquid in the scanner so should have put it in my liquids bag.

- the departures lounge was pretty horrible - very busy crowd and not much dead space at all to get around, but this was Manchester terminal 3, and I've not known other airports be so bad. It was a struggle to find free seats (not an issue I've really had elsewhere), so that was difficult (had to sit on a stool in a cafe, my friend couldn't sit) and the water fountains were a walk away and had slow queues too (the cafe we went to refused to fill up my bottle). Was very glad of having a friend there.

Again, being wheeled through my staff might have helped with this but I wasn't sure how you then managed to get water, get something to eat, etc (would love to know the answer to this).

- I think I was stressed as I really wanted a proper meal in departures to have a rest break and this wasn't possible with the time by then.

- further queues at boarding.

- freezing cold flight and then boiling hot travel at the other end - glad I'd bought layers just for the flight. Not as bad on the return. I struggle with temperature regulation.

- on my return flight from Verona I didn't bother getting assistance through because I was worried about how to get somewhere to eat (I don't know how this would have worked - again this may have been my ignorance) but the queues were so awful with POTS (it was very hot with no air con) I was holding onto my friend and a staff member spotted me and pulled me out onto a faster queue.

- I didn't take a walking aid on the flight as I use normal hiking poles and worried they'd be confiscated. I've since seen people suggest you might get away with them by having rubber tips on the end but I was worried about risking it. In hindsight, with POTS and no air con, I needed a wheelchair (something I never usually use).

- I also used my earplugs while waiting for the flight as it was horribly busy.

It will obviously depend on airport and time but if I struggled with standing more I might have booked assistance all the way onto the aeroplane, and arriving a lot earlier would have helped an Manchester to some degree.

I'm also guessing October will never be as busy as this was.

It might well be worth calling the airport for advice on what it involves though.

Honestly the holiday was so worth it. Once I was there, surrounded by crowds of mountains rather than people, it was fab. Albeit I needed several days' rest after to recover - but my holiday was quite active.

Hope you have a lovely time.

[Teazymaid in reply to Ideogram]

What is POTS ?

[Ideogram in reply to Teazymaid]

It's a form of dysautonomia where your heart beat goes unusually high when you're standing, so you feel unwell standing in queues, walking etc. A lot of people have it with Long COVID but you can also get it post brain injury (which I have). It means I really don't tolerate exercise and can't walk far and struggle standing in queues (somehow standing still is worse).

I kept being told after my accident that I couldn't walk far because it was just fatigue and I was overdoing it (including on here). While that's definitely an issue, the POTS seems to have been the big culprit for me (particularly because I understand some others can get some outlet from exercising and getting outside post TBI - some days I can't get much further than the kettle).

I'm surprised it's not better known about on here tbh. Maybe it's more common with Long COVID, I don't know (I have both). Awareness amongst doctors is very mixed though and people frequently get told they just have anxiety etc. My own neurologist denied I had it but luckily I have a GP who has it herself.

Nb for purposes of this post, if mobility/standing isn't an issue that's one challenge ruled out at airports!

[Jowood29 in reply to Ideogram]

Thank you for your response. I had a similar experience going to Turkey from Manchester, very busy, standing in line for too long, noisy, no time to get food, all very much a rush, once we got into departures. Then the flight seemed very turbulent and very quick approach on landing, so very painful in my ears and head. By the time I had done a transfer to the hotel, I was struggling to speak and walk, 2 days of bad fatigue followed. I so want to avoid this going to Singapore. Thanks for your advice, I’ve got a lanyard and will also take my headway brain injury card. I’ve asked for assistance as well. I’ll report back what that includes.

[Ideogram in reply to Jowood29]

Bless you. Hope it goes better for you next time. As I say I suspect if you're not in peak season/maybe not with Ryanair it might well be better.

[1949liz]

hi yes I’ve used disability support at quite quite a few airports. When you book your flight and you will read down all the questions they ask you if you need assistance sometimes you have to telephone them and speak and explain your needs as soon as you get to the airport you go to wear the disability badge showing, you give them your ticket and your passport. They then check it in and return your ticket and passport. You sit down and wait with your luggage somebody will come with wheelchair. Take you straight to the front of the queue get rid of you luggage and take you straight into custom service where you will be pushed straight through still have the light shining on you to check you’re not carrying anything illegal. They take you straight to your desk where are you waiting for your flight? also when you reach your destination, a wheelchair will be waiting for you and you will be taken to wherever you want to go. It is easier as that and the people who do this are very kind and caring. I hope this is helped you regards Liz.

[Ideogram in reply to 1949liz]

I didn't realise they could help you with the luggage drop off too! This wasn't obvious at all at Manchester. Good to know.

[1949liz in reply to Ideogram]

Yes the people who push wheelchair are very helpful. Have a wonderful cruise take care Liz

[Jowood29 in reply to 1949liz]

Thank you for your reply that’s really helpful

[heathermr]

Also you can try speaking to your travel company. I travel regularly with Tui and they are particularly helpful when I explain I have dementia and need assistance. They usually move our party to a quiet area of the plane and we are given the option to board first and get ourselves settled without all the pushing and tutting that happens as people push past you to reach their plane seats. I'm not sure why the rush but it happens regularly! It's also useful to find a rep when coming home at a foreign airport. They will usually spot the sunflower lanyard and help you past long queues. At immigration when you return to England you are also able to use the special assistance queue and see an actual person instead of the dreadful gates. The special assistance and sunflower lanyard really helps me and enables me to travel despite my dementia.Heather

[Jowood29 in reply to heathermr]

Thank you Heather, that’s really helpful

[sashaming1]

I’ve used a shuttle between airport gates before and a small airplane wheelchair while in the plane before. FYI.