Flights

I have very severe osteoarthritis in my left hip and moderate in my right one. My wife has had back issues, DJD causing hip and back pain. I use 2 walking sticks, a walker or a wheelchair depending on how much pain I am in or how far we have to travel. My wife uses on cane or my walker. I used my wheelchair in all airports and my wife used an airport wheelchair in every airport.

One of my sisters came with us, She also has some pain but is much more mobile than my wife and I. We also paid for the trips for 2 nephews and one of their wives so they could manage luggage, push my wheelchair and help us get into high vans.

We flew Iceland Air so we could spend a little time in Reykjavik after visiting France.

Iceland Air was fairly accommodating. at first they wanted to check my wheelchair through to Paris and have me use an airport wheelchair on ur 1 hour layover in Reykjavik but I was adamant about using my wheelchair. The staff helped us get to our next flight as did the kids. If I don’t have a short window between fights I like to get off the airplane last as I use my sticks to walk and am extremely slow. The kids were helpful at getting our carry on luggage down from the overheads and carrying them of the plane.

We had a long wait at the Charles de Gaul airport on the way to Reykjavik but we were very early. At the aircraft the Iceland Air staff was very helpful but we weren’t asked to board long before other passengers, just a little time so I hung people up walking so slowly. I was allowed to use the first class toilet as my seat was toward the front of economy.

I will write more about our trip, the accommodations in Paris, Marseille, Vincennes and Reykjavik.

One of my sisters came with us, She also has some pain but is much more mobile than my wife and I. We also paid for the trips for 2 nephews and one of their wives so they could manage luggage, push my wheelchair and help us get into high vans.

We flew Iceland Air so we could spend a little time in Reykjavik after visiting France.

Iceland Air was fairly accommodating. at first they wanted to check my wheelchair through to Paris and have me use an airport wheelchair on ur 1 hour layover in Reykjavik but I was adamant about using my wheelchair. The staff helped us get to our next flight as did the kids. If I don’t have a short window between fights I like to get off the airplane last as I use my sticks to walk and am extremely slow. The kids were helpful at getting our carry on luggage down from the overheads and carrying them of the plane.

We had a long wait at the Charles de Gaul airport on the way to Reykjavik but we were very early. At the aircraft the Iceland Air staff was very helpful but we weren’t asked to board long before other passengers, just a little time so I hung people up walking so slowly. I was allowed to use the first class toilet as my seat was toward the front of economy.

I will write more about our trip, the accommodations in Paris, Marseille, Vincennes and Reykjavik.

So for all you long-distance air travelers…

Any ideas for exercises to keep your circulation going if you are a wheelchair-user and can’t walk around?? I am able to stand if I have something to hold onto.

15 hour trip to South Africa in November…

Thanks!

Carol Steinberg

Any ideas for exercises to keep your circulation going if you are a wheelchair-user and can’t walk around?? I am able to stand if I have something to hold onto.

15 hour trip to South Africa in November…

Thanks!

Carol Steinberg

I’m just back from a three week, six country vacation in Europe. As a person with a spinal cord injury who cannot stand/walk, the past 35 years of air travel has been extremely frustrating and sometimes physically painful. I always come home saying I never want to stop traveling, but I wish, just once, the air travel would go smoothly. Well this time was oh so close! Nearly as perfect as it could get. I fly United out of O’Hare a number of times per year. In comparing O’Hare against most of the European airports I’ve been through, it has always provided the least attention to me as a wheelchair user. This time, something was different. More special treatment, a specific line at customs, and better trained personnel from the agents to the lift assistants. What, Finally?? It would have been an absolutely mind blowing experience had my chair been at the plane door when I arrived back in Chicago. The agent said I’d have to go to baggage claim to get it. Knowing my rights, I said my chair must be delivered to the door. (Ok, technically “as close to the door as possible”). Funny, within literally seconds, my chair appeared. What? OK. That was it. The attendant wheeled me through the wheelchair line at customs and we were out the door. Just wanted to share. Hope this is the start of a trend. 🤞

For the trip we flew into Amsterdam and out of Zurich. I splurged and hired a driver for the Netherlands and Belgium where we attended the Fomula 1 Dutch Grand Prix practice day and visited a few WWI & II memorial sites. I set up the hotels and sites on my own for this part of the trip. Then we made our way to France where we met some friends and hired the Claire & George Foundation (C&G)based in Bern Switzerland to drive us through Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland. C&G provided a driver, set up all accessible hotels, and any attraction and event tickets for us They even arranged a hoyer lift for me to be delivered to our hotels It was a wonderful, stress-free trip that included the Mosel Wine festival and a Champaign region tour I highly recommend C&G. They are easy to work with and can help plan the type of travel you like. Last year they set up a mostly train tour of Switzerland for us. After all the years of setting up my own travel, it was nice to have someone else do the work. Now, if they could only take care of those cobblestones…

Happy to share locations and hotels. Just ask.

~Wendy

For the trip we flew into Amsterdam and out of Zurich. I splurged and hired a driver for the Netherlands and Belgium where we attended the Fomula 1 Dutch Grand Prix practice day and visited a few WWI & II memorial sites. I set up the hotels and sites on my own for this part of the trip. Then we made our way to France where we met some friends and hired the Claire & George Foundation (C&G)based in Bern Switzerland to drive us through Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland. C&G provided a driver, set up all accessible hotels, and any attraction and event tickets for us They even arranged a hoyer lift for me to be delivered to our hotels It was a wonderful, stress-free trip that included the Mosel Wine festival and a Champaign region tour I highly recommend C&G. They are easy to work with and can help plan the type of travel you like. Last year they set up a mostly train tour of Switzerland for us. After all the years of setting up my own travel, it was nice to have someone else do the work. Now, if they could only take care of those cobblestones…

Happy to share locations and hotels. Just ask.

~Wendy