In January, Pattie traveled from Phoenix to Philadelphia via American West Airlines. Airline travel for disabled and larger people is always challenging. This trip was particularly taxing because in January two-thirds of The Ample Traveler© was hit by bronchitis. Traveling by airline with a bad cold is really miserable.
The trip out was uneventful. The plane was not full and the airline accommodated by keeping the seat next to Pattie empty. This made everyone more comfortable, but not really that comfortable. Flying for over five hours with an seat arm stuck in one's back is never comfortable. But the airline provided a wheelchair at both airports, offered curteous assistance and ensured that needs were met. The only thing one could ask for was more room. Even the leg room was cramped and that's saying something for a five-foot one-inch person.
The trip back, however, was, well, eventful. The plane was overbooked. Upon inquiring about the need for space, Pattie was informed by a rather rude clerk that she should! have booked a second seat. Perhaps, but in Canada (where we've traveled by air for the past four years) one is not required to do so and upon inquiring about the availability of a second seat with AWA, no one suggested this was necessary. We were so used to the accommodation in Canada that we didn't even think to ask.
The rudeness of the clerk was intolerable and a supervisor was summoned about five minutes into the conversation (four minutes too long, actually). The supervisor was much more accommodating. Buying a second ticket at this point was moot because the airlines could not put two seats together. A later flight? Possible, but not promising. If Pattie was patient, she was told, there might be a way to work this out. So Pattie waited until 15 minutes before flight time. At that point, changes could be made on the basis of no-shows.
So Pattie waited in the Philadelphia airport, which was problemmatic because few seats were available at the gate that didn't have arms which were an equally tight fit to the plane. It was miserable.
But good things come to those who wait. Enough people didn't show up for the flight that several seats were opened. No payment required for the second seat and Pattie was personally escourted onto the plane with apologies for rudeness and gratitude for patience.
In addition, the AWA supervisor passed along some tips to avoid having to pay for a second seat and having to endure the intolerance of rude clerks. We will pass these along at this time:
Now, we want to be clear at this point. These tips are not really accommodations. We believe airlines should have larger seats and provide more accommodations for people of different sizes, shapes, abilities and needs. But in an imperfect world and until such time as the airlines wake up and smell the profits from accommodating diversity, these tips provide some strategies for coping with the stresses of air travel.
The National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) also has tips for larger travelers.
The Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality (SATH) also has travel tips for disabled travelers. They have very specific information regarding different airlines, different forms of travel and traveling with different kinds of challenges.
We are on a budget and had to take the cheapest flight and deal with the consequences. A final tip to remember, however, is that airlines and/or airplanes and/or seats on a particular airplane are not created equally. Larger seating and more legroom exists, even in coach. A good source to look for the largest seating available is Seatguru.com. This site will tell you about specific seats on specific flights and specific planes.
In the meantime, if you are a traveler at the PHL airport or if you just want them to make room for you in case you travel there, take a moment to give them some feedback regarding their lack of armless chairs. There is a survey, but if you want to skip to the bottom, there is a space to write a comment.
This is what we wrote them in that space:
I suffer from fibromyalgia and lupus. Sitting in chairs with arms can sometimes be painful for me because any physical contact with trigger points on my legs can cause pain and sometimes stiffness that makes walking afterwards difficult.
Please consider providing more than a few chairs without arms to accommodate persons with arthritic conditions. I had to sit three gates over from my flight to find the only armless chair available on the terminal and I think it may have been there because it was damaged rather than because someone installed a chair without arms.
I would appreciate someone letting me know if something is going to be done about this. I am a coproducer of a travel website called http://www.ampletraveler.com which features accessibility issues in travel and I'd like to pass along your response to our visitors.
Please e-mail me at info@ampletraveler.com or call me at 1-888-489-4601.
Thanks,
Pattie Thomas, Ph.D.
The Ample Traveler©
Finally, if you want to fight for larger seats and better airline accommodations, check out this call for action.
Write to Southwest Airlines, Customer Relations, P.O. Box 36647 - 1CR, Dallas, Texas 75235-1647 and tell them what you think of their purchase two-seats requirement!There is a lot of work to be done to convince the airlines that we are people and not sardines. As always, it is a matter of design, decision and motivation.
Someday we will convince them that accommodating diversity is good business.
There is Room for Everyone!