If you have any plans to fly...

Call me Gram · May 8

My DH and I went on a long weekend away. It was a great time. We flew to FL, enjoyed a weekend of beautiful weather, and shared some much needed time with our daughter, SIL, and grandkids (who met us there).

I tell you this because I learned about a sanity saving option when booking our airline tickets. I was able to electronically identify my DH as having dementia, which provided options such as early boarding. My DH has always been a challenge to fly with. He is a "type A" person who always wanted to do everything quickly, early, and overly efficiently.

I, on the other hand, am much more laid back when it comes to planning (or I am a procrastinator… however you look at it 🙃). Anyway, this early boarding option was a blessing. I didn't have to say anything to anyone - we just went up when they called early boarding, and when I showed our tickets, his had a note about his needs.

You can do this for your loved ones w/dementia, or for children w/special needs (such as autism), or even if someone in your travel group has anxiety (etc). If I had known this, I would have been doing it a lot sooner than this, for my own anxiety when we traveled.

annie51 · May 9

This is excellent advice. I wish I had known about doing this electronically before the flight! I have done the same thing by talking with the gate agent before boarding and they always let us board early. It was SO MUCH better than trying to have DH wait when he was so impatient with waiting. Thanks for posting.

Chammer · May 9

I used the option for a wheelchair the last time DH and I flew as he walks w a cane due to weakness, dizziness and imbalance. It really was a wonderful benefit. We checked in outside and were able to have a wheelchair for him from there to our gate. We early boarded as well. Wheelchair was waiting on the other end and took us all the way to pick up our bags. We would have had to arrive 3 hrs early just for him to be able to walk the whole way without it! :)

True North · May 12

We went to Hawaii last September and I learned that my LO with AD didn’t have to go stand in the X-ray machine at TSA. These little things do help.

Timmyd · May 14

There is a "TSA Cares" program that provides accommodations for people with disabilities. We used it last time DW flew and found it to be generally better than the standard TSA experience. In the departure airport they did awesome. On the return flight (small regional airport), the TSA was well intentioned but it was obvious the agents lacked experience with dementia patients so it sort of went sideways.

If you have any plans to fly...

Comments

Commonly Used Abbreviations

Community Guidelines

Categories