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Southwest Airlines Community

Travel scooters

ACESNEIGHTS
Explorer B

Every time I call I get different answers!

 

Can you drive your collapsible travel scooter to the gate and gate-check it? 

 

Or not?

 

If not, how does it get to your destination airport?

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Travel scooters

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Gate checking won't be a problem.  What might be a problem is actually riding the scooter in the airport.  You'll want to check with the airports you are flying through and verify they would be ok with you using the scooter in the airport.  Many airports have Twitter accounts you can send a private message to or you can go old school and find a phone number.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Travel scooters

ACESNEIGHTS
Explorer B

The Air Carrier Access Act establishes a right for passengers to take their personal wheelchairs, mobility scooters, and walkers to the airport gate and the aircraft boarding door. This right to gate-check mobility equipment covers all devices, including electric wheelchairs. Gate-checked wheelchairs, scooters, and walkers must be returned in the jetway upon arrival, even when the passenger has a connecting flight.

 

Doesn't this allow you to take your scooter to the gate in any US airport?

Re: Travel scooters

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A
Solution

Perhaps some clarity on the word scooter would be helpful as I was picturing this:

scooter.jpg

 

You seem to now be implying this:

shopping.png

 

As you can see, these are two very different things for two very different purposes.  So before you get all excited about legal issues you should clarify what your intent is.  As I said before, gate checking is not the issue, getting it to the gate is the question.  If you are implying option #2 then riding it to the gate makes sense and wouldn't be a problem.  I hope you can see where riding vs carrying scooter option #1 would be a question you would want to ask of the airport since it's not traditionally a medical issue.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

 

 

Re: Travel scooters

ACESNEIGHTS
Explorer B

Yes, I'm talking about #2, an electric mobility scooter for disabled people who can't walk more than 50 feet. Specifically. the Solaz Transformer with a lithium-ion battery costing about $2000.

 

If you drive it to the gate, it gets handled much less than checking it at the ticket counter. You don't need a manual wheelchair pusher  You can drive it to connecting flights. You don't get stranded when the wheelchair and pusher don't arrive because they are severely understaffed. And you don't have to hunt the scooter down at your destination.