[242/365] about to get on my MSP flight!
Aug. 30th, 2019 04:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cosmolinguistI booked assistance at Schiphol for the first time on this trip, because I was worried about a much shorter connection time than I have ever had. It turned out my flight from Manchester landed half an hour early and the flight to MSP is running 15 minutes late so far; if I'd known all of that I wouldn't have worried!
But it's still been a remarkably easy journey. I was told I could just turn up and ask for disability assistance at Manchester so I did, which REALLY helped in getting through security -- a time when I usually get flustered and anxious, which without my white cane (because I've had to fold it up and put it through the scanners) makes me look dodgy instead of blind. And I had someplace quiet to wait until my gate opened and then got guided there.
But the real moment of truth was landing in Amsterdam. I'd been told when I got on the plane that I was to wait until after the other passengers had gotten off for the assistance. A bit nerve-wracking to wait when I was pressed for time so I was delighted when the pilot told us we'd landed so early -- enough so that we actually had to wait for our ground crew to appear so people could get off the plane.
And when they all had, the few of us with mobility impairments were ushered to the back of the plane into a kind of platform. It had chairs in it, and once the five of us and the two staff were all on it, we sat down and buckled up because it started driving. It was a weird sort of bus, with space for a few people and the whole thing could move up and down. It drove us to the main building, people met us there to get the five of us on to our three flights (it was two couples and me).
And after all the stress and misery, here I am at the gate in time to join a queue, go for a wee, and update you all. Phew.
But it's still been a remarkably easy journey. I was told I could just turn up and ask for disability assistance at Manchester so I did, which REALLY helped in getting through security -- a time when I usually get flustered and anxious, which without my white cane (because I've had to fold it up and put it through the scanners) makes me look dodgy instead of blind. And I had someplace quiet to wait until my gate opened and then got guided there.
But the real moment of truth was landing in Amsterdam. I'd been told when I got on the plane that I was to wait until after the other passengers had gotten off for the assistance. A bit nerve-wracking to wait when I was pressed for time so I was delighted when the pilot told us we'd landed so early -- enough so that we actually had to wait for our ground crew to appear so people could get off the plane.
And when they all had, the few of us with mobility impairments were ushered to the back of the plane into a kind of platform. It had chairs in it, and once the five of us and the two staff were all on it, we sat down and buckled up because it started driving. It was a weird sort of bus, with space for a few people and the whole thing could move up and down. It drove us to the main building, people met us there to get the five of us on to our three flights (it was two couples and me).
And after all the stress and misery, here I am at the gate in time to join a queue, go for a wee, and update you all. Phew.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-08-30 03:08 pm (UTC)I am
extremely pleased
delighted
that it all went so well! ^_^
Also pleasantly extremely surprised: based on personal experience, I always expect Disability assistance at airports to be UTTERLY RUBBISH.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-08-30 03:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-08-30 10:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-08-31 02:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-09-02 04:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-09-02 05:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-09-02 10:38 pm (UTC)Sensible!
May this method spread world wide.