[nabs-l] Questions about getting assistance in airports

[Aleeha Dudley]

Hello Sami, 
I would like to give my own thoughts on this topic. First let me say this. I will soon be graduating from the Louisiana Center for the Blind, and much of what I have learned stems from this training. I do not generally get assistance at airports, unless it is a very tight connection between flights at an airport that I do not know. Even then, as I learned recently, it may not be a good idea. People can be very over helpful, pushing and pulling you around, putting you in a wheel chair, making you late, and generally being pains in the neck. So, I generally ask people where my gate is or where the counter is. With their direction, I simply just start walking. 
> This allows me to really get to know where things are and it gives mea good sense of what is around me. I always learn what my luggage looks like so that I can find it myself by touching the bags on the luggage carousel.
I also wanted to ask you: what airline was it that asked if you had a dog?
Aleeha 

> On May 27, 2016, at 12:53 PM, Sami Osborne via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I hope you're all having a great holiday weekend and enjoying spending time with family and friends.
> 
> This August, I'll be traveling from my home state of NY all the way to San Francisco, CA for a ten-day-long music camp for the blind.  This will be my first time flying by myself without my family.  I'd like to ask you guys a couple of questions about getting assistance to the gate at the airport, which we, as blind people, probably all need.
> 
> First of all, how much in advance should you let the airline know that you need assistance? When my mom was buying the plane tickets, she discovered that one of the questions they asked was if I was a blind person with a guide dog.  She didn't answer that because I only have a cane.  But on the airline's website, there is no information regarding getting assistance if you're blind.  So I'd like to know if you'd need to apply for assistance well in advance of your trip or just a few days before? Also, should you do it on the phone or can you do it online?
> 
> Second, I know that they can help you to the gate, but will they assist you with getting to the security checkpoint as well? When I go flying with my family, the airport employees usually assist me with going through security, so I already know that they can do that.  But as for getting from the curb to the checkpoint, would they be able to do that?
> 
> Third, as I mentioned before, this is my first time  flying on my own.  I know that a lot of times in the airport, they'll ask you if you want a wheelchair, only because they assume the worst about us.  I think you know what I mean.  Anyway, when I apply to get assistance, should I tell them that I don't need a wheelchair and just use sighted guide with whichever airport employee is walking with me, or would I need to do that  at the airport?
> 
> I hope that you people who fly independently can help me with this.
> 
> Thanks and happy Memorial Day weekend,
> 
> Sami
> 
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