In 2024 Matt had emergency back surgery in Vienna.
For a while he was sure he’d never travel again. The surgeon told him nothing heavier than five pounds for six months, which sounds manageable right up until you’re standing at a check-in desk. A carry-on with a laptop in it weighs more than five pounds.
So we traveled anyway, and we used every single thing on offer. Wheelchairs at the airport. Porters. Bags checked instead of carried. Elevators we’d walked past for years. Far more Ubers than we’d normally take.
He’s fully recovered now, and he’ll tell you it made him a better traveler, because he notices people he used to walk straight past.
Airports have gotten harder, and not because you’ve changed.
Terminals are enormous now. Gates can be the better part of a mile apart. Security moves fast and doesn’t much care that you’re still putting your shoes back on. A connection can mean a train, a flight of stairs, and twenty minutes of standing.
Here’s the part I wish more people knew. You don’t have to just get through it.
Airports and airlines already offer a long list of help that most travelers never ask for. Some of it is free. Some of it you arrange weeks before you leave. And a fair amount of it isn’t a favor at all, it’s something you’re entitled to.
These are the ones I’d want my own parents to know about.
The one thing to do before you go
If you take nothing else from this, take this.
Don’t wait until you’re standing in a terminal wondering what help exists. Call the airline when you book, or as soon as you know you’ll want a hand, and ask exactly what they offer. Then do the same with the airport if you’re connecting somewhere unfamiliar.
It’s a five minute phone call and it’s the difference between help being arranged and help being improvised.
Nearly everything below works better when it’s booked ahead. Some of it only works when it’s booked ahead.
Wheelchair assistance is free, and it’s more than a wheelchair
This is the big one, and it’s the one people talk themselves out of.
In the US, airlines have to provide wheelchair assistance or guided assistance to passengers who need it. Not as a courtesy. The Department of Transportation spells out what it covers, and it’s more ground than most people expect: from the terminal entrance or the drop-off point, through the security checkpoint, to your gate, and onto the plane to your seat. It covers connections, and it covers getting you to baggage claim at the other end.
You don’t have to use a wheelchair at home to qualify. If a mile of terminal is genuinely hard, this is for you.
Two things make it work properly. Ask for it when you book, so it’s on the reservation. And then say so again when you get there, because DOT is blunt about this one: the airline won’t know you’re the person who asked if you don’t speak up.
And if you use your own wheelchair, you keep it. You’re entitled to stay in your own chair until you reach the gate.
You can board before everybody else
If you need extra time to get down the aisle, get settled, or stow equipment, tell the gate agent.
In the US this is a rule rather than a kindness. Airlines have to let a passenger who says at the gate that she needs more time or help boarding, getting seated, or stowing accessibility equipment board ahead of everyone else.
It’s worth taking even if you think you’ll manage. Boarding early means an empty aisle, an overhead bin that isn’t full yet, and nobody behind you.
Your walker isn’t a suitcase
This one saves people money and almost nobody knows it.
Wheelchairs, walkers, canes and other assistive devices don’t count against your carry-on allowance, and airlines have to let them into the cabin free of charge where safety rules allow. There’s priority stowage in the cabin for at least one folding manual wheelchair.
If your device has to travel in the hold, ask the airline to confirm what they’ll charge, if anything, before you fly.
The rules around damaged wheelchairs also got much stronger recently. Since the end of 2024, US airlines have had to arrange prompt repair or replacement of a device they break, provide a loaner in the meantime, and rebook you at no cost if your chair won’t fit on the plane you were booked on. Staff handling wheelchairs now have to do annual hands-on training. If an airline damages your chair, you’re on much firmer ground than you would have been three years ago.
Getting through security
Security is where people feel most rushed, and it’s the part with the least obvious help.
In the US there’s a program called TSA Cares, for travelers with disabilities, medical conditions, or any situation that makes screening harder. You fill in the form on TSA’s site or call them, and you do it at least 72 hours before you fly. What you can ask for is a Passenger Support Specialist, a TSA officer trained to help people through screening, to meet you and walk you through it.
Two honest caveats, both from TSA. It isn’t a fast lane, and it doesn’t skip any part of screening. What it gets you is somebody whose job is to help rather than to move the line along, which on a difficult day is worth more than speed.
The carts, the concierge, and getting someone to the gate
Three smaller ones that come up constantly.
Those little carts aren’t for VIPs. Plenty of big airports run courtesy carts or shuttles inside the terminal for passengers who need them. It isn’t universal and there’s no rule requiring it, so it’s a question for the airport or the airline before you fly rather than something to count on.
You can pay someone to meet you. Lots of airports have meet-and-assist or concierge services where somebody meets you at the door, helps with bags and check-in, walks you through, and hands you over at the gate. It costs money and it’s worth knowing the price before you book. For an older traveler flying alone through somewhere enormous and unfamiliar, it can be the best money on the whole trip.
Someone who isn’t flying may be able to walk you to the gate. Ask the airline about a gate pass for a family member or friend. Be clear-eyed about this one: it isn’t a right and it isn’t automatic. It’s up to the airline, policies differ, and your companion still goes through security like everybody else. Some airports run their own visitor pass programs too. Ask, and have a plan that works if the answer is no.
Where you’re flying changes the notice, not the answer
Most of what’s above is US law. The help itself isn’t American, though. It exists nearly everywhere that flies, it’s free nearly everywhere, and everywhere the trick is the same: ask in advance.
What changes is how far in advance, and who’s responsible.
In the UK and across the EU, this is written into law and it’s stronger than a lot of people realize. Assistance has to be provided without any additional charge, and it runs from a designated point at the airport through check-in, passport control and security, onto the aircraft, and between terminals if you’re connecting. The airport handles the terminal, the airline handles the plane, and the airline has to carry up to two pieces of mobility equipment. The one thing you have to do is tell them at least 48 hours before your departure time. Miss that and they’ll still make reasonable efforts, but the guarantee is gone.
In Canada it’s much the same, and the number is the same: 48 hours before departure for things like wheelchair assistance. If the airline needs documentation to assess a request it can ask for up to 96 hours. Worth knowing that a whole list of things need no notice at all, including help at check-in, help with carry-on bags, and help getting to the washroom with the onboard chair.
In the US there’s no fixed deadline for basic wheelchair assistance, which surprises people. You can ask on the day. Ask when you book anyway, because an airline that knows you’re coming sends someone, and an airline that doesn’t goes looking for a spare pair of hands. TSA Cares is the exception with a real clock on it at 72 hours.
In Australia and New Zealand, there’s no single regulation that maps onto the American or European one. Assistance sits under disability discrimination law and each airline’s own published policy, which means the policy is the thing to read. The rules there are being rewritten right now, so check your airline’s current page rather than anything written more than a few months ago.
Different paperwork, same sentence in the end. Call the airline, tell them what you need, and give them as much notice as you can.
The bit that’s harder than the logistics
Every one of these is easy to arrange and hard to ask for.
I’ve watched people decline a wheelchair they plainly needed because of what they thought it said about them. I understand it. Matt took the help and still hated needing it. And I’d still take the chair, because the version of the day where you arrive able to enjoy dinner is better than the version where you proved something to a terminal full of strangers who weren’t watching.
You booked the trip to be somewhere. The airport is just the bit in between.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a diagnosis or a doctor’s note to ask for wheelchair assistance?
No. You ask, and you get it. Nobody assesses you at the door. In Canada an airline can ask for documentation for certain requests, which is why they allow up to 96 hours there, but for ordinary airport assistance you just ask.
Should I tip the person pushing the wheelchair?
It isn’t required and they’re doing a job they’re paid for. Many people tip anyway and it’s appreciated. Carry a few small notes if you’d like to, and don’t feel obliged.
Will asking for assistance make me miss my flight?
It’s the opposite most of the time, because you go through security in a different queue and you board first. The one real risk is a tight connection at a busy airport, so give the airline the whole itinerary rather than one flight, and say plainly if the connection is short.
Can I ask for help just for the connection, not the whole trip?
Yes, and it’s a good idea if that’s the hard part. Airport assistance is arranged per airport, so say which ones you want it at.
What if I use a walker rather than a wheelchair?
Same answer. Guided assistance means somebody walks with you at your pace and gets you where you’re going, with or without a chair. And your walker still doesn’t count against your carry-on.
My flight’s tomorrow and I didn’t arrange anything. Am I too late?
In the US, no. Ask at check-in. In the UK, the EU or Canada you’re past the 48 hour mark, so the guarantee is gone, but ask anyway, because they’ll usually sort something out. It just won’t be promised.
Can my daughter come through security to help me get to the gate?
Maybe. Ask the airline for a gate pass, ideally a few days ahead. It’s at their discretion and policies vary, so have a plan for the answer being no.
