Sunday, July 26, 2009

Details of Lynn Ellen's Flights

From Lynn Ellen:

I rode into the international terminal and was told that regardless of the weight of the scoot, for my trip to Australia, I had to check my scooter. So I picked it up in Sydney in the oversized baggage area, then rode with my bags to the domestic area, and again they took it from me in the baggage area on the short domestic trip to Melbourne.

The next plane ride was to the small airport at Hamilton Island. Melbourne domestic let me ride it to the gate, and they brought it out for me at the bottom of the stairs at Hamilton Island. Ditto the trip back (the stairs were doable going up as well, thank goodness).

The way back I was luckier, and once they had someone inspect the scoot and the battery, all I had to do was disconnect the battery and the let me take it to the gate in Melbourne, and then again in Sydney, but when I arrived in San Francisco, they held it til I made it thru customs, so I was in another wheelchair, driven by a stalwart helper (as I have traveled in the past, before Scoot).

The take-away message: it may or may not go as hoped, but it is worth the try. Some airports wanted me to take the battery completely off and put it into the tote bag purchased from the TravelScoot website, but attached to the seat stem of the Scoot. And it didn't seem to matter if I folded down the handlebars or put the cover over them. in fact, it may have been easier for them to wheel it around if left fully up. who knows. it also helped to convince the Australian folks that it was light when I was able to say that even with both Lithium batteries, the ensemble was less than 20 kilograms. that really helped.

1 comment:

  1. Lynn Ellen, Thank you for the update on your Travelscoot, but you did not mention which airline you flew on or if they charged you for excess baggage. Elizabeth called her airline ahead of time which I think was AA? Anyway they seemed to be more responsive to her travel needs. Thank you

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