Hi everyone! I haven't been posting because I've been in Hawaii celebrating my 50th birthday. This photo of me and Alan was taken on the island of Kauai. The views there were just incredible.
We flew American Airlines from Baton Rouge to Dallas, then to Los Angeles, and from there to Lihue. Our friends Melissa and Greg were with us. Melissa is a new TravelScoot owner but has borrowed one for previous trips. We quickly established a routine for the flights. Going through security in Baton Rouge and then in Lihue for the return trip were almost identical experiences. We rode our scoots through the security line then got off to walk through the scanner. They pulled the scoots through an adjacent gate, swabbed them and gave them back to us. Melissa had one regular lithium ion battery and I had two. If you are asked what kind of battery it is, my experience has been that what they want to know is that it's non-spillable.
At the gate we went to the agent to get gate check tags for our TravelScoots. These tags seem to be a little different at each airport. Sometimes we get a receipt and sometimes we don't. We were able to preboard on each flight. We rode our scoots to the door of the plane. As soon as I stopped Alan took off the lithium ion batteries and put them in his carry on to take on the plane. I took care of lowering the handlebars all the way down, then detaching the handles and covering them with the protective cover.
To see what the protective cover looks like in use and to read Hardy Huber's travel instructions, go to http://mytravelscoot.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-and-easier-way-of-airline-travel.html.
When we landed at the next airport we waited until last to get off the plane. This gives the crew a chance to bring our TravelScoots to the plane door. Alan and I were amazed to look out the plane window on one flight and see a man carrying BOTH TravelScoots like they were barbells while he climbed the stairs to bring them to the plane. That was an incredible missed photo opportunity.
Once we were off the plane we reversed the procedure we used getting on the plane. Alan reattached the batteries and I set up the handlebars.
Melissa was able to ride her scoot on each jetway (the hallway between the airport and the airplane) without much trouble. In two of the airports Greg got behind me and put his hand in the center of my back and pushed to help me get up the inclines. I really needed the extra assistance I got from Alan and Greg so I wouldn't want to have to travel alone with my scoot, but I know others do it all the time.
Melissa did just fine with one battery for the three airports. I used all of one battery and part of a second, but still had charge left over to tour the resort the first night. Alan brought both my chargers and made sure both batteries were fully charged each night.
In future posts I'll tell you more about the fun we had with our scoots, but first I wanted to go over the travel details. If you've never flown with your scoot my recommendation is to be sure you have plenty of time on any layovers to give them time to get your scoot, and for you to get it reassembled and rolling again. We've found that lowering the handlebars, detaching them, and covering them is the best way to keep the scoot from being damaged. Removing the batteries and taking them in our carry on ensures that no one takes the scoot joyriding and it also keeps the batteries from getting damaged. One one previous trip a battery that was left attached was returned to us dragging the ground. If you don't want to put the battery (or batteries) in your carry on, your other option is to follow Hardy Huber's travel instructions, at http://mytravelscoot.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-and-easier-way-of-airline-travel.html.
We flew American Airlines from Baton Rouge to Dallas, then to Los Angeles, and from there to Lihue. Our friends Melissa and Greg were with us. Melissa is a new TravelScoot owner but has borrowed one for previous trips. We quickly established a routine for the flights. Going through security in Baton Rouge and then in Lihue for the return trip were almost identical experiences. We rode our scoots through the security line then got off to walk through the scanner. They pulled the scoots through an adjacent gate, swabbed them and gave them back to us. Melissa had one regular lithium ion battery and I had two. If you are asked what kind of battery it is, my experience has been that what they want to know is that it's non-spillable.
At the gate we went to the agent to get gate check tags for our TravelScoots. These tags seem to be a little different at each airport. Sometimes we get a receipt and sometimes we don't. We were able to preboard on each flight. We rode our scoots to the door of the plane. As soon as I stopped Alan took off the lithium ion batteries and put them in his carry on to take on the plane. I took care of lowering the handlebars all the way down, then detaching the handles and covering them with the protective cover.
To see what the protective cover looks like in use and to read Hardy Huber's travel instructions, go to http://mytravelscoot.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-and-easier-way-of-airline-travel.html.
When we landed at the next airport we waited until last to get off the plane. This gives the crew a chance to bring our TravelScoots to the plane door. Alan and I were amazed to look out the plane window on one flight and see a man carrying BOTH TravelScoots like they were barbells while he climbed the stairs to bring them to the plane. That was an incredible missed photo opportunity.
Once we were off the plane we reversed the procedure we used getting on the plane. Alan reattached the batteries and I set up the handlebars.
Melissa was able to ride her scoot on each jetway (the hallway between the airport and the airplane) without much trouble. In two of the airports Greg got behind me and put his hand in the center of my back and pushed to help me get up the inclines. I really needed the extra assistance I got from Alan and Greg so I wouldn't want to have to travel alone with my scoot, but I know others do it all the time.
Melissa did just fine with one battery for the three airports. I used all of one battery and part of a second, but still had charge left over to tour the resort the first night. Alan brought both my chargers and made sure both batteries were fully charged each night.
In future posts I'll tell you more about the fun we had with our scoots, but first I wanted to go over the travel details. If you've never flown with your scoot my recommendation is to be sure you have plenty of time on any layovers to give them time to get your scoot, and for you to get it reassembled and rolling again. We've found that lowering the handlebars, detaching them, and covering them is the best way to keep the scoot from being damaged. Removing the batteries and taking them in our carry on ensures that no one takes the scoot joyriding and it also keeps the batteries from getting damaged. One one previous trip a battery that was left attached was returned to us dragging the ground. If you don't want to put the battery (or batteries) in your carry on, your other option is to follow Hardy Huber's travel instructions, at http://mytravelscoot.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-and-easier-way-of-airline-travel.html.
Posts
