A First Class Exit All the Way - Almost...Saying Goodbye to Jamaica

(Please read our Covid 19 Statement first - Ed)  It's been a fun and very quick week here on the island of Irie but now it's time to go home.

Check out goes smoothly, much better than check-in a week ago, and...just as we really start to get the hang of getting Tim into and out of the car...we put him in for one last trip back to the Montego Bay airport.

One last tip to the bellman who helped us pack the car and off we go.

Checking in at Hertz, the attendant tried to tell me there's a new scratch underneath the front bumper. I don't see anything different than when I picked it up but he keeps insisting. I tell him I've got enough travel insurance to buy the car three times over so go ahead and bill me...I don't care.

Suddenly, he's saying "no worries, I wasn't going to tell the office anyway."

So why bring it up? Was this a little payola scam in the making?  Don't know but he's sweet as pie after that and drives us...well, Tim and Letty anyway...to the departure terminal. I had to walk because with our luggage, him, my wife and son, there was no more room in the little Corolla.

Going home from the Caribbean for us in L.A. is quite daunting. Unless you're traveling from Puerto Rico, there are no direct flights. It took us 20 hours to get here and it will be about 12 or 13 to get back home with a 3 hour layover in Dallas. Plus, you can see from above that we're leaving just in time as the sky's have opened up and drenched the airport with a thunderstorm.

I'm not looking forward to another, long day of waiting at the gate and squeezing into economy seats for hours on end. I'm going to see what I can do to alleviate it.

First up, I've booked us into Club Mobay, the VIP airport lounge at Sanger International Airport in Montego Bay. Once you've checked in with your airline, all you need to do is find one of the many Club Mobay information hosts at the airport or find their information counter. Admission is $30 if you prebook via their website, $35 at the door.

You're then escorted through a special line in security and taken to the club, who's entrance is about 50 feet from the American Airlines gate we'll be departing from in about 5 hours.

Downstairs, there is very comfortable, living room style seating with free wifi, many TV's, a light buffet, bar, view of the runway, spa, showers, a sports room (with TV's, next to the bar), and soundproofed kids play rooms. 

It's heaven down here and, frankly, I'm half wanting not to leave but leave we must. 

Another good thing I did was when checking in with the American Airlines automated kiosk, I checked for upgrades. Upgrading the Dallas to LAX portion of our flight to first class was a measely $110. 

Not only did this get us out of economy for the second half of our travel day, now our two checked bags were free.  I also told the gate agent that the porters who put Tim on the plane coming to Jamaica complained that the airline put us way back in the plane, making their job much harder and to ask if we could be moved forward.

The gate agent moved us up to the second row of coach which also meant an upgrade to the premium economy with more legroom and make it easier to move around.

After some great food, drink, and relaxation at Club Mobay, we were summoned to our flight (the club staff keeps you informed via announcements and a departure monitor). It was an easy flight to Dallas, where we splurged on a nice, pizza lunch with microbrews at Pizza Vino in terminal D. 

Next to Pizza Vino is the American Express Centurion Lounge. We didn't take advantage of it this time but for $50...or free, if you have a higher level of Amex card...American Express cardholders and their families can have the airport lounge experience we had in Jamaica.

Well rested, fed, and feeling good from our beer, we boarded into the third row of our flight back to LAX, reclined, enjoyed the cocktail service, and caught up on some sleep.

It was a very nice way to return home from a far-flung destination.

At LAX, it was a quick bus ride to our parking lot. Got in the car, turned the key, and...nothing.

Dead battery at a quarter past midnight. 

Oh, well. It was almost a perfect, first-class day. Time to call AAA and call this vacation over.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Photos by Letty Musick
Copyright 2014 - Letty Musick
All Rights Reserved

Lithium Lunacy at LAX

A couple of years ago, I got tired of pushing a manual chair with Tim on board for long trips. I looked into light-weight, power travel chairs and...lo and behold...I actually found a couple. We took the plunge and bought one that would allow Tim to be his own driver on these trips and my back muscles would get a break from pushing all that weight around all day long.

You can see our story on that travel chair here.

Since then, we have traveled by air with that chair to several destinations across America, Europe, and Central America and on several airlines many times...including our favorite of Southwest...with no issues at all.

The airlines have simply asked us to remove the lithium batteries from the chair, carry them onboard, and store them in a bag that prevents their contacts from touching anything. We do this handily with a canvas bag my wife made for them which has two compartments, one for each battery, which keeps them secured and separate from each other.

This has never been a problem, until now.

At the beginning of our trip to Atlanta, we did the usual preflight protocols with the Southwest gate agent and then went to relax and wait for our flight to board at Los Angeles' terminal 2. When it came time to preboard, the gate agent came up to ask us about our wheelchair and batteries.

"I need to ask you about your wheelchair batteries...how many volts are they and how many watts?"

"I don't know offhand but we remove them from the chair when flying and carry them on."

"I need to know or you may not be able to take them."

"We've flown several times with them, including on Southwest, and have been told they're OK and we just need to remove them and carry them on."

She goes off to check. I take the time to whip out my phone and go to GeoCruiser's website to get the better specs.

When she comes back, I show here..."24 volts for both batteries (12 for each battery - Ed). 144 watts. Take a look, this is from the manual."

"You could have just typed that up,"...pretty impressive since it was a PDF with full color Geo Cruiser logos and all..."the batteries need to have a sticker on them with that information."

"Ma'am, this is how the batteries came. I didn't just type that up, especially on this phone. We traveled with them many times, with no problem. Look, they're here in this separate bag, complete unable to touch anything else."

At that point, it was time to board the plane. They let us go down the jetway.  The lady comes back down..."we can't let you take the batteries."

I called Geocruiser and got Manny from customer support on the line.

"Manny, I'm at the doorway of a Southwest jet and they don't want to let us on with the Geocruiser batteries, can you explain it to this lady?"

"Sure..."

I hand the phone to the lady who promptly starts talking to Manny while she walks away with my phone back into the terminal. In the meantime, others on the plane are telling us to get on and take our seats.  This photo was taken while we were waiting for them to come back with our phone and decision.

I'm getting ready to pull the CRO option (each airline must have a Complaint Resolution Officer available to handle issues with special needs passengers at all times).

A Southwest terminal employee comes on and says we can travel but not with the batteries, we'll just have to do without when we get to our destination. I explain that we're to be gone over two weeks and that will leave us without a truly working wheelchair.  She goes off to get a supervisor.

The supervisor shows up..."sir, you cannot travel with the batteries in the wheelchair.  They must be removed (emphasis mine)."

I told her "they are right above our heads in a special bag we have for them in the bin. They've been out of the wheelchair since the beginning. We told your gate agent multiple times that they were removed and have never had a problem before. Would you like to see them?"

"That won't be necessary, I believe you. Have a nice flight."

One last thing from me..."then would you please tell your gate staff this and explain to them the policy so this doesn't happen again? Oh yeah, would you please return my phone to me?"

Phone returned, doors are closed, and we have an uneventful and easy flight to Atlanta.

Postscript...on arrival at Atlanta, the baggage handler brings us our chair and says "that's a cool chair, this is only the second time I've seen one."

As I put the batteries back in, I explain to him what happened back at LAX.

"That's silly," he says, "we had training on this particular chair. They should know better."

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018
All Rights Reserved.

Travel Fatigue

When you travel a lot like us, at some point you will get it...travel fatigue. Travel is supposed to be fun, fulfilling, educational, eye opening, rejuvenating but sometimes you get to the point where it is almost more work and frustration than fun.

That's the point where I was at recently when I ticked off in my mind all the things that tick me off about travel...

The desk clerk that doubles as the restaurant's chef, has to consult a 'how to' guide to make our meal, take an hour to do it, and still get it wrong.

The many, many times we've had a guaranteed accessible room only to arrive and find there's none available.

The time I had a car rental reservation, started to take an Uber there, only to get a call saying they had no more cars (and pissing off the Uber driver mightily when I cancelled the ride).

The Uber driver who ran a red light and almost got us t-boned.

Airlines that assign us seats way in the back of the plane where Tim has to get bumped and banged up as they drag him on that aisle chair to the back.

Aisle chairs that are not maintained.

Airport ground crew that don't know how to use the aisle chair.

Other passengers cutting in front of you in line when you're trying to get a gate check tag for your chair.

Passengers that show up 10 seconds before they're going to close the plane's door.

When TSA agents try to ignore you because they know they're going to have to take extra time to search you while the rest of your party has already cleared the checkpoint 15 minutes ago.

Non-revenue passengers (i.e., crew members on their vacation) getting to sit in first class while the paying passengers that could be upgraded are crammed into steerage.

When even the Motel 6 is approaching $200 per night.

When you return to your room at 5pm and notice housekeeping hasn't even glanced in its direction.

Ticket sellers that don't tell you about discounts.

Ticket sellers that don't tell you that personal assistants aren't charged for admission.

Accessible seating at events where your view is blocked by columns, overhangs, or other architectural impediments.

Accessible seating at events where you're stuck sitting behind a hundred standing fans.

Rental companies that don't have to provide wheelchair accessible vehicles.

Those few rental companies that do charging about 5 times as much because it's accessible (and no unlimited mileage).

Excursions that charge extra for wheelchair users (a problem in other countries).

Paratransit that is almost impossible to use when normal transit is not accessible.

Hotels thinking that a double bed is big enough for two people.

Hotels where their accessible rooms will only hold two people and you have three.

Missing the time when a hundred dollars a night would net you a pretty sweet room.

Being told something is accessible then "you only have to go up a few stairs."

Hearing "you wheelchair users don't have anymore problems now that the ADA has passed."

Having to hunt down the hotel maintenance person because they remove the power from the hotel's pool lift.

Pets masquerading as service animals.

Parents pretending their little darlings are not misbehaving.

Resorts with a thousand guests and 200 pool or beach chairs.

Getting to a street corner where one side has a ramp and the other side doesn't.

Stadium style seating in theaters.

People looking at you funny because you're filling up two plates at the buffet and you have to explain you're getting a meal for another person that can't do it themselves.

Hotels where the accessible room is in the back, has no view, and is the worst maintained room on the property.

Train platforms that don't match the level of the train doors.

Bus drivers that refuse to operate the perfectly operating wheelchair lift on their bus

Servers in restaurants simply ignoring you.

Having the handicapped parking blocked by non-handicapped drivers.

Having the handicapped parking blocked by the business itself when they are having an outdoor function.

Having the handicapped parking blocked by the armored truck making a pickup.

Loud air conditioners in hotel rooms.

Loud guests in hotel rooms.

Airlines that try to split up your group even when you explain to them that you have a disabled passenger and he needs to have an attendant by his side the entire flight.

Ground crews that don't show up when it's time to board you on the aisle chair.

Paying extra to upgrade to a 'suite' when you find out that the only thing that makes the room a suite is the 3 foot high wall between the bed and the couch.

Large, single rooms being called suites.

Being told just because something's old, like a building with three steps or a train, it can't be made accessible even when you've been to another attraction exactly like it that has been made accessible with a ramp or lift.

Paying full price to go into an amusement park only to find that you can't get on any of the rides there.

Did I miss any?  Now that I've got that off my chest, it's time to plan another trip.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

Best of 2012 - Airline

To tell the truth, air travel gets tougher everyday. Luggage fees, premium seat location fees, security nightmares at the airport, underpaid cranky staff on the plane, and on and on.

We find ourselves flying less and less. It's not hard to see why, especially traveling with a wheelchair when you're a complete afterthought.

Fortunately, there are a few carriers out there who still do a good job and for the fourth year in a row (talk about consistency) Southwest Airlines wins our airline of the year cudos.

Consistency, on-time performance, no hidden fees, friendly and helpful staff, comfort, good prices, and good equipment handling are longtime hallmarks of this year's Airline of the Year - Southwest Airlines.

Southwest is also a good friend of wheelchair travelers. Very good with preboarding, identifying needs, and helping out whenever they can. 

Southwest has clean planes, friendly cabin staff, the best baggage handlers when it came to loading our chair, free checked luggage, free snacks - on the longer flights even approaching a light meal, free use of pillows and blankets, no delays, and low prices.

The only knock I can think of is that there is no assigned seating on Southwest and it can be a free-for-all to find a seat. Get there early if you don't qualify for pre-boarding to get one of the first boarding passed - Southwest has three tiers, A, B, and C, and are handed out first-come, first-served. A boards first, B second, and C last.

I know we sound like a broken record, but we really haven't flow anyone else that even approaches how nice it is to fly Southwest and, yes, we have flown plenty of other carriers.  Just wish they'd fly to more places I want to go.

You might also want to check our our Year in Review - 2012 while you're here.

Darryl
Copyright 2012 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Best of 2011 - Airline

This year is almost a no-brainer...we only flew on two airlines, AirTran and Southwest. Both good, and both will be the same airline soon...Southwest bought AirTran in 2011 and is in the process of making AirTran part of the Southwest family so, for the third year in a row...


Southwest Airlines wins our airline of the year cudos.


Consistency, on-time performance, no hidden fees, friendly and helpful staff, comfort, good prices, and good equipment handling are longtime hallmarks of this year's Airline of the Year - Southwest Airlines.


Southwest is also a good friend of wheelchair travelers. Very good with preboarding, identifying needs, and helping out whenever they can. This year's trip to Denver we were taking our 300+ pound power chair. It's always a little hair-raising when you travel with a power chair because you don't know if a clumsy baggage handler is going to break it.


I told the gate attendant that I'd like to show here where exactly to pick up the chair. She had me wait a minute and brought up the supervisor of the tarmac handlers who paid close attention to what I was telling him, asked good questions about the handling and weight of the chair, and pulled the ground staff together to explain what I had told him...and made sure he had four guys available to pick up the chair and treat it gently.


Southwest has clean planes, friendly cabin staff, the best baggage handlers when it came to loading our chair, free checked luggage, free snacks - on the longer flights even approaching a light meal, free use of pillows and blankets, no delays, and low prices.


The only knock I can think of is that there is no assigned seating on Southwest and it can be a free-for-all to find a seat. Get there early if you don't qualify for pre-boarding to get one of the first boarding passed - Southwest has three tiers, A, B, and C, and are handed out first-come, first-served. A boards first, B second, and C last.

Congratulations to Southwest for being consistently (there's that word again) the best airline we've flown.


While you're here, you may want to see our Year In Review for 2011.


-Darryl

Best of 2010 - Airline

Do a job well and do it consistently.  Two ways to easy success.  Why is it so rare to find somebody that can do it?  Well, someone can and for the second year in a row, Southwest Airlines wins our airline of the year cudos.

Consistency, on-time performance, no hidden fees, friendly and helpful staff, comfort, good prices, and good equipment handling are longtime hallmarks of this year's Airline of the Year - Southwest Airlines.

Long known as a no-frills, budget carrier Southwest, by being consistent, has evened it up with the legacy carriers. This year's flight to Cincinnati, on another "big" carrier (who ended up merged with another) we were subjected to wheelchair loading rules made up on the fly...one time we were boarded first, another time last...told no seat changes were available only to have our seating assignments changed without our permission; and big fees for checked luggage. 

It's bad enough that you have to endure the indignities of TSA when you get to the airport, it's another when your airline continues proving that the worst part of traveling is the actual traveling.

On the other hand, Southwest had clean planes, friendly cabin staff, the best baggage handlers when it came to loading our chair, free checked luggage, free snacks - on the longer flights even approaching a light meal, free use of pillows and blankets, no delays, and low prices.

The only knock I can think of is that there is no assigned seating on Southwest and it can be a free-for-all to find a seat. Get there early if you don't qualify for pre-boarding to get one of the first boarding passed - Southwest has three tiers, A, B, and C, and are handed out first-come, first-served. A boards first, B second, and C last.

Congratulations to Southwest for being consistently (there's that word again) the best airline we've flown.


While you're here, you may want to see our Year In Review.

-Darryl