Praise for Delta's Passengers that Require Wheelchair/Cart assistance

[rkacruiser]

I am a senior citizen who is finding it difficult to walk long distances.  I have had much difficulty "swallowing my pride" and requesting wheelchair/cart assistance at airports when I fly.  This just completed two cruises ended that "pride" issue.

 

DAY-MSP-YVR:  Much to my surprise and for whatever reason, Delta switched concourses at DAY with United and American Airlines.  Previously, getting to the Delta gates was not an issue.  They were at the beginning of the concourse when one got off the escalator or elevator.  Now, the gates are at the very rear of their new concourse.  I walked, and walked, and walked, and walked and finally made it.  What "genius" at either DAY or Delta thought this was passenger friendly?   Arriving at MSP with plenty of time between flights, I planned to walk to my new gate.  Not long after I began the trek, a Delta cart pulled up (un-requested) and offered me a ride.  "Thanks, but I will walk". I said.  The staff member said "your gate is quite long walk away".  I then accepted the ride and it WAS a long way from where I had been.  YVR:  leaving the plane, I began the walk to Customs/Immigration and baggage claim.  I knew from experience that it would be another trek, but, I could handle it.  I thought.  I soon realized I needed a cart.  Despite of not have requested assistance, I was able to get that ride thanks to an employee of SA Services who seem to be Delta's agent for such at YVR.  That gentleman accompanied me through Customs/Immigration, got my luggage off the carousel, and took me to the exit where my HAL transfer agent took over.

 

Realizing that I needed assistance for my return from Alaska, I called my travel agent and asked her to arrange assistance when disembarking Coral Princess in Vancouver and from Delta at YVR, MSP, and DAY.  She did and the disembarkation from the ship to the transfer bus to the airport and to my gate at YVR was seamless with minimal stress.  At MSP, Delta agents were waiting to get me to my gate for the DAY flight quickly (again another long trek and with a short connection time, a time that I would have caused me to miss my flight if I had tried to walk the required route).  Arriving at DAY, there were several of us who had requested assistance.  An agent was at the beginning of the jetway outside the plane with a sign listing our names and seat numbers with a wheelchair line-up available.  That gentleman stayed with me through baggage claim, filing a missing bag claim, and taking me to the outside of the airport to connect with my parking company's shuttle to take me to my car.

 

I truly am appreciative of Delta's excellent service for me and believe that they should be recognized by the flying public, particularly by those who do need such assistance, for their efforts.

[purduemom1]

So glad you were able to get the assistance that you needed. Carts at MSP seem to always be available (we fly to and from MSP. frequently). Thanks for sharing your story and hopefully it will encourage other travelers not to hesitate to ask for assistance.  BTW, I feel that Delta does a very good job taking care of their passengers

[phabric]

When I traveled l to Heathrow (LHR) I saw golf carts near my Gate.  I did not know how LONG the walk was going to take to get to immigration so I did not get on.  Leaving, I decided I will use the golf cart.  I had no problem using it to get as far as it went.

 

Next time going to LHR, I ask if I could use the golf cart, I was told no you had to reserve it.

 

I arrived back to Toronto (YYZ), Canada, saw the golf cart, ask if I use it, no problem, Hop on.

[dfish]

A lot of it depends on the airport.  I found de Gaulle to be the worst.   I had an air cast on one foot and was on crutches when I arrived at the Frankfort airport.   The staff immediately pulled me out of line, arranged wheel chair transport for me at Frankfort and told me they had reserved wheelchair transport for me in Paris.   On the plane the flight attendant said she had confirmed the wheel chair transport.  

 

When I got off the plane, there was no wheel chair waiting.  Since our connection was tight, I started walking.  One of the carts came by empty but refused to take me because I hadn't reserved it.  We found wheel chairs parked with attendants, but they refused to transport me because they didn't have my reservation.  I made it to the plane just in time.  

 

Arriving in Cincinnati, the wheel chair was waiting patiently for me.  Go figure.

[slidergirl]

3 hours ago, dfish said:

A lot of it depends on the airport.  I found de Gaulle to be the worst.   I had an air cast on one foot and was on crutches when I arrived at the Frankfort airport.   The staff immediately pulled me out of line, arranged wheel chair transport for me at Frankfort and told me they had reserved wheelchair transport for me in Paris.   On the plane the flight attendant said she had confirmed the wheel chair transport.  

 

When I got off the plane, there was no wheel chair waiting.  Since our connection was tight, I started walking.  One of the carts came by empty but refused to take me because I hadn't reserved it.  We found wheel chairs parked with attendants, but they refused to transport me because they didn't have my reservation.  I made it to the plane just in time.  

 

Arriving in Cincinnati, the wheel chair was waiting patiently for me.  Go figure.

CDG was my best experience.  I had an accident in Italy and was in a cast and needed wheelchair assistance back  It was arranged the entire way by Delta, even though 2 of the flights were on Air France.  When my flight arrived from Florence, one FA told me to wait until everyone was off.  He assisted me to the door and SAPHIR agent was there for me.  He wheeled me to the Sheraton at CDG where I had to overnight.  I had arranged for a wheelchair there and it was ready for me.  The next morning, a SAPHIR agent was waiting for me to take me from the Sheraton to my flight.  He stayed with me the entire way, assisting me through exit procedures and security.  He had a van waiting for me to take me to the out building (before the train to the M pier) for my flight.  THEN, because the aircraft was a 777 and people were boarding via stairs, they put me on the catering truck and lifted me to the plane!   I was thoroughly impressed with the service and care of the SAPHIR team.   

[puppycanducruise]

Happy to hear of your positive experience.

[dfish]

2 hours ago, slidergirl said:

CDG was my best experience.  I had an accident in Italy and was in a cast and needed wheelchair assistance back  It was arranged the entire way by Delta, even though 2 of the flights were on Air France.  When my flight arrived from Florence, one FA told me to wait until everyone was off.  He assisted me to the door and SAPHIR agent was there for me.  He wheeled me to the Sheraton at CDG where I had to overnight.  I had arranged for a wheelchair there and it was ready for me.  The next morning, a SAPHIR agent was waiting for me to take me from the Sheraton to my flight.  He stayed with me the entire way, assisting me through exit procedures and security.  He had a van waiting for me to take me to the out building (before the train to the M pier) for my flight.  THEN, because the aircraft was a 777 and people were boarding via stairs, they put me on the catering truck and lifted me to the plane!   I was thoroughly impressed with the service and care of the SAPHIR team.   

I am glad your experience was better than mine.  Mine was bad enough it inspired me to write a couple letters of complaint.  I rarely do that.   My goal was to improve service for others who followed me.  

 

The worst of my experience was the security check point.  The woman there threatened to deny me going further because she wanted to wand me and I was asking for assistance.  She had taken away my cast and my crutches and I was standing on one foot and she wanted me to hold my arms straight out.  I was really afraid I was going to fall.  So, she gave me back the cast and told me to put it on.  I was supposed to do that standing up.   I kept asking her for assistance and she kept asking me if I was going to comply.  I told her I needed help and/or a chair to sit in.  Finally, she got it through her head that I couldn't do it myself and strapped the cast back on.  

[rkacruiser]

12 minutes ago, dfish said:

I am glad your experience was better than mine.  Mine was bad enough it inspired me to write a couple letters of complaint.  I rarely do that.   My goal was to improve service for others who followed me.  

 

The worst of my experience was the security check point.  The woman there threatened to deny me going further because she wanted to wand me and I was asking for assistance.  She had taken away my cast and my crutches and I was standing on one foot and she wanted me to hold my arms straight out.  I was really afraid I was going to fall.  So, she gave me back the cast and told me to put it on.  I was supposed to do that standing up.   I kept asking her for assistance and she kept asking me if I was going to comply.  I told her I needed help and/or a chair to sit in.  Finally, she got it through her head that I couldn't do it myself and strapped the cast back on.  

 

Thanks for relating your experience.  Some people are simply clueless until they find themselves in a difficult to manage situation.  

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, slidergirl said:

I was thoroughly impressed with the service and care of the SAPHIR team.   

 

slidergirl, what does SAPHIR mean?  

[*Miss G*]

15 hours ago, dfish said:

I am glad your experience was better than mine.  Mine was bad enough it inspired me to write a couple letters of complaint.  I rarely do that.   My goal was to improve service for others who followed me.  

 

The worst of my experience was the security check point.  The woman there threatened to deny me going further because she wanted to wand me and I was asking for assistance.  She had taken away my cast and my crutches and I was standing on one foot and she wanted me to hold my arms straight out.  I was really afraid I was going to fall.  So, she gave me back the cast and told me to put it on.  I was supposed to do that standing up.   I kept asking her for assistance and she kept asking me if I was going to comply.  I told her I needed help and/or a chair to sit in.  Finally, she got it through her head that I couldn't do it myself and strapped the cast back on.  

 

This is appalling, as is your other post.  I am sorry you were subjected to this.  Totally unacceptable.  On the bright side, Karma will take care of any adjustments which need to be made.

[dfish]

2 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

This is appalling, as is your other post.  I am sorry you were subjected to this.  Totally unacceptable.  On the bright side, Karma will take care of any adjustments which need to be made.

It happens and that is why I wrote the letter.  I think I've only written a handful of complaint letters in my life, but this experience deserved one.  My goal, as I said before, was to make it better for those who came after me.   I will say that the last time I went through CDG the experience was much better.  

[slidergirl]

19 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

slidergirl, what does SAPHIR mean?  

Sorry.  SAPHIR is the name for the assistance service for Air France.  Long story short - my now-ex worked for a French company in the US and his boss was French.  His boss told him to set this up for me,  I was able to use it also when I connected to the Delta Flight at CDG home.   There is also a very good service at CDG for all - you line it up in advance, let them know when you arrive at the airport, and you are assigned a person to escort you from start to finish.   It isn't like in the US, where you can just grab someone and say "I need help."  The hiccup in the process was actually when I landed in the US at IAD and then SLC (yes, the trip home was 4 flights and an overnight!) - I had to wait a while for someone at IAD and then I had to sit in a regular chair at baggage claim at SLC for my now-ex to get the car and then have him help me hop to the car as I wasn't not permitted to use the wheelchair to the car. 

[sumiandkage]

In one of those times where things overlap a bit, I was changing a few things on my profile page for my Air France/KLM Flying Blue account today (their 2018 rule changes make it easier to stockpile miles from non-flight activity so I keep a stash there) and noticed there's a way to save information for SAPHIR to use in your FB profile 

[Negril60]

We traveled to Jamaica last fall. My husband became ill and was unable to walk once we got back to Atlanta. The walk is very long when you re-enter the US. Probaly a good 45 walk. Delta was awesome. We have Global Entry and he pushed my hubs straight through all the way to the plane. We would have never of made it without help. For this I am grateful for Delta.

[CineGraphic]

A few years ago, my wife broke her ankle a few weeks before a flight on Delta, and had a bulky plastic boot.

I called about getting a wheelchair for her, and the agent not only arranged for assistance on both of our flights, but also gave us a complimentary upgrade to their "Comfort Select" seats so she could have more leg room, and so she wouldn't have to walk so far once we were on the plane.

We enjoyed it so much, we now pay for Comfort Select when we can.

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

We enjoyed it so much, we now pay for Comfort Select when we can.

 

Be careful.  There is no such DL product called "Comfort Select".

 

DL offers "Comfort +" and they offer "Premium Select".  Very different products, so one should not conflate the two.

[CineGraphic]

24 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Be careful.  There is no such DL product called "Comfort Select".

 

DL offers "Comfort +" and they offer "Premium Select".  Very different products, so one should not conflate the two.

Thank you for catching my error......they upgraded us to Comfort Plus.

Edited October 9, 2019 by CineGraphic

[FlyerTalker]

53 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

Thank you for catching my error......they upgraded us to Comfort Plus.

 

Not to worry.  The reason for my post was so that folks out there keep the two products separate and distinct in their minds.

 

I don't want folks who hear talk about "premium economy" buying the "comfort" product and then being very disappointed in what they get.