EDIT: thanks for all the information. Sounds very encouraging. I have also hired a car service to drive me from Narita to my apartment in Tokyo. For a small extra fee they are also providing wheelchair service from the arrival hall all the way up to my apartment door and assistance with my baggage. After that, I guess I’ll be sitting on the sofa ordering Domino’s pizza until I get better 🙂
Flying back to Narita this weekend on a ticket that cannot be changed due to ANA policy. Unfortunately I injured myself and cannot walk without pain. I called ANA and arranged for wheelchair assistance in San Francisco and back at Narita which they have arranged. It’s my first experience like this and I have a couple questions if anyone can answer, and would appreciate any advice people have.
Do the wheelchair attendants give me opportunities to use the restroom before boarding and after arrival?
I have lounge access due to my ticket, but should I just forget about it and have the attendant take me directly to the gate? I don’t want to cause them any trouble, and I’m assuming I might get on the plane relatively early due to my condition.
I assume in San Francisco I should tip the wheelchair attendant. Is $20 OK?
I ordered a private car service to pick me up at Narita and drive me straight to my apartment. Do wheelchair attendants take me to the curb or do I have to get out of the wheelchair as soon as we enter the arrival hall?
Any other advice people have for me is greatly appreciated. No idea how this is going to be lol. Once I get on the plane I should be OK. Luckily my seat is just three rows from the restroom so I should be able to hobble there
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I can only comment on the Narita airport wheelchair experience as that’s the only thing I’ve dealt with.
Yes, they’ll take you to the toilet / duty free /the lounge or wherever else you want to go.
You will most likely board earlier than everyone else as well but it is not always the case and depends on the airline, either way, there’s a special super slim chair that can actually fit down the aisle of a plane so depending on how bad your condition is, you may end up using that.
Not entirely sure about this but I believe they would be happy to take you to the curb of whatever taxi you have ordered. Just based on the fact that we essentially got handed over to JR a few years ago.
My mom has used wheelchair assistance at Haneda and then onto Fukuoka. They were so super careful with her and worked out well.
>Do wheelchair attendants take me to the curb or do I have to get out of the wheelchair as soon as we enter the arrival hall?
The wheeled her all the way to our car in the parking structure so going to the curb should be no problem.
You will board early as you need assistance and they will let you use the bathroom, even get a snack at a shop if you need it. Not sure about lounge access though.
My wife briefly worked at Narita airport and was a wheelchair assistant a few times.
According to her, they’ll basically just take you anywhere you want. I’m sure they’d take you all the way to the curb if you asked. If you’re kind and courteous then they’re very happy to just stick with you – if they’re on wheelchair duty, they’ll be doing that for a whole day, so they’d much rather be helping someone nice than the next person who might not be.
Apparently a lot of people who get wheelchair assistance at Narita don’t actually need a wheelchair, they just want someone to be their personal slave. I’ve heard a lot of stories of my wife helping someone in a wheelchair to their destination, only for them to stand up, dismiss the assistant and walk around once they got there no problem.
I can’t comment about San Francisco, but in terms of tips at Narita, officially the workers are supposed to refuse them. They can get reprimanded by their superiors if they’re caught accepting tips. However, if you can offer a tip discreetly, chances are they’d be happy to accept them – the salaries for wheelchair assistants, especially young ones, are not very good.
Regarding US-side:
I helped my mother, who uses a wheel chair, travel over the summer holiday in the states a week ago. We did basically $10 tips for each person that helped. Depending on the size of the airport, and the distance to the gate, you may have two different people pushing you. If you need the aisle chair when boarding, you will likely have two more people helping you.
If you do need the aisle chair, I recommend confirming with the gate agent once again when you arrive. It was missing or not marked on their notes for half of our departures.
Otherwise, everyone was super friendly and pleasureable to chat with.
My son broke his foot right before we were flying to Narita. We called the airline and they arranged a wheelchair at the gate when we got off the plane. The gentleman was very kind and spoke some English. He took my son all the way through the customs. There is no tipping culture in Japan so you do not need to tip. They won’t accept it even if you try.
I’ve definitely observed the wheelchair attendants bringing people to the restroom before immigration/customs, and the restrooms are fairly well-designed for accessibility.
My fire-spitting Housedragon broke her Leg in Sedona and returned with ANA to Haneda with the help of a Wheelchair, a cute young pushing Lady and Painkillers
No problem at all.
They do this multiple Times in an Hour.
ANA picked her up in her Seat until the Taxi boarding Area!
PS:
Maybe you need Diapers?
Can confirm they’ll take you anywhere you need to go. All the ones that have assisted me (I don’t want a slave, I have MS) have been English speakers and extremely kind. I am also extremely kind, so maybe that helps.
There is no separate minimum wage for tipped employees in San Francisco so no need to tip (minimum wage is like $17 at that).
I had to fly a couple of days after breaking my ankle a few years ago. I flew domestically from Sendai to Narita, then to Singapore and back on ANA. I contacted the airline a few days before the trip to arrange a wheelchair and help.
It was pretty great. Nice attendants, very helpful. To get onto the plane at a remote stand they have this truck thing that goes up to plane height.
I was able to board first (and disembark last) for each flight. No emergency exit rows of course but generally an aisle seat so I could extend the injured leg.
No problem visiting lounges, bathrooms, etc. Generally the attendant would leave me in the lounge and then come and get me at a pre-arranged time before boarding. The lounge attendants were helpful too.