Travels with Scooter

Sometimes, traveling with a mobility scooter may not seem to be worth the effort. With the amount of care that goes into ensuring its functionality after long distances, many users of disability scooters have started looking for ways to rent a mobility device instead while being abroad.

Like renting a car, mobility scooter rentals vary depending on the model and make, insurance, and duration of use. There may also be the expense of renting an actual car for a traveling partner to assist with transporting the mobility scooter or wheelchair across longer distances. Fortunately, many places offer handicap passes to be placed on the car so that drivers can obtain prime parking spots near entrances and doorways.

It hasn’t always been easy to travel with disability scooters, especially with air transportation. Special requests have to be made long in advance to ensure that the plane holds enough space to store the device carefully. This also means extra handling fees are needed to dispatch special crews to manage the device with special attention. Even then, there are no guarantees that the mobility scooter will arrive unscathed.

To avoid the matter entirely, people have turned to renting at the place of destination. Even though most people are very attached to their own mobility scooter and have difficulty adjusting to a different one, many users have found it worth it to skirt the issue and simply rent upon arrival. While there aren’t many places that offer this yet, especially at international locations, it is slowly catching on as more and more people use disability scooters as their primary means of getting around.

Because of the lack of mobility rental locations, however, many users must still resort to finding ways to transport their scooter or electric wheelchair. Often time, this means settling for places that can be reached by car. The user’s travel partner will likely be in charge of loading and unloading the scooter at different destinations.  So while traveling by car is certainly the most convenient form of transportation for mobility scooter users, it can be limiting.

 All the same, users of disability scooters should not stop traveling because of their mobility device. Renting a scooter at the point of destination is steadily becoming commonplace, allowing mobility users to enjoy the same destinations and sites as anyone. When traveling by air, airports will often accommodate by using a manual wheelchair to move the user through security checkpoints and directly to the boarding gate. Once there, an airline agent will assist the user to their seat and provide assistance in flight and upon disembarking. In the airport at the destination, users can then seek out a mobility scooter for rent.

Renting a mobility scooter may take some adjustments, but for some it could be worth it to be able to travel without the hassle of transporting their own mobility scooter.  And because companies have to apply with federal regulations on mobility scooters, it’s a safe bet that a rental won’t look or feel any different from personal ones. Above all, it allows users of disability scooters to travel more efficiently and experience the same comforts as anyone while wandering the world.

Paul Stiner is the staff writer of AllMobilityScooters.com – a one stop resource for the mobility-challenged and all things mobility aid-related from Medicare assistance to parts and repair.