Tips Travel When AT The Airport

At the airport: 

a. Getting to Gates: 

In terms of finding your gate, you can of course take the path of least resistance and ask the sky cap or gate agent for assistance. This is not necessarily the fastest way to proceed. Take the time to learn the airport yourself so you can find the security checkpoints and the gates in the future. If you ask a friendly person for help, chat them up and you may have some company all the way to the gate. You may also want to stop at a restaurant or shop along the way and this is easier with some eyeballs. Heathrow airport has been known to have roving people in green jackets to help all shoppers. 

As far as locating gates on your own, especially when connecting, you mainly need to know the arrival gate and the next departure gate. The odd gate numbers will usually be on one side of the concourse and the even numbered gates on the other. This will vary from airport to airport. Ask which way the gates ascend and descend and make note of this for future reference. 

Note which gate your favorite restaurant is near or at which gate you should turn to reach another concourse. Chat up your seat mate and avail yourself of their companionship should they be going the same direction. Waiting for official airport assistance takes longer and singles you out. You can meet interesting people and learn the airport for future travel if you take matters into your own hands. Here again, if you listen to others as you exit the first aircraft, you often hear someone going to your gate or one nearby. Simply asking the question, “mind if I walk along with you”, can result in an escort. 

When walking with a stranger, engage them in mobility babble, in other words, keep them talking. Ask about the weather, Ask where they are going or coming from. Ask about their trip. As long as they are talking, you have a voice cue to follow. If they ask how they can help you, it will put the stranger more at ease if you just say “as long as you and I are talking, my dog and I will follow you.” Often this is safer than attempting sighted guide with an untrained stranger. 

Take advantage of automatic text message flight status. This assumes you have an accessible phone with a text messaging service and you have signed up with your airline. Even if you are not signed up for this service, you can do it manually as follows. . 

1. In the Address field, enter 466453 (This is the number equivalent of Google). 

2. In the text field, enter “flight united 123” and press Send. You can use abbreviations like UA for United or SWA for Southwest. 

3. You will receive a text message in response with the gate, arrival and departure information. 

This is a good thing to do just after you have landed and approaching your gate. Find out at which gate you are arriving and from which gate your next flight leaves. Some aps like Foursquare provide the location of airport restaurants and gates. The accuracy may only be within 50 or 100 feet but they can get you in the vicinity. 

b. Security screening: 

If the security lines are long, try to go in the staff line where the airport personnel would be taking you if you were with them. Some lines are designated for children and disabled and although they may be shorter, they can take longer. If you have recruited another passenger as a guide, they will be thrilled to go to the head of the line with you. 

Use quart sized plastic zip bags to consolidate small items for going through airport security and ease of retrieval on the other side, e.g. wallets, keys, sunglasses, wires for technology, and earphones etc. 

Take unusual Braille looking devices out of your carry on along with a laptop. This can be stricter in some countries. Put your things in a bin so you can easily retrieve them on the other side of the scanner. Put your cane through the scanner unless it is completely fiberglass and plastic as many are. You can always try walking through with it and if it sets off the alarm, go out and try it again without the cane. 

The common procedure for a dog guide going through the security scanner is to have the dog sit or lay down before the scanner. You obviously wouldn’t want to do this if your dog might run off. It is not necessary or required to remove the harness. Walk through on your own. Once you are clear, call the dog. The harness will obviously set off the alarm. It is best to advise the screener what you are going to do before you walk through the scanner. Make sure that person tells someone else who may be called that it was only the dog that alarmed and not you. Occasionally they may insist that you be patted down as well as the dog. Inform them of the correct procedure but it isn’t worth a fuss to refuse. They might brush your hands with powder and after running a short test, you will be cleared with your dog. If you are by yourself, ask one of the screeners for directions to your gate. 

c. Preparing for departure: 

Show up early to the flight, be friendly at the gate counter and sit in a visible location so the gate agent is reminded you and your dog are there. You might get lucky and score a free first class upgrade. At the very least, ask if the flight is full and if not, ask if the seat next to you can be left open. 

Take advantage of pre-boarding or frequent flyer status to board early. This is the time when most of the overhead bins are open and you have much more chance of placing your carry-on luggage above your seat. It also gives you more time to get your dog settled without interfering with others boarding. 

It is common courtesy to ask your seat mate if he or she minds sitting next to a dog. If there is a problem, the flight attendant can move one of you. 

d. Final airport: 

When you reach your destination, particularly if it isn’t a major hub airport, most people leaving the aircraft will be headed for baggage claim. You can follow the flow once several people have left the flight. In most major airports, baggage claim is one or more levels below the gate concourse so you will be looking for escalators once you are outside security. Listen for the scanner alarm to know when you are in the vicinity of security and the escalators will be soon afterwards. Some airports have a shuttle or train to baggage claim. 

With so much roll-aboard luggage in use these days, it’s very easy to locate escalators by listening for the distinctive sound of the luggage wheels rolling on or off the escalator. 

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