Usually I use a search site like www.sidestep.com to find out what airlines fly to where I want to go and to get a feel for the prices. Then I go directly to the airline sites and search by schedule to find the best flights. What I'm looking for is:
Connections:
Preferably none. In fact, always none. Unless there is no direct flight, the risks of taking a connection are too high. I have arrived at one airport while my wheelchair went to another. I have arrived at airports and been left waiting for forty-five minutes before the staff turned up to lift me off the plane. I have had to wheel from one end of an airport to another in an effort to make my gate for the connecting flight. None of this is pleasant when you are travelling alone, but with children the stress levels are just not worth it.
If you do need to make a connection then leave at least two and a half hours between flights. I know that hanging around an airport for two plus hours is no fun, especially with little ones, but anything shorter is really too risky. Consider this – a lot of flights these days take off late (although this trend seems to be improving as airlines cut back on flights and capacity during this downturn). An "on-time departure" to an airline is anything less than fifteen minutes late. Many flights I have been on are between 15 and 45 minutes late leaving the gate. So, assume you will be thirty minutes late taking off. The pilot may or may not make up time so assume you are thirty minutes late landing. Now, everyone on the plane has to get off before you do. I have noticed that, if there are 180 people on the plane, 177 of them will disembark within a few minutes of landing. Two will take another ten minutes. And then there's you. So, about twenty-five minutes after landing you are finally able to transfer to your chair (assuming they deliver it to the gate. I have also had the chair arrive at the right airport, but then get delivered to the baggage hall!) You are now 55 minutes behind schedule, you need to be at the next gate forty minutes before they take off. So you pat yourself on the back for leaving two and a half hours between flights because you now have just under an hour to find your gate, go to the restroom, change diapers, and so on. To be fair, this is the worst case. But I prefer the buffer of time to the rush of adrenalin as you race for a connection with screaming kids in tow.
And all of this planning goes to pieces if your flight is significantly delayed or, worse, cancelled. Really - you don't want to connect if you can possibly avoid it. I will pay a few hundred dollars more to avoid a connection.
Airports:
Small is good. If you want to go to LA, consider Orange county airport. If flying to the Washington D.C. area consider Ronald Reagan (DCA) instead of Dulles. I find the staff are better trained and the airport easier to navigate when it is small. If you are connecting then avoid Northern airports (Chicago, JFK) in winter and Southern airports (Atlanta, Dallas) in Summer - both because of weather delays. Be aware that large sprawling airports (such as ORD) can be very difficult to transfer through quickly if you are in a wheelchair.
Times:
Try to think through the kids' schedule. The important thing is to try to keep the food and nap schedule as close to normal as possible. You will board the plane possibly as much as forty minutes before the scheduled take-off, and the "fasten safety belt" light will be turned off about ten minutes after take-off, which could be about thirty minutes after the plane has left the gate in a busy airport. So that 60 or 90 min period is one in which the kids won't get uninterrupted sleep and you will be unable to feed them properly or change diapers. So try to plan the flights so that these are normal "awake times". This is really difficult to do, but you will be rewarded if you can manage it by kids that are minutely less grumpy than they would be otherwise.
If you can't get ideal times (and who can with schedules?) then think through the consequences of the times. If you are due to take off right at dinner time, arrive early at the airport, go through security and give yourself time to have an early dinner before you board.
If your child is under 2 years old, he can be booked as a “lap child”. This means they don’t get their own seat, but travel on one or the other parents lap. This is worth it as ti saves a significant amount of money – but you have to decide if you can deal with an infant on your lap for the flight. If you do book a seat, remember that you will need a flight approved child-seat for an under two.
Most airlines ask you to call in advance and inform them that you are in a wheelchair and what you requirements are. This is a good idea – although frankly I never do it. But my requirements are minimal as I have a manual chair and can do most of my own transfers. However, if you do call, do not assume that the information you provide will get imparted to the check-in staff, or ground- or air- staff on your flight. It might – but it might not. Incompetence is rife in the airline industry.
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