Book the Airport Wheelchair Even If You Can Walk

Quick answer: Ask for free airport wheelchair assistance when you book, even if you walk just fine. Build a rest day into each side of every long travel day. Before any trip abroad, find out what your Medicare coverage pays outside the U.S., because for most people it's very little.

The longest walk of most trips isn't the cobblestones in Rome or the boardwalk at the beach. It's the stretch from the security line to gate B47, dragging a carry-on, with a connection to make in forty minutes.

Picture a grandmother flying from Tampa to Phoenix for her granddaughter's wedding, connecting through Dallas. She's fit. She walks two miles most mornings. She turns down the wheelchair because she doesn't "need" it. By the time she lands she's spent, her knee is barking, and she sits out half the rehearsal dinner.

She didn't need the chair to walk. She needed it to arrive with something left.

The wheelchair is a ride, not a diagnosis

This is the single mistake capable travelers make most often. They treat airport assistance as something for people who can't walk. Airlines don't see it that way, and you shouldn't either.

Under the Air Carrier Access Act, a federal law, U.S. airlines must provide wheelchair assistance through the airport at no charge. You don't have to prove anything or bring a doctor's note. You just ask. The person pushing knows the building, and often the shortcuts. They'll get you to the gate, usually boarded early, and met at the other end.

Big hub airports are built for twenty-year-olds with no luggage. The walk between concourses in Atlanta, Chicago or Denver can be longer than your morning route, and you do it on a schedule, under stress, on hard floors. Saving that energy is simply good planning. Nobody at your grandson's graduation will know how you got through the airport. They'll just see you there, rested.

A good line to keep in your pocket: you're not giving in, you're saving your legs for the parts worth walking.

How to ask, and what goes wrong

Request assistance when you book, online or by phone, and confirm it again a day or two before you fly. Ask for it for every leg, including connections.

Then plan for the snags, because there are a few:

• The wait at arrival. When you land, the chairs sometimes aren't at the gate yet. Everyone else leaves and you sit. Tell a flight attendant before landing that you have assistance booked, and don't wander off the plane without it. If you leave, the system can lose track of you.
• The long wait at the start. Get to the airport a little earlier than you normally would. The assistance desk can be busy.
• The tip. It's not required. Many people give a few dollars, more for a long push with bags. Your call.
• Pride on the second leg. People accept the chair for the first flight, feel fine, and walk the connection. Then they hit the wall at baggage claim. Keep the plan.

If a full wheelchair feels like more than you want, ask about the electric carts at larger airports. Same idea, less fuss.

Security after 75

The TSA lets travelers 75 and older keep their shoes and a light jacket on at screening in standard lanes. That alone takes a good deal of the balancing and bending out of the process.

If you have a medical device, a joint replacement, or you simply want extra help, TSA Cares is the agency's program for travelers who need it. You can find it at tsa.gov. The TSA asks that you reach out about 72 hours before your flight, so don't leave it to the morning you fly.

One more thing that helps: if your boarding pass lives on your phone and the print is small, fix that before you get to the airport. Our piece on phone settings for your eyes and ears walks through making text bigger in about five minutes. Or just print the pass too. Paper never runs out of battery.

Pace it like you mean it

The rule that saves more trips than any other is simple. One travel day, then one rest day.

If you're flying to a cruise, arrive the day before it sails, not the morning of. If you're flying home from Europe, don't book the church potluck or the grandkids' sleepover for the next day. Give your body a day to catch up. Past seventy, jet lag and plain travel fatigue tend to hang on longer, and the rest day costs you a hotel night while saving you the whole trip.

A few more pacing choices that pay off:

• Pay a little more for nonstop when you can. Every connection is another walk, another boarding, another chance for a delay.
• If you must connect, leave room. Two hours is a comfortable minimum, more with wheelchair assistance.
• Fly mid-morning. You avoid the 4 a.m. alarm and the late-night arrival in a strange city.
• Take the aisle seat so you can stand and stretch without climbing over anyone. On a long flight, get up and walk the aisle every hour or two, and ask your doctor ahead of time whether compression socks make sense for you.
• Plan one big thing a day at your destination. The museum or the boat ride, not both.

Couples, a word for you. Pace to whichever of you tires first. A husband with a new hip or a wife with a bad knee sets the speed, and the trip is better for it.

Medicines ride with you, not under the plane

Pack every prescription in your carry-on, in its original labeled bottle. Checked bags get lost, and a lost bag with your heart pills in it turns a vacation into a scramble.

Bring a few extra days' supply in case of delays. If your trip is long, ask your pharmacist about a vacation refill well ahead of time. And carry a written list of your medicines with their generic names, since brand names change from country to country. Put your doctor's phone number on that same card.

The insurance question most people get wrong

This is the one that bites.

Original Medicare generally doesn't pay for health care outside the United States. There are narrow exceptions, but you shouldn't plan a trip around them. A fall in Lisbon or a heart scare on a cruise ship can mean paying the full bill yourself.

What you actually have depends on how you get your Medicare:

• Medigap, the supplemental policies that pair with Original Medicare. Several of the standard plans (C, D, F, G, M and N) include foreign travel emergency coverage. It typically pays 80 percent of emergency care abroad after a $250 deductible, up to a $50,000 lifetime limit. Check your own policy to confirm.
• Medicare Advantage, the private plans that replace Original Medicare. Some cover emergencies abroad, some don't, and the rules vary. Call the number on your card and ask directly: "Am I covered for emergency care in the country I'm visiting?"

If you're not sure which you have, our explainer on Medicare's four parts sorts it out.

Even with good coverage, one gap stays open for nearly everyone: getting home. A medical flight back to the U.S. isn't covered by Medicare or Medigap, and it's the bill that can do real damage. That's the main reason to look at separate travel medical insurance for any trip abroad or any cruise.

When you shop, know the difference between two products people confuse. Trip cancellation pays you back if you can't go. Travel medical pays if you get sick or hurt while you're gone. You may want one, the other, or both. Read the pre-existing condition rules closely. Many policies only cover existing conditions if you buy within a short window after your first trip payment, sometimes as little as two weeks. Buy early.

For free, unbiased help with Medicare questions, call SHIP counselors at 1-877-839-2675 or visit shiphelp.org. Medicare itself is at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) and Medicare.gov.

Before you leave the house

1. Assistance requested for every leg, and confirmed.
2. Medicines in the carry-on, plus a written list with generic names.
3. A call made to your Medicare plan about coverage where you're going.
4. Travel medical insurance bought, if you're leaving the country.
5. A rest day on the calendar at each end.
6. A copy of your itinerary with someone at home.

The grandmother in Dallas figured it out on the way home. She took the chair, boarded first, and walked off the plane in Tampa feeling like herself. Next trip, she's booking it from the start.

This is general information, not medical, financial or legal advice. Talk with your doctor or pharmacist about travel health, and with the free SHIP counselors about your Medicare coverage.