Opinion: Here's a tip for air travelers who might need airport wheelchair service
I don’t walk as well as I once did, so I use a cane for stability and to lean on when I stand. I can walk, of course, but ever so slowly, which makes air travel a bit of a concern. Can I reach the gate or the connecting gate in time? For that, the airlines provide a wheelchair service. You have but to ask, or check a box online. On a recent round trip to visit family in Oregon, I checked these boxes on the appropriate flights.
Here is a tip that I wish I had been even more prepared for: take lots of cash. The mostly young and strong folks — almost all of mine on the job for under three months — depend on tips to make it worth their time. My first driver in the Atlanta airport appeared to see her job as more glamorous. She and I became a small component of the Iditarod dogsled race; as she rounded a corner, she didn’t just shout out “wheelchair.” She bellowed "WHEELCHAIR. WHEELCHAIR," as we took the corner on what felt like two wheels, breaking up people groups. She was the driver; I was simply cargo on the wheelchair-dog. We spirited down the long halls, braked for security clearance as she shepherded me through the doors, bumped on and off the trams to the finish line-boarding gate -- all in record time. My only job was just to hold on tight. I gave her $20 and a few more $1s. Worth every bit. She was worth more — so I wish I had had another $10. Part of my responsibility, as I came to understand as we sped down the crowded hallway, was to make sure I paid for another person who might not know a tip was expected.
Take lots of $1s and then lots of $20s too. Sometimes a wheelchair person will show up to push you down the boarding hallway. They are with you only for a few minutes — barely enough time to get their life story! Their time is worth something, but $20 is overpay.
In the Dallas airport, I joined a few others on what is called a “cab.” You sit down and put on a seat belt; this is necessary as the seat is shallow and you need help staying in place once the driver starts the motor. Here, individual conversation with the driver is less possible. Fully loaded, the four of us were soon zooming down a long hallway when a sudden turn tossed my glasses and driver’s license out of my pocket, and off through the air they went. The driver was kind enough to stop the cab, run back and pick up my license, then spend another second or two locating my glasses before we were off again.
At the next stop, someone asked if time permitted a restroom stop; the three women on board all moved toward the appropriate door. When we returned, the remaining man, apparently miffed that our driver had stopped for my license, and I were put on separate cabs. His face was almost as red as his Alabama T-shirt in his need to get to his gate on time. (The attendants are more familiar with departure times than their passengers, so if you will make your gate or not is really a worry best left to that driver.) I got a brand new driver and a woman heading to somewhere in Ohio. So there was the dilemma: how much do you tip for someone who had just handled some rough language because of a favor he did for you? This would have been worth $10, but I didn’t have that — and I kept adding up what I did have and then took a few $1s and folded them together. I put into his waiting hand and wished I had had more.
Finally, back in Atlanta at a flight that arrived at midnight, A.J. was there. He took me straight to baggage claim, picked up my suitcase when I pointed it out, and then was kind enough to take me to the sky train to get me toward the parking garage so that I might get my car and drive the four hours home. After he agreed to provide this additional kindness, I promised him my last dollar -- that turned into $21. Wish I had had another $20. Next time I fly, I will know to make sure my tip money for the wheelchair attendants will be such that I can match service with the moment more judiciously.
Margaret Whitt is a retired college professor and lives in Gerton.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: A tip for air travelers who might need airport wheelchair service
