Hi, Steve,
Yes, in October, 2023 we traveled first class to Minneapolis/St.Paul directly with Delta from Bradley Airport in Hartford. (We live in RI, but looked for a direct flight.) I called ahead of time to request my manual wheelchair be put in the cabin. That was done and the wheelchair assistants at both ends of the flight were great. (There was a transfer from my wheelchair to an aisle wheelchair before getting on the plane, and from the narrower aisle chair to my wheelchair after the flight.)
In late February 2024, we again traveled using American Airline points to Sarasota Airport with my manual wheelchair and that meant a layover and delay in Charlotte, NC. A friend met us in Sarasota and drove us to our rental condo in Venice, FL.
My brother drove our accessible van and power wheelchair down to us in Venice, and he and his wife visited with us for a few days. They flew back and under duress accepted our payment for their flight. On the return from Florida, my son and his daughter flew down on our dime to Sarasota, stayed a few days with us, and drove us to our flight in Sarasota to Providence, RI. They then drove the van with the power chair back to Rhode Island.
We had great weather in Florida, an aquacize class I was able to get in and out of the pool for, and meals with friends we had not seen since March of 2020 —the start of the pandemic.
There were a lot of moving parts and helpful friends and family to make the trip as enjoyable and accessible as it was. My husband also talked a few times with the condo owner before we traveled to insure the accessibility of the place. We moved a rug when we got there, and improvised a little, but it worked.
In September, we will travel again by plane, this time to Pensacola, Florida. We will be at a conference in a hotel there, and will book an accessible room. Again, we will take the manual wheelchair on the flight and ask for it to be put in the cabin. (Mobility devices are supposed to get dibs for cabin closets.) This required me to give the serial number of the wheelchair and its weight and dimensions. The serial # was on the chair and the weight and dimensions can be found for my and your specific chair online.
That’s my travel story so far. I like the idea of your taking regular road trips. (If the pain is too much, would an hour work better than two hours?)
Getting there by plane was not half the fun before my neuropathy hit, and it is more complicated now, but in our opinion, it’s worth the extra effort.
Let me know whatever works for you, Steve,
Eileen