Visiting Jacksonville how to handle airline bookings

jkhkev @jkhkev

Welcome to Connect.

Your question about being able to fly home on same day of first appointment is a tough question to answer. Depends on section your appointment is in and what you are being seen for.

If provider orders tests after your first appointment, you may not get them all done on same day.

Have you created a Portal sign-on, do you see anything additional tests scheduled yet?

Have you had previous test and sent results to Mayo? Even with previous test, they may want to repeat or order additional tests.

You can call the appointment desk and ask, though they may not be able to answer that question either.

Would you like to share the area you are being seen in?

My husband JKH is being seen for symptoms of Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness PPPD. We are needing a diagnosis. The appointment is July or sooner. He has been like this for almost a year now.

Hello jkhkev. Mayo Clinic has a department called Patient Travel Services that is available to assist patients and their companions with travel needs including: new airline reservations, changes to existing travel itineraries, hotel and car reservations, ground transportation including shuttles and limousine service, and Mayo patient discounted rates available.

Patient Travel Services can be reached by phone at 866-551-3392 or by email at mayopatienttravel@mayo.edu. For more information on Patient Travel Services, please visit https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/minnesota/becoming-a-patient/patient-travel-services.

Thank you Cheyenne,
I will give them a call!

If you’re flying Southwest Airlines, you can change your flight for free or generally book last minute.

I am in Jacksonville, and that’s what I do.

I don’t have the flexibility to stay open end though so I decide in advance how long I’m willing to stay and book hotel and flights in accordance with that, and then change the booking. I’ve traveled at off-peak times of year though (October, April, May) so it’s not hard for me to extend hotel or change flights. I stay in Jacksonville Beach, which is a 15 minute drive from Mayo and there are many hotels and much less expensive than at Mayo.

One thing I notice is that many of the tips here are regarding people’s experiences at Rochester and having been seen at both locations I can say with absolute certainty based on my experience that Jacksonville is not nearly as responsive or organized as far as scheduling out appointments. I have had to be very proactive about getting answers and appointments even when they’re supposed to be coordinated. I always directly ask the department I’m dealing with now how to handle scheduling and if they realistically believe they can for me in. For example, for one department, she specifically told me that if I needed an outpatient procedure, she would fit me in the week I’m here. Others are unwilling or unable to do that.

In Jacksonville, their scheduling templates are only open a few months ahead of time for most providers, such as from now until the end of August. Busy departments may already have every slot booked, and this has resulted in me missing out on appointments each time I’ve been here because they don’t seem to coordinate appointments like when I was in Rochester. I have to self-schedule.

i.e. I am leaving tomorrow and have been on a wait list for an appointment since Tuesday with zero movement, so I probably won’t get the appointment and the provider isn’t available until July.

If I were in your shoes (which I have been) I would get in touch with the office coordinating your care and directly ask them if they have a recommendation for the minimum time you would stay and if it’s likely you’ll have to return. They may not be able to answer but I would think they could at least help with the minimum time frame and/or you can give them your travel dates so they can advance schedule what they think you might need. However I have found that Rochester is much more willing to do this than Jacksonville.

Additional FYI: Booking one-way tickets is often half the price each of a round-trip ticket. One direction may be more or less expensive than the other way however the total price usually is within fifty dollars of a round trip with a lot more flexibility. The other option is to pay for a totally flexible round trip for a higher price, but they still often require 24-hour notice for change. Also, get the airline app which will help with changes and last-minute bookings. I'm a million-mile flyer with no set schedule so judge for yourself.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I was planning on making more phone calls anyway.

Wishing you the best of luck, and I hope your trip goes smoothly. I’m just back from Jacksonville and had a more positive experience without as many scheduling issues as last time because I just wasn’t aware how much Jacksonville relies on self-scheduling.