Plane travel with walking boot
April 9, 2017 3:34 PM   Subscribe

I have some US domestic air travel coming up-- worst case scenario is 4 trips in three days (work travel scheduling shenanigans). I have a broken metatarsal and so am in a walking boot. A few questions: 1- the most discomfort is coming from the disparate heel height between the boot and the shoe on my other foot. Dansko clogs and a random pair of sandals are coming close but not perfect. Any footwear suggestions? Hopefully something not too casual? 2- should I rent one of those knee scooters? It would reduce the literal pain of walking more than a block on the bum foot, but would it add to the unbalanced jankyness in general? Can I gate check it? Can I wheel a small suitcase while knee scooting? 3- should I give up and just check bags and ask for a wheelchair? How much time does "I need a wheelchair" add to the airport experience? Thanks MeFi!
posted by travertina to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Shoe heights: you want Evenups. My partner has been wearing one on a black sneaker and it's essentially invisible. Being all black helps the conglomerate not look excessively casual to cursory inspection but really, your other foot is already in a boot.
posted by teremala at 4:24 PM on April 9, 2017 [2 favorites]


Me and my sibling just flew my elderly mother between our cities, requesting a wheelchair both ways. It definitely subtracted from, not added to, her time at the airport (LGA and MSP). It was super quick to get a wheelchair person, and thanks to them she breezed through security in half the time. She did not have to check her bags.
posted by rada at 4:34 PM on April 9, 2017 [2 favorites]


You should definitely get the wheelchair. My spouse can't walk that far so we get it every time. They help you with everything, including security (you skip the line) and getting on the plane. There's no reason not to. (We tip the person $5).
posted by bleep at 5:02 PM on April 9, 2017 [2 favorites]


Best answer: My wife walks with a cane and uses the wheelchair to get to/from the gate and up/down the ramp to the door of the plane . They stuff your rolling suite case under the seat of the wheel chair and you can hold your personal item in your lap. Our experience has been that if you don't already have precheck it's going to actually be somewhat faster when you arrive at the airport. At least every time we've done it, they cut the line to get you through security, bleep's comment seems to agree. You also board the plane first.

One issue to consider is the boot through security. If you wheelchair through, they'll first try to get you to stand up and walk into the scanner, if you can't or won't you'll have a pat-down of some sort. Also, technically they're not allowed to insist that you remove a medical device (you might double check this), but when my wife went through with a boot some years ago, they looked very... shall I say... disappointed when she refused to remove it and it took a bit of time because they wanded it and did an explosives swab on the boot. You may lose some time depending on the screening itself. You're going to have this issue whether you wheelchair it or scooter it.

A second issue is that if you use the wheelchair to get off the plane, you will probably have to wait for everyone else to deplane. (We like to do that anyway since my wife has balance issues and it's just easier to get through the aisle without people jostling to get out quickly.) But keep in mind that for connections this could slow you down quite a bit.
posted by NormieP at 5:18 PM on April 9, 2017


Best answer: 1. For me, saucony sneakers or a pair of Born mules. But height-matching is important, so keep working at it.

2. I vote no.

3. Really depends on how much pain you are in. In general, airports have a lot, lot, lot of walking that you don't appreciate or realize until hobbled. I have both been an eense slower but fine in airports; and appreciated the hell out of the handicapped assist, depending on pain state. Keep in mind that pain may add up over your trips, first one might be ok but don't plan a tight connection for your last one.

TSA was pretty kind about inspections, though when ambulating in my own I did have to take it of and walk through without it, and they did the chemical test on it.
posted by Dashy at 5:27 PM on April 9, 2017


Best answer: If you request a wheelchair - I would allow up to 10 minutes to wait for the chair to show up when you check in. (Sometimes there is zero wait but sometime it takes a few minutes and once in while they forget about you and you have to ask and then wait some more.) Getting through security is probably equivalent to TSA pre-check, you get special handling and get to the front of the line faster but then there may be a delay while they check everything out but usually still quite a bit faster than the slow lines. On the other end, you should expect to wait until everyone else has deplaned and then there shouldn't be a problem getting to your next gate. At baggage claim, they will stay with you until you have your bag and meet up with your ride.
posted by metahawk at 5:54 PM on April 9, 2017


Best answer: when ambulating in my own I did have to take it of and walk through without it, and they did the chemical test on it.

When I traveled with a boot they asked me to take it off. It was not much of a hassle for me so I did it but it's worth knowing that might be coming up. When my mom was having some medical issues including some balance unsteadiness she requested and received a wheelchair and said it made her travel through the airport a LOT easier. Tip the folks. They are also generally pretty nice. The only time I have known it to be an issue is if you're on a flight with a LOT of people in wheelchairs (I saw one deplane once with maybe eight people using wheelchairs, mostly older people who were coming from Florida) so there's that possibility but from all I've heard it's the way to go with this sort of thing.
posted by jessamyn at 7:15 PM on April 9, 2017


Best answer: Yes to the wheelchair. I flew into JFK in a walking boot (ankle surgery, part weight bearing) and got a wheelchair - it was really great, made the whole thing faster, and they took me straight to the front of the taxi queue!

Flying out was less great because they made me take the boot off to go through the naked scanner and re-scanned me a couple of times because "I kept moving" (well yeah, you're making me balance on one leg!) but the wheelchair service itself was fine.

I tried a knee scooter and found it basically impossible to deal with. I don't think pulling a case would be possible with it.

Plane tip: take the boot off or loosen it substantially on the plane, your foot will swell and it will be uncomfortable.
posted by corvine at 2:04 AM on April 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Yes to corvine's last comment: especially if your boot has inflatable pouches! Flights are only pressurized somewhat, so the pouches will expand and boy was that stupid of me not to deflate them more once I sat down.

I actually just took my boot off, put it on the scanner, and hopped through the detector, but I don't really recommend that approach.
posted by nat at 2:34 AM on April 10, 2017


Best answer: N-thing that the wheelchair is a good idea - it's their goal to get you where you need to be as quickly as possible.

If you want to make it as smooth as possible: If you have checked luggage they will help you get it off the belt; a bright strap or large tag will help them find your bag quickly. Keep some cash ready to tip your attendant - though I have had several run away so fast that they missed their tips.

I've only been through two airports where the system broke down and even cam close to making me me late for a connection: LAX and Schipol.
posted by buildmyworld at 6:29 AM on April 10, 2017


Response by poster: Getting the wheelchair through security and to the gate was brilliant! I'm totally doing that for the other legs of my trip. And possibly forever since I'm lazy, chronic pain afflicted and now own a cool boot. (Kidding, maybe.) Thanks MeFi!
posted by travertina at 10:18 AM on April 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


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