In July 2024 I met a Danish scout leader at a jamboree and we got on really well and became good friends. he invited me over to Denmark. I didnt have a passport and was terrified of flying and have never been abroad. Move forward 9months and I went to Denmark on my own! I pre-booked passenger assistance for trains, plane and airports.
GOING
Train passenger assistance were great in the UK as always. The main issue was they had me with wheelchair not mobility scooter but a quick phone call got it all changed. They met me at the stations or train doors and helped with suitcase and scooter and got me to the next place i needed to be. however, Passenger assistance manchester airport not as great and left me at a lift as they apparently were busy! This was reported.
Manchester airport assistance team were great WHEN i found them at the other end of the terminal and near the departure area. I had to manage scooter and suitcase on my own. They should be positioned near the entrances! This was reported. They got my case checked in, took me through security and calmed me down when i started to panic as my hand luggage was stopped due to medications and tools for mobility scooter. They took me upto the gate area and let me with the staff there.
Manchester airport gate staff moved me through to the front area and did my checks, as soon as they got authorisation they took me to the plane 1st, helped with my hand luggage and then took my scooter for boarding.
KLM cabin crew at Manchester - they already knew i was anxious as well as disabled, they also saw my daisy lanyard. They came with me to my seat and spoke to me, explained alarm button and all sorts. they came back to me once all passengers were boarded and explained stuff and checked up on me loads from take off etc.
Amsterdam passenger assistance arrived with scooter at the gate, took me to the gate team ready for Billund as were late. They stayed with my scooter so i could go to the toilet. They handed me over to the gate team.
Amsterdam gate team were not as great as Manchester. They didnt believe i had just got off a KLM flight, they said scooter was too big, even with the KLM cares disabled info emails, they had tape measure out and i was getting upset. They got the pilot and he accepted the email and let the scooter on. This meant i was last to board and flight delayed as they had to take the scooter for boarding.
KLM cabin crew at Amsterdam they already knew i was anxious as well as disabled, they also saw my daisy lanyard. They came with me to my seat and spoke to me, explained alarm button and all sorts. they came back to me once all passengers were boarded and explained stuff and checked up on me loads from take off etc.
Passenger assistance team at Billund were not great. They didnt have my scooter at the gate or a wheelchair! This was due to security taking the scooter to drug swab it as it "had left me and been moved by staff at Amsterdam". I got the scooter after a10min wait standing! They were also too busy to take me right through to get my case and pointed me where to go.
RETURN
Passenger assistance team Billund the departures team was much better than the arrivals. They got a lady to sit with me due to the Alarms being tested and me being anxious. They carried my food & drink to a table. They got my case checked in and took me up to the gate area.
Billund Gate team were really good, they moved me to the front and got me boarded 1st and took scooter for loading.
KLM cabin crew at Billund they already knew i was anxious as well as disabled, they also saw my daisy lanyard. They came with me to my seat and spoke to me, explained alarm button and all sorts. they came back to me once all passengers were boarded and explained stuff and checked up on me loads from take off etc.
Passenger assistance at Amsterdam collected me via minibus and not my scooter, they said 1 it was a long way to my next flight and 2 the scooter had been lost! I went mad! The men from the mini bus left me with another member of the team who didnt know anything about me as i wasnt on her list. She got me up to the gate in a wheelchair for connecting flight, which had apparently already boarded - it hadnt!
Amsterdam gate team - confirmed they had the mobility scooter boarded but needed to check the battery "that i had with me" for safety. Errr i dont have the battery it was on the scooter when they took it from me at Billund! So they said that the battery must be lost. i told them to find it before i got to manchester airport or im stranded. the guy asks could i not push it! WTF!!! They got me on the flight.
KLM cabin crew Amsterdam were lovely they already knew i was anxious as well as disabled, they also saw my daisy lanyard. They came with me to my seat and spoke to me, explained alarm button and all sorts. they came back to me once all passengers were boarded and explained stuff and checked up on me loads from take off etc. They also knew i was upset and concerned over scooter battery.
Passenger assistance Mancherster airport arrived WITH my scooter and battery, and were confused as to why i was panicking. They took me to the area to get back to the baggage area but said i had half hour wait for another member of the team as they had other passengers to get. I had 40minutes until my train no chance was i waiting. So i asked which way i needed to go and left them. NOT helpful. I found my way to baggage claim and got my case and they was given wrong directions by other airport staff to get to the train station - i ended up in a car park not the airial tunnel!
Passenger assistance train station - they were really good and took my case and got me on the train i made it with 3mins to spare.
Conductor transpennine train - wasnt happy i only had rail card on my phone and not a physical one even though the info matched my scooter. He didnt kick me off the train though.
DENMARK GENERAL
streets - fairly flat which was great for the scooter BUT many places had some sort of cobbles on the streets which made the scooter battery bounce and not stay connected meaning it cut out a few times. Drop kerbs were everywhere and i didnt have to hunt for them very often.
UK disabled carers card was able to be used to get my friend free or discounted entry to many places like museums.
People were very helpful, from getting things off shelves, shop staff offering to carry my basket (propped on top of scooter basket!) and assist with shopping, to others translating things to english, helping to self-scan shopping and all sorts.
Transport - not great.
Trains - despite being told the week before i travlled by DSB that my scooter would go on trains fine and stations had ramps to trains this was not the case. most stations had no ramp nor did the trains meaning it had to be lifted on/off - that was when the conductors allowed it on them. Some passengers were happy to help with lifting it. This DID improve on the days that my Danish friend was with me as he argued my case.
Buses - despite being told the week before i travelled by DSB that my scooter would be fine on buses it wasnt. The bus drivers were very negative as "it has an engine and isnt allowed on buses". My scooter DOESN'T have an engine it runs on a battery charged by the mains. This DID improve on the days that my Danish friend was with me as he argued my case.
Charging scooter whilst out & about - museums and library's were great at allowing me to plug in and give scooter a boost so i could get back "home" etc.
overall i had a lovely week despite the issues mentioned above linked to the scooter and transport. I would go again.
My scooter is a Mobility Plus Navigator, 53kg weight, dry cell batteries and accepted on all flights. Mobility plus even sent me copies of the full battery info and scooter manual via email to print and take with me.
I have since bought a lighter scooter (23kg) for futuer trips but i need take the battery on the plane with me as its lithium.
