Talk Quesada forum

In my experience you just go to the Assistance desk and they provide a chair and assistant. Details required are name and flight number. Very good service.

Thanks earlybay, that concurs with what Babu and Ladytoastie have said and that's what I will do.

Thanks to all of you for your replies.

Ron Hill wrote:I always thought you had to provide evidence from your doctor to prove you required assistance

No you don't have to prove anything but ideally need to book it in advance (I.e tick the box on your booking for 'special assistance ' ) Easyjet ask for you to do this at least 48 hours in advance of travel to give them time to make sure it is arranged. If you don't book in advance the airport assistance desks will still try to help but you may have a long wait as they'll deal with prebooked first. Also prebooked means help waiting at the other end as well.

I have arranged this a few times when I thought my travelling companion might have difficulty walking airport distances ( and as we all know, there's a LOT of walking on hard surfaces and often a lot of up and down stairs at the airport..). When I booked via Easyjet in Edinburgh they were happy just for me to take a wheelchair and push it, I didn't have to have one of the assistance staff. But by booking ahead it also meant they had a note at the gate and arrangements made for boarding the aircraft as well ( as well as help waiting at Alicante).Sometimes when it is not an airbridge there can be an awful lot of stairs and if you've booked in advance you get to go on that special lift vehicle up to the aircraft door.Your companion gets to go with you. Also, even if its an air bridge remember there can be a lot of standing around, so if you are not so steady on your feet, it can be quite trying.

It's easy to do, no big deal and if you think you might struggle with the walking just go for it.

A couple of extra tips.
If you are at the airport before 10pm, then there is a seperate entrance to the xray scanners for wheelchairs. Its one block to the right of the xray entrance.
After going through the xray turn right, you will see a sliding door. You are now in departures. It saves a huge walk, through the dutyfree.
All assistance can be booked at the airport before the flight at the assistance desk if you forget to book with your airline. The exception is Ryanair you must book with them at their desk.However play safe and prebook as it shows on your boarding pass and saves time.
Do as we do, push the wheelchair to the gate, but let them push it to the plane, its a long steep slope downhill.

I do think, with your husband being ill, it would be far better to book assistance as, once you go through the gate checks, he may have a further time to stand in corridors or stairs before boarding. Depending on airline, he may then have to walk across Tarmac and go up the steps into the aircraft. As another message said, there could then be even more problems getting a wheelchair or assistance at your destination. I cannot understand your reluctance to book the full service as this will make you and your husband's journey far less stressful and worry free. I cannot speak highly enough of the assistance given at Alicante and all other airports when assistance has been pre booked.

The problem with booking assistance is, from experience, I will need to book for both of us. I did this when we went to South Africa last year as Doha and Cape Town airports are huge. The speed they whizzed us through means that if I just book Alicante for my husband I will have no chance to keep up. We fly Vueling and they operate from B gates which are the furthest from Security and I normally have to stop a couple of times along the way. Also when I booked the flight on Monday the website said no more Special Assistance places were available on that flight. We don't need assistance on the flight just at the airport.

As an update, I did end up booking assistance by phoning both airports and just requesting assistance for my husband. The service at Alicante airport was first class. There were always plenty of assistants on hand, they were happy and cheerful and took us wherever we wanted to go without a hitch. Total opposite at Cardiff airport I'm afraid, understaffed, not enough wheelchairs for the flight, lift only holding 1 wheelchair. I ended up pushing it myself. Dreadful!