MS Related: Traveling with Scooter or Power Chair

By Cherie C. Binns RN BSA MSCN

As we are entrenched in winter’s cold, many are thinking of taking a vacation to a warmer climate to break the chill. I have been getting a number of questions on special needs travel and most revolve around scooters and power chairs. For the purpose of this answer to those questions, I will address only those special problems faced by users of full sized power chairs or scooters.

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My scooter has been damaged to the point where it cannot be used on 5 separate flights. The tiller has been broken, seat broken, batteries reconnected to opposite poles causing the batteries to be unchargable, the chassis has been cracked and the scooter has even come rolling down the baggage belt disassembled. The airlines have always footed the bill for the necessary repairs (scooter has been fully rebuilt three times and partially twice).