I have come back from a holiday of a lifetime, 5 day cruise around Malaysia & Thailand & then F1 in Singapore. From booking I informed Imagine Cruising that I was travelling with a mobility scooter, cruise was fab as Royal Caribbean was informed & we had a disabled room booked. However when it came to flying with Emirates & our F1 experience, totally unbelievable how we were treated. Emirates would not confirm seats, assistance was booked, therefore my seats should have been booked for me. Easy jet & Ryanair both book seats at no extra cost! Second flight to Dubai, we were not sat together & we had to sort this out ourselves as the flight was full & the cabin crew were sorting out other couples who were not sat together. Coming home starting at Singapore my mobility scooter was taken from me at check in & not at the gate as other airlines do. I was then made to wait near the check in desk, for over an hour, without any means of mobility. Then we were taken through the airport direct to the gate, without being able to get something to eat or drink or doing any shopping. At check in we told Emirates that we needed to be sat together, but no. At Dubai, due to delays, we were last off the first flight & had to speed through to make the connecting flight to Manchester. Again we were not sat together! As we were last on, all they could do was offer 2 aisle seats but still 1 in row 49 & 1 in 50! I have MS & find that travelling can be stressful enough without the added distress and unnecessary anxiety that this had caused. It is bad enough being disabled, without being treated in this way by companies such as imagine cruising & Emirates. The F1 tickets booked had us sat in row 42 of the Marina Bay stand!!! They did not have me as a disabled passenger that had walking issues,!! I was told that this was my fault as I had completed a form & said I could walk a short distance. A short distance yes, as I can walk down the aisle to my seat. But not walk around the F1 area or up 42 flights of steps. They knew I was disabled from my first phone call. I was then told if I needed to have access to the disabled platform, that I would have to pay £1,000 extra to be upgraded, err no! We missed the 1st day whilst they sorted something out. Next day told we could go but only if my husband pushed me in a hotel wheelchair. Totally disgusted by this as the mobility scooter gives me some independence that a wheelchair doesn’t. Other guests then told me that there had been motor scooters in the F1. What the hell is going on. Finally we got the ok to take the scooter. What a farse!! This was supposed to be the holiday of a lifetime with my pension money, to make memories while I can. All this messing around caused me & my husband great anxiety & only made my MS worse. To add insult to injury I was told today the Customer Relations department do not take phone calls and I would have to complain in writing. I am currently awaiting a response to my complaints. Any thoughts or advice much appreciated.
Hello TM.
I’m glad the cruise was boss. I’m pining for the fjords in the near future.
All I can say about the flying is post your experiences on every available public platform. Trip advisor comes to mind. And Emirates do have a facebook page. Strike while the iron is hot. There is also a few disabled travel forums.
Last year I took my wheelchair and myself to Cyprus. Turkish Airlines were brilliant. I had to change at Istanbul. There was no polite waiting for crowds to part whilst being pushed in the airport chair. If the warning was ignored, shins were clouted.
Best wishes, Steve
you should perfect a death metal growl!
i almost used it in london as there was such a lot of jostling but decided to enjoy the day instead.
it’s good to know that i can growl if needed though.