Accessible Everything

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Accessible Everything

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disability, travel, wheelchair

Lucas “LazyLegz” Patuelli

One man helps the disabled see the world

By Craig Grimes

A profile about the work of Craig Grimes, Director of accessible.travel, in the Christian Science Monitor.

Matagalpa, Nicaragua - The winding turns, potholes, open sewers, and stray dogs make the streets of this northern Nicaraguan town tough to negotiate – let alone in a wheelchair.

“It’s the worst ever, without a doubt,” says Craig Grimes, with a laugh, as he grasps a signpost to pull his wheelchair up onto a street curb. “A lot of people in Matagalpa don’t know how to use their wheelchairs, because no one has ever taught them. I’ve been showing people in wheelchairs how to get around their own city, and they’ve lived here their whole lives.”

My New Site, accessible.travel

By Craig Grimes

Since AccessibleBarcelona started growing I have often received emails from people with disabilities asking if we only operate in Barcelona. People that have stayed in Barcelona through using the services of AccessibleBarcelona also frequently get back in touch for advice regarding other cities and asking if we can help them arrange trips to other destinations.

I’ve often thought about trying to expand my work through replicating the ideals and standards of AccessibleBarcelona in other European cities. I love city breaks, just 3 months after becoming paraplegic I discharged myself from Pinderfields Spinal Injuries Unit and went travelling to the Netherlands with a friend. Whilst there we covered a lot of the country, but I especially loved Rotterdam and Amsterdam, 2 great cities.

Whilst working for the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) in the UK I had to visit London, Cardiff and Belfast for work, but I also visited various cities in Germany and Prague the Czech Capital just for fun. After saying farewell to the SIA and moving to Barcelona I fell in love with the place, it’s just an amazing Mediterranean city, the hustle and bustle, culture, history, beach and the Pyrenees are very close too for a quick skiing trip in the winter. While living in Barcelona I didn’t travel all that much, but when I did I hit more European cities including Madrid, Edinburgh, Paris, Munich, Nuremberg and of course one of my all time favourites; Berlin.

The biggest problem with staying in a city a person with a disability seems to finding decent accessible accommodation, I’ve just been to London in Oct 2008 and trying to find a hotel was a real hassle. When I went to Paris I also had problems as well as when I was in Berlin. Just trying to find reliable information about accommodation facilities for people with disabilities is hard, although a hotel reservation engine may state that a hotel is “wheelchair friendly” or has “facilities for disabled” they don’t give us any details of what that actually means. Frequently, the people that have said that somewhere is suitable for people with disabilities don’t actually have a clue about what we need. Neither do they give us enough information or photos about the facilities so that we can make a decision for ourselves, they just assume that they know best and they are usually wrong.

accessible.travel is an attempt to even the playing field a little and give other people with disabilities information regarding accessible city breaks. The site will post hotel information and your comments about hotels and accommodation. This isn’t going to happen overnight, but with time, accessible.travel aims to be a useful resource to people with disabilities that, like me, love travelling to different cities around the world.

From the accessible.travel Blog

Posted in "booking engine", accessible.travel, News, Accommodation, Travel | No Comments

European Budget Airline Policies

By Craig Grimes

Here are some links to the policies of European Budget Airlines with regards to carriage of people with disabilities. Some are more useful than others, but this list provides a reference of quick links to the policies of airlines that you may have booked or are thinking of booking with:

Aegean Airlines: Passengers with special needs

Aer Arann: Passengers with reduced mobility

Aer Lingus: Special Assistance

Airberlin: After looking through their site and in the site map I couldn’t actually find anything for people with disabilities. Please check the airberlin site and if you find anything please post it here!

Air Malta: Pregnancy and Medical

Air Southwest: Can Air Southwest accept passengers with disabilities?

ArkeFly: Minder validen (in Dutch)

Avro: FAQ’s: Health, Special Assistance and Requests. Scroll down the FAQs to the relevant links.

Blue Air: 7. Refusal and Limitation of Carriage. Click on the title to reveal “Special Assistance.”

Blu Express: 9. I have special needs; who should I contact? Scroll down to relevant section.

Brussels Airlines: Special Assistance

bmibaby: special requirements

Condor: I couldn’t find anything on their site but then again it’s in German, see the Condor site for further details.

Easyjet: Passengers with specific requirements

Flybaboo: FAQs number 26. I am an invalid and need special assistance. What should I do? Scorll down to relevant part.

Flybe: Special Assistance

flyglobespan: Special Assistance

Fly Thomas Cook: I couldn’t find any information on the site but they did have a “special requests” page. I’d suggest trying one of the numbers there.

Germania: Handicapped Passengers

Germanwings: Passengers with limited mobility (click on the + sign at the end of the title to see more information)

Iceland Express: Passengers with Disabilities

Jet2: Special needs and mobility assistance

Meridiana: Special Assistance

Monarch: See Avro

Norwegian Air Shuttle: Special Needs

Peagsus: Passengers with Special Needs

Ryanair: Special Assistance

Smart Wings: After looking through their site I couldn’t actually find anything for people with disabilities. Please check the Smart Wings site and if you find anything please post it here!

Sun Express: After looking through their site and in the site map I couldn’t actually find anything for people with disabilities. Please check the Sun Express site and if you find anything please post it here!

Thomsonfly: Passengers with special needs

Transavia: Site Map Look under “practical information”.

Tuifly: FAQs Scroll down to relevant part. They basically say contact the TUI Service Centre.

Vueling: What conditions does the company offer for passengers with special needs?

Wizz Air: Useful Information: Passengers with special needs. Scroll down until you get to the relevant section.

From the accessible.travel Community and
the accessible.travel Blog

Posted in accessible.travel, Flying, Travel | No Comments

An accessible & inclusive travel blog for people with disabilities

One man helps the disabled see the world

My New Site, accessible.travel

accessible.travel in Time Online

European Budget Airline Policies