Advice please - do I book mobility assistance for Heathrow T5 for getting to gate?

[CrispsChoc]

Hope someone can advise, I have severe arthritis. I can walk but it’s painful and I limp and use a stick. Flying BA Heathrow to Nice from T5, don’t know yet which gate. Have not flown for years and unsure if I will need to book assistance. Am concerned about walking to gate if it’s a 15 min walk for example, whether I will have to climb those metal stairs to board plane (I can do it but not while carrying a suitcase). Am also worried about queues as painful to stand for more than 5 mins. Also travelling with two ND kids aged 11 and 13 who haven’t flown before and are anxious. My concern is would it be too OTT for me to request assistance seeing as I can actually walk. Also would it mean we are not able to have a look at Duty Free? Have requested assistance for the kids via BA, but again not sure how that works. Also worried for them wearing sunflower lanyards given that Daily Fail is trying to wind people up about the abuse of this system in last few days, worried someone will make snide remarks. Getting myself massively anxious now. Hope someone can help please. Also at Nice at other end, are there big distances to walk? Big queues for new biometrics scanner process? I have EU passport but kids do not.

Book it as some of the gates in T5 are a long walk and include a short train as well. It’s not a big deal to book it! A lot of people from eg India/Middle East use it even if they can walk quite well after a long flight. Not sure why you are even asking especially with two DC with SEND. Also ignore the Daily Fail!
Enjoy your holiday!

I can’t help with the assistance but, however if you are flying BA then it’s normally an air bridge from terminal to
plane (I fly every week and have never had steps to plane)

there’are also wheelchairs you can just use, that you pick up in Concourse, if your eldest could push you?

also queues for security at T5 are minimal, less than 5 mins every time I’ve been there

how someone else wil be a long to help with the rest

Thanks both. If there are wheelchairs you can just grab there then my sister could push me as she is coming too. Good news about the air bridge.

Agree with @Araminta1003 and I'm afraid @Chocbuttonsandredwine has been a bit fortunate, that may be down to their destination.

The reality is a significant number of flights that depart T5 do use off pier stands, where getting onto the aircraft involves a bus ride and then steps.

As I recall it BA tend to avoid off pier for UK domestic flights, A380 departures and one or two other favoured flights but other than that it's a lottery as to whether you get bus/steps or not.

To quickly add:

Nice might be one of the favoured flights I mentioned and hopefully will be out of the main Terminal (T5 A) but based on many years working out of T5 I'd still strongly recommend you book assistance just in case.

Thank you all. If anyone can advise re Nice biometrics queues when landing I’d be grateful. Will book the mobility assistance.

I think there are too many variables - if you ‘might’ need support you should book it as even if usually the flight doesn’t have stairs, anything could happen that day and you end up at a far away gate with stairs. Passport control might usually be fine - but they could have a few people off sick or a few delayed flights and it’s a mess. So I would book any support you can access.

Book it. I remember my elderly mum going pale when she realised we’d drawn a gate at the farther end of T5 - it’s really quite a walk.

I've had to book assistance once when injured - you should definitely book it. It means there will be a wheelchair reserved for you and you will be transported by motorised buggy to the plane. If you have someone pushing your wheelchair then they are not supposed to take you down any slope to the plane. Fortunately I'd already been pushed to the door before they could stop us.

Assistance can be a pain, though, as other people are not generally allowed to go on the buggy with you. You may also have to wait quite a long time if you cant manage steps, I ended up going down the stairs on crutches at my destination because they seemed to have forgotten to book the lift.

Also no-one will think to ask if you need the toilet. I make a point of asking any unaccompanied female passengers I see in a wheelchair now and taking them myself if they need it. They have always wanted to go!

Book it. However only once have we been on a bus and stairs to the aircraft though. However it’s more likely for short haul.

Usually gates are B or C for us snd they involves the train but there are lifts to everywhere. You probably won’t use outer stands as these are for the big airbus planes. European flights are more likely to be a bus though!

Always arrive 3 hours early, not 2. The terminal can be busy in school holidays. We use valet parking as its opposite the terminal, However we find T5 very good overall and use your Manage my Booking via BA app to book your seats on the plane then all you do is bag drop and security.

Book it, they wheel you right through security, passport control, avoids queues. Your sister can wizz through with you

Book it. My parents do as it's a very long distance for them in airports. A lot of airports have the facility for you to pre-order and collect from duty free - might that be an option.

Definitely book it. T5 is the pinnacle of DIY check in. You have to weigh your own luggage, print your baggage labels and put them on yourself, use a machine to print your boarding pass. There is very little assistance for passengers, especially if it is busy.
If you book assistance, hopefully you will get some help through security and passport control as well.

Will definitely book assistance. Thanks for all your helpful advice! If anyone has any info about the experience at Nice airport when we are getiing off plane please let me know.

My mother books assistance at much smaller airports than Nice, she gets assisted from the plane to the other side of the arrivals, past the no going back doors.

You print boarding pass at home. Much easier! I’ve always done a bag drop at a counter though! I’ve not seen weigh your own or print your own labels. The staff have always checked our passports too. My only annoyance EAs that they moved business check in when we were there last.

Relatively few people have the facility to print at home.

Theres no difference in the procedure wherever you land. You wait in theory till everyone has got off, then you pick up a wheel chair at the exit of the plane, with an agent waiting to push ! occasionally if you are traveling with a robust person they may get them to push
if no ramp they can take you in a van with a lift if you have difficulty getting down the stairs & on to the bus/into the building. ( depends where they park the plane)
Just remind the steward/ess that you have booked special assistance at arrival.
it takes a bit longer to get the w/chair, but then you wizz through passport control without waiting.
Nice is a fairly long distance but nothing compared to the mega airports.

@Needtosoundoffandbreathe Are you for real? Most people we know have printers with their computers.

Sometimes they won't let you. I printed my own recently and DH was unable to print his on the same evening, just got a message on screen saying he must contact a member of staff on arrival at the airport. Terminal 5 (BA) is very much all about weighing your own luggage, printing your own label and attaching it to your case. Half the time the machines don't work and it can be an absolute nightmare. You see dozens of people struggling with the machines, both to check in and to drop baggage. It is stressful. The first time we encountered T5 it took us an hour and a half just to check in, from the point of reaching the first machine. Every time we were directed to stand in a queue for help, the queue closed just as we reached the desk. I honestly thought we would miss the flight.

Never had any delays at all. Always printed at home or got the boarding pass on the app. Never seen anyone struggling.

Book assistance. it’s
good and
once you know it’s booked, you can stop worrying. I am able-bodied but have a fatiguing illness, so can end up absolutely exhausted walking about an airport, so i often use it.

If in doubt about mobility, book assistance. Even if your sister can push you in borrowed w/chair. Assistance helpers are super efficient (mostly) and super friendly. and get you swiftly through security etc. We had an issue with Gatwick a couple of years ago (late arriving flight and assistance doors had been locked) but easyjet crew super helpful and did everything they could to help while we waited for the 'culprit' to find keys and unlock doors. Heathrow exceptionally good.

Last time I flew I booked assistance with Swissair and it went like a military operation. I had to get myself to the little room at Manchester where you book in and wait for your "pusher" and after that it was all handled. However you can wait at the entrance and push a button to call someone if you cannot walk at all, At the airports there are special bays and queues for special assistance apssengers so you just bypass the lines. Very large airports like Frankfurt have buggies which pick up assistance passengers and whizz you past all the queues. They should guide you through all the boring passport/iD business. You might get a few dirty looks from randoms but who cares?