Questions to Ask Before Booking Accessible Travel: Hotels, Airlines and Operators

The right questions before you book are what turn the vague word accessible into a trip you can actually use, because they force specifics, measurements and written answers instead of reassurance. Almost every bad arrival I have had traces back to a question I did not ask, or an answer I accepted without evidence. So over the years I have built a short interrogation for each party I book with, and I do not part with money until it is answered. Here are the exact questions for hotels, airlines and operators, why each one matters, and why I keep every reply in writing.

Questions for the hotel

Ask the hotel for exact measurements, confirmation of specific features and recent photographs, because accessible is not standardised and only specifics tell you whether a room works. The core set is: what is the clear width of the room door and, separately, the bathroom door in centimetres; is the shower a genuine roll-in wet-room type rather than a bath or a shower over a tray; where and how many grab rails are there; what is the bed height; and how much turning space is there beside the bed and in the bathroom ¹. Then ask for recent photographs of the bathroom and the entrance route.

Each question exists because a hotel will happily let the word accessible cover the feature it lacks. The bathroom door is the one most often left standard, which is why it gets its own question. The shower is the one most often misdescribed, which is why you ask for the exact type, not a yes or no. I ask these as separate questions precisely so no single reassuring sentence can paper over a gap. The reasoning behind each feature, and what good looks like, is set out in the accessible accommodation guide.

Questions for the airline

Ask the airline to confirm your free special assistance and, for any powered equipment, exactly what it needs declared, because assistance is a legal right but only reliable when booked and specified in advance. Special assistance at airports and on flights is a legal right and is free, and it is best requested at least 48 hours before you travel, so your first question is simply to confirm it is booked and get the reference ². Then ask how the assistance actually works at departure, connection and arrival, and how and where you will get your own chair back.

If your chair or scooter is powered, ask precisely what battery details they need, because lithium and non-spillable wet batteries carry different rules and the airline decides what it will accept ³. Confirm too that your chair flies free and does not count towards your baggage allowance, and that the airline is responsible if it is damaged in transit ³. I have learned to get the battery declaration confirmed by email, because a check-in desk on a bad morning is not where you want to be discovering a rule for the first time. The full detail of the chair in the hold and at the aircraft door is in flying with a wheelchair.

Questions for the tour operator

Ask a tour operator what accessible means for this specific trip, which parts have been checked and by whom, and what they will do if something is not accessible on arrival, because that last answer reveals whether they have really assessed the trip. An operator that has genuinely inspected the accommodation, transfers and excursions can answer concretely; one that has relabelled a standard package will deflect. Ask about the step-free route through the trip, the transfer vehicles and each excursion individually, not the package as a whole ⁴.

The question about what happens if something fails on arrival is the one I care about most, because it separates the operators who have done the work from the ones selling a word. A serious operator has a plan for the shower that turns out to have a step; a careless one has an apology. I ask it plainly and listen for whether the answer is specific. Independent reviews from disabled travellers are a useful cross-check on whatever an operator tells you ¹.

Get every answer in writing, and ask early

Get all of this in writing and ask it early, because a written confirmation is what resolves a dispute at the desk, and early questions give people time to check rather than guess. A verbal promise is almost impossible to enforce in another country, whereas an email confirming a roll-in shower, a booked assistance reference or a battery declaration gives you something concrete to hold up when reality does not match ⁴. Keep it all in one place, on paper as well as on your phone.

Ask early for a second reason: some answers set your whole timeline. Assistance is a 48 hour job, but assistance dog paperwork takes months and holiday dialysis is often 2 to 3 months ahead, so the questions that unlock those need asking first ⁴. And if a hotel or operator simply cannot give you specifics, treat that as its own answer, usually a warning that the feature is not there. How all these questions sit within the wider planning sequence is laid out in the accessible travel guide.

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General guidance, not individual advice. Rights, provision and terms vary by country, airline, hotel and operator and change over time, so always confirm the current specifics in writing with each provider before you book and rely on them.