Disabled Person Holiday Discussions

Are you disabled or know someone who is? What are your experiences of hotels and resorts as a disabled person?
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Just got back from holiday last week and i had difficulty finding a price for disabled parking at Manchester, so that must explain the reason. In the end we used the Manchester Airport Valet parking service and found it to be excellent. It cost £60 for a week pre-booked. The car park is right next door to the entrance of the terminal. You leave your car keys with them and they move your car to an off-site secure park and have it ready for your return. I would definitely use them again.
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I can see no reason to complain at having to pay the same as physically able people. You are getting a larger parking space and in a more convenient position. Why should the disabled get it cheaper?

By the way I am disabled.

Patka
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I quite agree with you Patka - I'm grateful for the added convenience etc that my Mum derives from her 'Blue Badge' but see no reason why she shouldn't pay the same as everybody else. Yes, I know that a lot of disabled people are reliant on benefits as their only source of income but lots of other people are also living on low or fixed incomes who still have to budget for the full parking fee. The Disabilty Rights movement has been campaigining hard to ensure that those with disabilities can lead as normal a life as possible and that includes being treated the same as the able-bodied in ALL ways. It doesn't include being able to pick and choose when we want to be 'normal' and when we want to be 'special' is my Mum's view and I can see her point.

SM
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Regardless of the rights and wrongs, it is handy for people to be aware of :tup
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patka: its not a complaint its a post to inform people

sma: some peoples disablity doesn't allow them to pick and choose

thanks fiona that was the whole point of the posting
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Am I not right in thinking that you can still Park on the Short Term Car Park at the same rate as the long term Shuttle Car Park Rate? Thats what we've always done when taking our Disabled Son away.

Best Regards - Taggy
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you can still park opposite in the short stay disable parking but were before at easter i paid £37 for a weeks disabled parking straight opposite terminal 2 but the same disabled parking is now £78
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If you are going to have to pay that much I recommend the Valet Parking it costs £60 for a week. It is right next to the doors and they will get a porter for you to help with luggage. When we returned the porter helped us right to our car. They move your car to their secure parking and have it waiting for you when you come back. We have booked them again for next month.
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i have heard about this before so i think im going to give it a try, do they meet you at the terminal doors
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They have a small car park and office next door to the main entrance to terminal 1. There is a map on the Manchester airport website. I think it is the Arrivals door so you have to use the big lifts to take you up to departures. There is a disabled parking space next to the office. As soon as we pulled in they came out to meet us. You leave them your car keys and they have your car waiting when you return. We didn`t need help with our bags as we had friends with us. It is a very short walk to the entrance. When we returned we had a porter who pushed my chair and took us right back to the car. The people in the office were very helpful and can arrange for a porter to help with your luggage if you need it. I would make sure you mention you are disabled when you book.
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Yep, you are definately correct, i've just made a "token" enquiry for the future with regards to the parking and was told of the increase and the person i spoke to said they dont offer the reduced rate on the short term car park any more as all the car parks offer disabled parking. They quoted £70 for 6 days. They did say also that they could'nt guarantee a disabled parking space would be available even if pre-booked and we might have to use an "ordinary" bay!...Dont know if thats fact or if i just got a disinterested "numpty" when i rang, because she certainly would'nt have won any customer service awards with her attitude, i got the feeling i'd just woke her up!! On the subject of why disabled people should not have to pay the same as more able bodied people for parking, i think it amounts to basic common decency really...precious little of which seems to be in great supply these days..help for people less fortunate than oneselves!...As stated there are a lot of people on low fixed incomes other than Disabled people, however they usually have the benefit of more freedom and flexibility of choice due to their health and mobility not placing additional limitations on them as well as financial. Disabled People and their Carers are right at the bottom of the pecking order for services and benefits. Public transport usually isnt an option for them. The Carers benefit is the Lowest Benefit in the UK...insisting that people look after someone for over 35 hours for jusy over 50 quid, so its not just the disabled person themselves thats penalised but their family too. Disabled people are not able to get Winter Fuel allowance either unless they are pensioners also, in a lot of cases they cant claim income support either, because the benefit they do get it pitched a few pence over the qualifying level. But more than anything i think we have a "moral" obligation to help people who are less fortunate than most of us through no fault of there own, and if that means giving them a tiny finnancial "perk" occasionally then i'm all for that....I have a heck of a lot of experience of what disability means and can do to a person and indeed the whole family, and am very grateful indeed for my own health.

Best Regards - Taggy
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Nicely said. I am flying from terminal 3 at Manchester in October and 6 days parking is £49.00 on a on site multi storey which according to them is a 1 minute walk through a overhead walkway in to departures. So i think i will book this
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Let's get back to the original post -
have just tried to book a weeks disabled parking at Manchester airport only to be told that is as gone up from £37.50 to £78.00. The reason according to the person i spoke to was because the government as told them that 20% of the parking as to be disabled bays so to get the money back off them they have decided to charge the disabled the same price as as physically fit people

The car park owners whoever they are, were quite happy it seems to provide SOME reduced price parking for the disabled, but then the 'government' insisted on the provision of 20% disabled places. With that percentage now mandatory, I can fully understand why the car park company has stopped the concession - it comes down to economics.

Seems to me that the disability rights movement has shot themselves, (or those they represent), in the feet (pun not intended), by pressuring the government to make unreasonable demands of the car park industry.

You can't blame the car park operators for trying to stay in business, and they are not responsible for the levels of benefit paid to disabled people, that's down to the government.

My wife is disabled and receives no benefit, only a blue badge. We do not expect free or reduced price parking anywhere, being nearer to where want want to be is sufficient, plus the usually wider bays.

Peter
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No body is blaming them, as stated in an earlier post this was put on here to inform people and i dont no what the amount of benefits someone gets as got to do with parking at an airport

quote="Peter of York"]Let's get back to the original post -
have just tried to book a weeks disabled parking at Manchester airport only to be told that is as gone up from £37.50 to £78.00. The reason according to the person i spoke to was because the government as told them that 20% of the parking as to be disabled bays so to get the money back off them they have decided to charge the disabled the same price as as physically fit people

The car park owners whoever they are, were quite happy it seems to provide SOME reduced price parking for the disabled, but then the 'government' insisted on the provision of 20% disabled places. With that percentage now mandatory, I can fully understand why the car park company has stopped the concession - it comes down to economics.

Seems to me that the disability rights movement has shot themselves, (or those they represent), in the feet (pun not intended), by pressuring the government to make unreasonable demands of the car park industry.

You can't blame the car park operators for trying to stay in business, and they are not responsible for the levels of benefit paid to disabled people, that's down to the government.

My wife is disabled and receives no benefit, only a blue badge. We do not expect free or reduced price parking anywhere, being nearer to where want want to be is sufficient, plus the usually wider bays.

Peter
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As far as i know we have only the word of the Car Park Operator with regards to the Government forcing them to provide 20% of car parking space for the disabled. Has anyone seen this legislation/ruling? My feeling is, until i see this in black and white, its purely a ploy on behalf of the operator to make extra profits. They are also supposed to allow access to vehicles upto 2.6 mtrs high, to allow access for high sided wheelchair access vehicles, yet the Short Stay car park at terminal 1 has a height restriction of only 6ft! The concession that they allowed before was for Disabled people to use this Car Park at the same price that more able bodied people paid for the "Shuttle Car Park" which for many Disabled People was NOT Accessible to them, also are they going to fully monitor the car parks and ensure that people who arnt entittled to use disabled parking dont abuse the system and guarantee a Disabled Parking Space for someone who needs one...No they are not! The reference to the amount of Benefits that Disabled people and their carers receive, was relevent to the comment a previous poster made about other people being on fixed incomes. My point was that on the whole Disabled People and their "Family" Carers are discriminated against finanncially and otherwise more than almost any other group of people. Both my Parents were Wheelchair dependant and could'nt walk at all. My Son is also wheelchair dependant, cant walk, and only has the use of one hand. Obviously there are people much worse off than them, equally there are people who as you say have use of a Blue Badge, but their Disability is more minor, so they wont receive disability benefits because they are able to work. Why is it that if someone is getting something at a reduced rate to someone else, the attitude of some people is that they are "Getting away with something" Moral responsibility should come before greed, trust me, this car park operator is not going to go out of business by providing on site disabled parking! Things were much better before when you actually dealt with someone who was actually on site. The people you speak to now are all located in Scotland...until of course they muck your booking up (happened 3 times with us), then you finally get a number at Manchester Airport to ring!

Best Regards - Taggy
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