Accessible travel

California State Parks keeps an accessible-features directory with a Beach/Shore Access filter. A park can be in that filter without lending a beach wheelchair. Read the park's own row.

One example we opened: Monterey State Beach has a beach wheelchair, first-come, first-served, at the Monterey Sector Lifeguard Headquarters, 2211 Garden Road, Monterey, CA 93940. Call (831) 649-2808 ahead of time. That phone is for that park, not for every beach.

The National Park Service accessibility page, updated January 23, 2025, says park websites describe accessible features. Use Find a Park. It is not a trip-planning concierge. The free Access Pass is a section of the going out guide.

As of 2024, the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality uses the name Society for Accessible Tourism and Hospitality. It is an organization that works on accessible travel. The home page we opened does not describe it as a booking desk, so we are not calling it one. Phone 212-447-7284. Email sathinfo@sath.org. Address 90 Prospect Ave #6A, Hackensack, NJ 07601. We are not quoting the counters on that home page.

For airport screening, TSA Cares is already on the getting-around page. Call (855) 787-2227 and read the hours on TSA's page before you fly.

The Air Carrier Access Act makes it illegal for airlines to discriminate against a passenger because of a disability. The U.S. Department of Transportation enforces it on flights of U.S. airlines, and on flights to or from the United States by foreign airlines. The Bill of Rights, published in July 2022, is a summary of the existing rules. DOT says it will update that summary when the rules change. Safety and security laws still apply.

On request, airlines have to give prompt help to board, get off, and connect, and help with seating and with loading and stowing assistive devices. That help has to be safe and dignified. You can ask for information about the specific aircraft, including whether it has an accessible lavatory and where seats with movable aisle armrests are. If you use a wheelchair for boarding, the airline must give you limits on level-entry boarding even if you did not ask. Airlines cannot leave a passenger who is not independently mobile unattended in a wheelchair for more than 30 minutes. They must not hand-carry a passenger on or off a plane except in an emergency.

If something goes wrong at the airport, ask for a Complaint Resolution Official. You can also file a complaint with DOT. DOT says it is pausing enforcement of four newer requirements while it decides whether to change them: liability when a wheelchair is not returned in the condition it was received, how often refresher training is required, a pre-departure notice about complaint rights, and reimbursement of a fare difference when a chair would not fit. The rest of the disability rules stay in force. Read the traveling page for the current pause before you rely on one of those four.