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Flying with Hearing Loss

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I wrote this post a few years ago when I was unaware of my hearing loss and how it affected my life. I edited it and had it critiqued, and I’d love to hear what you think of it.

Have you ever missed a flight or train because of hearing loss? Do you ask for assistance when you book a flight? What are your do’s and don’ts when it comes to traveling with hearing loss?

When I Missed A Flight Due To My Hearing Impairment34

I explained that I’m hard-of-hearing. But I was blatantly told that the gate was already closed and nothing could be done.

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Wow; quite a story! Your writing kept me very focused on the events, and I strongly identified with your missing important details due to hearing loss! I haven’t had a travel experience like yours but I have misunderstood important things for sure.

Thanks for sharing this, Zeeza!

Flying alone with hearing loss is sometimes quite stressful! Most airport does support ’s passenger nor any sign board that announced departure hall changes. When you reached the end of the walkway (big airport) then you see a change of departure gate change! Only when you are at the gate of departure with other passenger then you have a peace of mind.

I would suggest the following:-

  1. print a few copies of the flight schedule and keep looking until you reach the departure gate
  2. check the flight schedule every now and then
  3. look for airport assistance. They are the right person to guide you to the departure hall. They have an Apps in hand that link to the flight departure/gates of the day.
  4. Put the departure date into your calendar/alarm (4-5 hours before departure).
  5. Used money payment Apps such as Alipay or 2 Visa cards inside Apple wallet plus some cash (just in case). In Asia, more and more countries are moving towards cashless. Pay by Phone Apps.
  6. Do not be shy, the road ahead is in your mouth

Just my 2 cents!

Edited

I’ve been traveling with hearing loss since 2010. I always tell the travel agent to mark my tickets /deaf. I lost my aids on a ferry on the way to Orkney Island, leaving me very hard of hearing for remainder of our trip.

I use a Qantas pay card when traveling (debit/credit card) I load the card with all currencies I will need while I’m away. These currency cards are a great way to travel, you don’t have to carry excess cash on your person.

Living in Australia I’ve always flown overnight for the longer leg (usually into Dubai, (well that is until some dip stick of a ginger bread man doesn’t start a war) for those of you who don’t know Emirates have a 24 hour stop over, hotel & breakfast is included in your airfare. You just need to be out of the room before your 24 hours expires. But not the hotel.

When traveling overnight I always tell the cabin crew I’m deaf with a cochlear implant. That I remove my hearing devices over night. Should the need arises that I have to move, someone in the crew will have to gently shake me awake. Otherwise I sleep 2/3rd of the way to Dubai. Being deaf does have it advantages when traveling overnight.

Well I LOVED that engrossing summary of your travel “miss-” adventures! :wink:

Luckily, I seem to always have hubs with me as my extra “ears” when I travel here or abroad. But in my dotage, (just turned 71 TODAY), I am no longer reticent or hesitant to tell ANYONE in my vicinity that I wear hearing aids - often whipping one out my ear to show them: a fuschia pink Phonak 312 or a Caribbean Pirate teal-colored one. LOVE my aids!! They are like jewelry to me.

Yes, it’s good to have tools to use just to have a backup to critical details. I use FlightAware to keep track of my flight’s time and gate number. But honestly, WHY OH WHY can’t airlines not only have the “Arrivals” and “Departures” boards all over, but EACH AND EVERY GATE put a frickin’ SIGN on a TV monitor: Flight 319 Reno NV to Los Angeles, CA departing 2:19pm.

WHY? It’s stupid to make communication of such critical info so difficult! On top of which, we have the usual 12th hour panics - f’instance, leaving Istanbul coming back to the US, we were strolling the terminal when we heard our gate change announced - over the ROAR of human traffic and ambient noise at this humongous airport. - to a completely different terminal, which entailed us RUNNING fast as we could to get there. We’ve had similar gate changes at SFO, where we ran PELL MELL from one terminal to another, only to find out we had 3 minutes to run right back to the terminal we’d fled, cuz the gate changed twice. WE MISSED THE FLIGHT. So we were sent outside the airport, and had to re-enter and go through security alllllll over again. There was no signage at these gates to let us know it’d been changed - TWICE in a short period of time.

Same kind of signage would help folks at the doctor’s office. My orthodontist of decades ago had a simple TV monitor in the office that listed patient’s LAST NAME, and number in cue, so you could track your progress to the doctor. Same at the Social Security office where I live now. VERY good signage, and so appreciated by me, even with my mostly-functional Phonaks. These businesses are in business to serve people, and that requires good communication, right? If we just blow off an airline, we’re charged for the ticket. Ditto at doctor’s office. But if they don’t communicate clearly with us, we pay for that, too.

It turns us into apologetic passengers and patients when we ask for something that should be the given right of EVERYONE, no matter their health or disibility. I applaud you for sharing your personal experiences and thoughtful analysis of the situation. You take responsibility and THEN SOME for these events. I’d just say, use the tools you can to stay on track, go ahead and share that hearing challenge with EVERYONE - they have their own life’s challenges to deal with, and really could care less about what we may be trying to hide.

I feel liberated sharing my colorful aids and hearing challenges with folks - telling hotels or lifeguards or places when the aids are OUT and I’m on my own that you could set off an M-80 and I’d sleep or swim right through it. That usually cracks them up, but I’m dead serious!

Thanks for sharing your journey!

@birdcountry99 Thanks for reading and commenting! :slight_smile:

@danka Thanks for all the tips!

@Deaf_piper Does Emirates refer to the airline company? I didn’t know that! Thanks for all the tips! And I liked how you described that *some dip stick of a ginger bread man*. :)))

@1Bluejay Happy Birthday!!! I wish you health, wellbeing and peace!

Thanks for reading and sharing your flight experiences!

@1Bluejay said:

for something that should be the given right of EVERYONE, no matter their health or disibility.

I totally agree with all you mentioned!

In reply to @Zeeza

@Zeeza said:

Does Emirates refer to the airline company?

Yes Emirates is the airline. The main airline of the UAE.

@user490 said:

Emirates Dubai Connect program

@user490 we have always used the overnight stopover with Emirates. I didn’t know it was called Dubai connect program. Thank you I will read that tomorrow when I’m more alert. It’s bedtime downunder.

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