Sally Allen: What a nightmare travelling is these days!

I have only been on holiday once since, my husband and I, moved back to Torquay in 2012 after almost 40 years away.
That was to the South of France, where my brother and his wife had a home in Mougins. We made the bad choice of flying from Bristol via Easy Jet. This was when my husband was more mobile, but the travel part of the trip was, as appears to be normal these days, positively ghastly.
I thought that Bristol airport was more like flying from a third world country and I would never ever fly Easy Jet again! I prefer the extra drive time to Heathrow, which is also a zoo, but a better organised one.
After this trip we decided that we would be unlikely to travel again and so, I would indulge my passion for dogs instead. I have big dogs, and they are not suited to be stuck in kennels and even if they were small ones, I would also find it very difficult to leave them in what is normally a concrete cell.
However, life changes. In September, my brother’s wife very sadly died, and my brother, who has terminal cancer, came to live with us.
The three of us decided that it would be a good idea to go back to Cannes where we have all spent many happy holidays.
My builders/friends, known as the angels, offered to look after the dogs and the house while we were away. So far so good.
My brother booked the flights from Heathrow and requested special assistance for himself and my husband, whose mobility is quite restricted now. Special assistance means wheelchairs and help from when you arrive at the airport until you get on the plane and then the other end to be met at the aircraft door with a wheelchair and pushed to your car or however you are continuing your onward journey.
Sounds perfect and fail-safe.
Sadly, things never work out as they should. However, I don’t believe in promising customers something if it can’t be delivered, whatever the reason, particularly if it has knock-on affects to someone’s health. If you promise - you should deliver. End of story.
When we arrived a Terminal 5 at Heathrow, there were no wheelchairs. Frankly I have no idea what someone does if they don’t have one able-bodied person with them to act as a 'runner'. I made sure that my brother and husband had seats before I went from pillar to post, bounced back from one British Airways staff member to another. No pre-booked wheelchairs.
I then found that the only way to access the chairs was after check-in. No easy process there either as I had two trolleys and only one pair of hands, and of course, these days they don’t even help with the luggage.
No doubt our fault for having any luggage - particularly as heavy as ours! After I had finished the weightlifting and we were checked-in, we had to sit in a designated area to be picked up by the wheelchairs and their attendants. After the security checks, we got on the flight to our destination.
After a lovely eight days in scorching sun, we then had to make our return trip. On arrival at Nice airport - no wheelchairs and no obvious place to get them.
I promise you that during this trip I have walked a few marathons! It is impossible to wait in a queue if you are disabled and have nowhere to sit.
These are major problems to anyone with walking or standing problems.
To make a very long story short, eventually I managed to get two wheelchairs with attendants, and we got through security and into the departure lounge, where we then found that the flight was delayed for two hours. We never found out why.
On reaching Heathrow, as is normal, we had to wait until everyone had disembarked so that the wheelchairs would be waiting at the door of the plane. There were five people needing wheelchairs and none to be found - and they had all been pre-booked!
At this point several tempers were frayed. I mentioned to a member of BA staff that it was a ridiculous situation and she told me it was normal and happened every time. Eventually, we managed to secure one wheelchair and attendant, and I grabbed another from an attendant talking on the phone!
The moral of this story is that travel these days is not for the faint-hearted or for the disabled. There really should be much more thought given to the plight of those who are not abled-bodied. I am not sure I could face the drama again!
The aviation management should try booking a holiday as a lowly member of the public with a wheelchair and see how difficult and dreadful the experience is.