Flying in Your Golden Years: The Airport Help You’re Entitled To — and How to Ask for It

You don’t have to struggle through an airport just because you’re getting older.

Many travelers never learn that real, practical help exists at the airport — help with walking long distances, help through security, help boarding the plane — and that much of it is your right, not a favor. Some of it is free. Some of it simply has to be asked for.

This guide lays out exactly what is available to U.S. travelers, who qualifies, and how to request each service — with the honest qualifications most travel sites leave out.

1. Wheelchair and guided assistance: entrance to airplane seat

Under the Air Carrier Access Act, U.S. airlines are required to assist passengers with disabilities from the terminal entrance, through check-in and security, to the departure gate, onto the aircraft, and to their seat. Airlines also provide guided assistance navigating the airport — including connections — and boarding assistance to your seat.

The qualifications, stated plainly:

• This is a disability-based right. It covers difficulty walking long distances and other mobility impairments — but it is not automatic because someone is 65+.
• You must request it from your airline — ideally when you book, or through the airline’s accessibility desk afterward.
• It is a legal duty the airline owes on request — not a paid extra.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Air Carrier Access Act guidance.

Preboarding: if you self-identify as a passenger with a disability who needs additional time or assistance, you may board before other passengers. Just let the gate agent know.

2. TSA Cares: a free helping hand through security

TSA Cares is a TSA program that connects travelers with disabilities or medical conditions — and their companions — with a Passenger Support Specialist: a specially trained officer who helps you through the screening process.

• Call at least 72 hours before departure: (855) 787-2227
• The Specialists help with security screening only — they don’t transport you through the airport (that’s the airline assistance in Section 1).
• No fee is charged for this service.

Source: TSA.gov — TSA Cares / Passenger Support Specialists.

Travelers aged 75 and older

TSA provides additional screening considerations for travelers 75+: you can receive some form of expedited screening and may keep your shoes on during screening. Two honest qualifications:

• This is not a guaranteed special security lane.
• A light jacket may still need to come off if you go through the body scanner.

And a 2025 update worth knowing: as of July 8, 2025, the shoes-off requirement ended for all passengers at U.S. airports — so keeping your shoes on is no longer an exclusively senior benefit.

Source: TSA.gov; TSA/DHS announcement, July 8, 2025.

Medical devices and medically necessary liquids

Medically necessary liquids are exempt from the standard 3-1-1 limits in reasonable quantities — declare them at the checkpoint. TSA also provides additional screening procedures and help for passengers traveling with medical devices. Screening is still required, but you do not have to choose between your health needs and your flight.

Source: TSA.gov.

3. Your mobility equipment travels free

Airlines must transport wheelchairs, scooters, and other assistive devices free of charge; the equipment does not count toward your baggage limit, and it must be returned to you in the same condition it was received. Powered devices follow battery and handling rules that vary by airline — check your airline’s assistive-device page before you fly, and arrive a little early on travel day.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation.

4. Senior airfare discounts: the honest answer

Here is where we will not do what most travel sites do. There is no universal senior airfare discount in the United States.

• Southwest does not offer senior fares — it ended them in December 2019.
• Delta and American have, at most, limited senior fares on selected routes that you have to ask for — by phone or, on American, via the “Senior (65+)” option in Advanced Search. There is no published discount percentage, and a senior fare is not guaranteed to be the cheapest fare on the route.

The money-saving move that actually works: compare fares across different travel dates, ask the airline directly about a senior fare for your exact route before you buy, and never assume the senior fare beats a sale fare. Sometimes it will. Often it won’t.

Your before-you-fly checklist

1. Booking the flight? Request wheelchair or guided assistance in the same step — don’t wait.
2. Medical condition or disability and a flight in 3+ days? Call TSA Cares at (855) 787-2227.
3. Traveling with a wheelchair or scooter? Read your airline’s assistive-device rules (especially batteries) and plan an early arrival.
4. Age 65+ and price-shopping? Compare dates, ask the airline about a senior fare for your route, then buy whichever fare is actually lowest.
5. At the gate? If you need extra time boarding, tell the gate agent — preboarding is your right.

The bottom line

The assistance exists. The travelers who get it are the ones who know to ask. If you’re planning a trip for yourself — or helping a parent or loved one plan theirs — start with our free destination guides here at Next Trip Getaways, and pass this page to someone who needs it.

Next Trip Getaways is a travel-planning resource. Program details can change; we verify this guide against the U.S. Department of Transportation, TSA, and airline sources, and we’ve noted those sources throughout.