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IOM airport assistance

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tracynguyen

Member
May 8, 2019
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Hi everyone,

My mom cannot speak English and she is going to travel to Calgary by herself. My friend told me about IOM airport assistance and look for review but I cannot see comments about this service.

Anybody ever used this, could you please share your experience?

Thank you!
 
tracynguyen said:
Hi everyone,

My mom cannot speak English and she is going to travel to Calgary by herself. My friend told me about IOM airport assistance and look for review but I cannot see comments about this service.

Anybody ever used this, could you please share your experience?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

I've never heard of IOM airport assistance. However people arrive at the airport all of the time cannot speak English or have limited English capabilities. Immigration and customs have officers who can speak many languages and can translate. This is a perfectly normal and everyday occurence at a major airport.
 
Hi
Thanks for your prompt reply, I am too much worried about the custom procedure , especially YVR airport. But this is her first trip ever and she doesn't know how to get to the next boarding gate. Assistant to escort her is what I am seeking for. Do you have any tips or advices for her case?? I really really appreciate it.

Thanks
 
Give a short letter to your mom. In bullet form list her name, language spoken, reason she is visiting, how long, name and contact of person meeting her. Don't write out her life story, customs only needs the pertinent details of why she is here.
Connecting flight information

Have the agent that checks her in put a comment beside her name. No English/Connecting flight info. Whether or not they will escort someone is really up to that individual airline. Typically airlines charge for that for unaccompanied minors. When I worked at the airport, people typically requested wheel chair assistance, HOWEVER this does not mean they will become your mothers porter etc. They will just take her from gate to gate, but that is really up to the airline. Some passengers expect that the airline will have a agent sit with the passenger until boarding, take them to the washroom, get them something to eat..etc..etc. etc. That doesn't happen. If the passenger wants that, they want to pay for another person to fly with them.

Note, I have never heard of a company called IOM. Maybe it is a local company in the originating airport
 
Last edited:
Copingwithlife said:
Give a short letter to your mom. In bullet form list her name, language spoken, reason she is visiting, how long, name and contact of person meeting her. Don't write out her life story, customs only needs the pertinent details of why she is here.
Connecting flight information

Have the agent that checks her in put a comment beside her name. No English/Connecting flight info. Whether or not they will escort someone is really up to that individual airline. Typically airlines charge for that for unaccompanied minors. When I worked at the airport, people typically requested wheel chair assistance, HOWEVER this does not mean they will become your mothers porter etc. They will just take her from gate to gate, but that is really up to the airline. Some passengers expect that the airline will have a agent sit with the passenger until boarding, take them to the washroom, get them something to eat..etc..etc. etc. That doesn't happen. If the passenger wants that, they want to pay for another person to fly with them.

Note, I have never heard of a company called IOM. Maybe it is a local company in the originating airport
Click to expand...

IOM is the International Organization for Migration - https://www.iom.int/
 
I am thinking about wheelchair service but still hesitant with some negative comments about that. Thanks so much for sharing the info which is very helpful.
 
Copingwithlife said:
They would not provide the service in Canada . If the o/p mom is travelling on Air Canada then onto Calgary, only AC agents are allowed to provide any wheel chair and or assistance . It’s there work scope as defined in their contract
Click to expand...

It seemed that people didn't know what IOM was, so no suggestion from me that they wheel people around airports - they have a huge, challenging mandate through the United Nations trying to bring order in areas of near utter chaos. They're always hiring
 
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Reactions: bellaluna
I think you are right. I just called IOM and in the mean time, they just support passengers going to US. Thanks for your info.
 
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