Book Accessible Travel Without Missing a Lead Time — Free
A journey needing assistance has several bookings with different lead times: airline assistance is often booked days ahead, accessible taxis may be limited, and hotel accessibility confirmations are worth getting in writing. One forgotten lead time turns into a journey that is technically booked and practically difficult.
The proof surface
Free path: the tool computes locally in this browser with no key and no account. Where an AI step helps, any free chat assistant works — free tiers exist (Google AI Studio, Groq), but plans and limits change, so check the provider's own page. No third-party service is claimed here as verified: UNCONFIRMED — model has no browsing access this session.
Why the flat version breaks
A ticket confirmation says the seat is booked and says nothing about the assistance, the taxi or the room. Counting each requirement back from the journey date produces a schedule where the constrained bookings start first.
How to use the accessible travel lead-time gauge in four passes
Airline, rail and ferry assistance rules have specific notice periods, and some are absolute. Enter the operator's figure rather than a general assumption, and note where you found it.
Adapted taxis, accessible rooms and companion tickets are the ones that run out. A ticket can usually be changed; a ground-floor room or a particular vehicle often cannot.
A phone call that says it is booked is not a booking you can show at a station. Save the confirmation with the date in the note column.
Confirm the return assistance and any transfer again a few days before travelling. Re-running the gauge moves the remaining start dates to the top.
SAMPLE DATA, NOT A VERIFIED CLAIM: the starter record is a solo rail and taxi journey with six requirements, including a fourteen-day assistance request and a twelve-day equipment delivery. Replace these values with your own source before you rely on anything.
What breaks first
Buying the ticket first
Tickets are usually flexible about assistance and rooms are not. Booking the transport before checking the accommodation can leave a journey that cannot be completed at the far end.
Assuming assistance booked once covers every leg
Assistance is booked per flight or per leg and sometimes per terminal. Note each leg separately on the gauge so nothing is assumed to carry over.
Carrying a power chair without documenting the carriage
Battery type, weight and carriage arrangements often need to be declared in advance, and undeclared equipment can be refused at the gate. Book it and keep the confirmation.
What you pay otherwise
| The usual route | What it leaves out | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| A missed assistance booking | A journey that is booked and cannot practically be made, plus the cost of rearranging it | the journey |
| An accessible taxi at short notice | Premium or unavailable, and a station wait in poor weather | 2× the booked fare |
| A travel agent's accessible booking service | Fee for making the same calls you can date on a gauge | $50–$200 a trip |
| This page + the free accessible travel lead-time gauge | Computed in your tab, result on screen before you type anything | $0 |
Try the free accessible travel lead-time gauge right here
Load the starter journey and shorten the assistance lead time to 3 days to see how late that request becomes.
FIRST-LOAD · sample record filed
Take it into the free accessible travel lead-time gauge
The companion app runs the same logic with a numbered intake, three starter records, a stateful share link, the one-time printable layer, and the local history shelf.
Open the free accessible travel lead-time gauge →Keep the work if you will use it again
The full gauge: every requirement dated, sorted by start date, with the tightest and longest lead times called out, unlimited re-runs.
The on-screen result is free and complete. The one-time layer adds a tangible file you keep and the saved history that comes with it.
Boundary: This schedules bookings you make; it does not verify any operator's assistance rules, vehicle specifications or accessibility claims. Assistance entitlements, carriage rules and room standards differ by operator and jurisdiction — confirm each one in writing with the provider and, where an entitlement is refused, use the operator's complaint process and the relevant enforcement body.