Tips for Traveling With Hearing Aids
Whether you’re getting together with family over the holidays or planning a relaxing vacation, traveling with hearing impairments can be a challenge. Doing it well can be the difference between an enjoyable, meaningful experience or having a difficult time. Whether you’re traveling by plane, car, boat or train, there are some good pieces of advice that a professional audiologist can offer if you talk to them before you leave.
See a Pro Before You Go
Before departing on a trip lasting more than a day or two, see your audiologist to have your devices professionally checked and maintained to help prevent any sudden failures or other issues with your hearing aids. Having an updated hearing test is a great idea too. This is a good time to have any adjustments made that can optimize your hearing aid performance and help with travel, particularly by plane.
Book an appointment with the Chicagoland audiologists at Prescription Hearing today!
Traveling in Airplanes with Hearing Aids
Airplanes can be tricky if you have hearing aids. From what to pack (and where) to how to prep your devices, here are some tips to make the trip less stressful so you can enjoy the friendly skies:
Know Your Rights & Self Identify
The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 makes it illegal for airlines to discriminate against travelers because of a disability. However, if the staff is unaware of a disability, they may be very helpful to you. For that reason, it’s important to let them know. With the staff having an understanding of your hearing loss, you’ll be able to better navigate many of the complexities of airline travel. A few other tips to ease your air travel stress include:
- Contact the airline and self-identify as having hearing loss for better accommodations – this bears repeating
- Keep your hearing devices in – they’re easy to lose if taken out and it will be harder to hear important announcements
- Choose an aisle seat if possible to better see safety instructions
- Sign up for text alerts to rely less on P.A. announcements
- Arrive to the airport with plenty of time to spare
In the Terminal & On the Plane
- Communicate with Airline Staff: they can give important flight updates and safety information directly to you.
- Wear Hearing Devices through TSA Screenings: inform the staff of your devices and the TSA agent will understand why systems may be triggered by the devices, giving you the all clear.
- Download the airline or airport’s app: these services provide live flight announcements in text formats to mobile devices
- Download Entertainment on a Personal Device: many airlines offer free entertainment like movies and TV shows, but occasionally the headphones they provide won’t work well with your hearing
- devices. It’s best to have things you’d like to watch downloaded onto your mobile device so that you can watch in airplane mode. Or bring a book! Streaming audio through your hearing aids can cut down on battery life, anyway.
- Keep Your Hearing Aids on During the Flight: when asked to stow electronic devices, that does not include hearing aids, because they don’t interfere with the plane’s various systems.
Packing Essentials for Traveling with Hearing Aids
Being prepared isn’t just for the Boy Scouts. You should pack all the things you need to take care of and maintain your hearing devices – plus some redundancies – in case the unexpected happens. If flying and checking a bag, it’s paramount that you pack the essentials in a bag that never leaves your sight while traveling.
That means carry-on luggage is the primary place where hearing device accessories should be kept. DO NOT pack important gear like chargers, accessories, cleaning kits or carrying cases in checked bags…if those get misplaced, you could be in for some trouble.
Keep the following in a carry-on that you can easily access:
- Spare Batteries/Power Supply: pressure changes in a plane’s cabin, for instance, can cause batteries to drain more quickly. Lithium batteries are required to be in a carry-on rather than a checked bag.
- Cleaning/Maintenance Kit: this is something that you’ll want close at hand, even if you won’t use them on travel day. A cleaning kit can be hard to come by if it gets lost with the rest of your luggage.
- Hearing Aid Case: when removing hearing aids, it’s paramount to place them directly into a carrying case kept in your accessible luggage. This prevents you from leaving them in places like seat pockets or on surfaces in waiting areas.
- Hearing Aid Accessories: Keep anything you may need during your transport close at hand in a carry-on style bag, like headphones, microphones or additional domes.
Other things that can go your luggage include:
- Additional backup chargers: chargers are allowable in checked luggage, but not batteries. Rechargeable batteries are lithium based, which means they have to stay in a carry-on.
- A valet tray: these are useful for storing hearing devices on nightstands while you sleep. Having a designated place where you keep hearing aids and accessories helps prevent misplacement.
- A drying kit/dehumidifier: in the event you go someplace warm or tropical, humidity in those places can negatively affect the performance of your hearing devices. Pack a drying kit to help offset those effects and keep your aids working well.
- Travel adapter: when traveling internationally, be prepared for the different types of outlets you may encounter
Planning on Traveling this Season? Talk to An Audiologist First
If you’re going out of town for an extended period of time, be sure to check in and discuss your plans with your certified audiologist before you go. The audiologists at Prescription Hearing are ready to help you make the most of your vacation and to help remove the stress that comes with traveling with hearing aids.
Contact our team of audiologists before you go on a trip, and take the stress out of traveling with hearing aids.
