Paul. I think your advice is all good. I took my scooter round the
world. Flew from London to LA, then from LA to Auckland. Spent a month
in NZ and then caught a ship back. We called at numerous ports
including Sydney, Brisbane, Shanghai, Hong Kong, a couple in Vietnam,
Inida, Dubai, Muscat, Sharm el Sheik, Tripoli, Lisbon etc etc.- and
this included going ashore in several places by ship's tender. rarely
did we call at a decent passenger terminal !

I didn't use the scooter much in NZ because we had a car, but it was
invaluable at Heathrow, LAX and Auckland airports. At all these places
I was impressed by the willingness of people to help. On the ship
inclines were quite a problem due to the variations in the gangplank,
but fortunately there was always somebody to help if the gangplank was
not goable. Rough ground was very difficult if not impossible and the
only way to get up kerbs was to lift the scooter up. We had a terrible
time in Dubai city for this reason and found it impossible to go more
than abot 100 yards from the coach in Shanghai.

I regard the ability to climb a moderately steep incline as essential
(mine failed at about 20/25 degrees). Also even in enlightened
coutries kerbs are a reality and have to be negotiated somehow. If you
are travelling portability is a necessity and therefore weight is a
factor. Rough ground (paving, rough cast concrete block etc) can stop
you going more than a few yards and I therefore feel that pneumatic
tyres or a suspension system coupled with good ground clearance (as
you say) are also very important.
This said, my feeling is that if you can get all these features in a
scooter, you will pay for them.

Peter