Broken foot before flying

[gazzie]

I recently broke my foot in a sporting accident and underwent surgery last week. Thankfully all went well and the doctor has given me the all clear to fly to Europe next week (albeit with blood-thinning injections to reduce the risk of DVT). He also mentioned that I will be pretty uncomfortable if I am unable to stretch out my affected leg and suggested I put in a wheelchair request, which we have done.

We are flying Qantas/BA and then Finnair to Europe. My travel agent has contacted the airlines and neither are willing to upgrade us (the bulkhead seats are also full).

Is there any other way of obtaining an upgrade, either cheaply or free?

Cheers,
gazzie

 

[jamesatfish]

Firstly, welcome to AFF.

Unfortunately airlines in general don't tend to just give away upgrades, and as you can understand I'm sure that most airline staff have heard pretty much every story / excuse / trick in the book from people who are trying to score an upgrade at no cost. That's not to say your medical issue isn't genuine, and that you wouldn't be more comfortable in a higher travel class, but you're not likely to get very far by calling the airlines or your travel agent and simply asking for a free upgrade on the basis of your injury.

Keep in mind too that a wheelchair request is just for assistance on the ground - the wheelchair only takes you to/from the aircraft door and having a wheelchair request won't necessarily improve your seating allocation once on the aircraft.

Your best option is to make use of the advance seat selection option online for your flights, and keep checking the available seats as the flight gets closer as more comfortable seats may open up along the way. 80 hours and 24 hours before your flight departs are key milestones in the seat availability process where previously blocked seats can be opened up so check back after those two points especially.

You don't mention which specific flights you are taking, what class you're booked in, what seats you have allocated currently or whether you have status with OneWorld, but if you provide those details there are any number of forum participants who have access to check the passenger loads and seat allocations for your specific flights and may be willing to provide other suggestions for seats that might suit better given your injury.

At the end of the day however, if you really need to fly in a higher travel class to survive the trip the only way to guarantee that is to pay the additional fare and rebook your ticket.

 

[serfty]

...

Keep in mind too that a wheelchair request is just for assistance on the ground - the wheelchair only takes you to/from the aircraft door and having a wheelchair request won't necessarily improve your seating allocation once on the aircraft. ...

From what I have see, having a wheelchair request will result in the PAX being wheeled all the way to their seat which is invariably an aisle seat where the left hand armrest lifts up allowing 'sliding' access to the Aisle.

In economy this is characteristic of most "D" seats.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I recently broke my foot in a sporting accident and underwent surgery last week. Thankfully all went well and the doctor has given me the all clear to fly to Europe next week (albeit with blood-thinning injections to reduce the risk of DVT). He also mentioned that I will be pretty uncomfortable if I am unable to stretch out my affected leg and suggested I put in a wheelchair request, which we have done.

I would be contacting QF Special Handling department (via QF Reservations) to check if you need medical clearance to travel. If this is the case, your Doctor would need to fax a medical clearance form to Special Handling in order for you to be deemed 'fit for travel'. I would also contact contact any other airlines involved & advise them of your circumstances to see if special clearance needs to be obtained ahead of time.

Call the airlines & ask them to put in a request for a wheelchair. Generally speaking they use the code WCHR if you only need the wheelchair to the aircraft door & are okay to walk short distances eg to your seat. If you need the wheelchair all the way to your seat they'll use the code WCHC so you'd need to be in an aisle chair which is a wheelchair narrow enough to go down the aisle of the plane as the armrests on the chair fold back behind the seat. At the same time ask if they can do your seat allocation now.

If you have a request in for a wheelchair you will get a better selection of seats available to you (QF) so even if you can allocate one now, keep checking closer to departure eg 80 hours prior to travel as several pax may use their frequent flyer points to pay for an upgrade to business class which is done the day prior to departure thus possible freeing up forward seats in the economy cabin for you.

Are you able to stopover for a night enroute as a break of journey overnight would probably more comfortable than going all the way to Europe in the one day?

 

[UP4014]

And forget getting an exit row if you have a wheel chair request :mrgreen: