UKC

Just over a week ago whilst cycling Zurich to Munich, I clipped in, fell and broke my ankle quite badly. German care is fantastic though and they've kept me in to reduce complications/infection. Anyway, I'm due for release next week and need to organise flight back. No insurance (other than EU medical card to cover treatment) so can't go hiring private jet or anything. Anyone got experience of doing similar? Challenge is getting seat where I can stretch leg, etc. likely flight will be Munich to B'ham

Thanks

In reply to FrankBooth:
You should be able to get a door area seat if you ring the airline and explain well before at no extra charge. If for some reason these are already allocated to people with a need for them and you need to get a different flight and possibly cover it yourself. Are you certain you have no applicable insurance? Like a bolt on to home insurance or an upsell on the ticket? Answers to such questions can take upwards of half a day to sort out so do it sooner rather than later and preferably by phone. IME some airlines customer service by email is great and some is abysmal.

my bad: I read your post as though you already had a return flight for certain? If you do look at the clauses for changing the flight due to injury/illness.

In reply to FrankBooth:

It's a pity you're not flying to the USA - I've heard that if you arrive in a wheelchair you get shunted straight through Immigration while everybody else fumes for hours.

In reply to FrankBooth:

May have difficulty being allocated a door seat, they require people to be fully mobile to open the emergency door and not to obstruct the escape route.

If you can blag a wheelchair and crutches they may sort you out with priority boarding.

In reply to FrankBooth: phone the airline and they'll likely stick you in 1 c or d.

In reply to FrankBooth:

ring the airline. They may allocate you an emergency seat (there's other able bodied people in the seats either side so it's not essential you can do much) or they may allow you to sit in one of the crew seats (by the doors facing backwards usually) other than take off or landing.

Shock horror, they actually do have plans for stuff like this and are the best to advise....but UKC users never think to ask experts first.

In reply to FrankBooth:

Nope, no chance of an emergency exit seat.

In reply to FrankBooth:
I'm sure the hospital will be on to this but remember it may be problematic flying with a plaster on your leg/any part. so make sure its either a removable back-slab or just bandaged etc. Check with the airline. Wishing you a speedy recovery

In reply to ultrabumbly:

Quite the opposite really, you won't be able to get a door seat as you have to be able to help open the exits and help others in emergency.

In reply to FrankBooth:

Have you considered going by train? Just a thought, it might be easier.

In reply to Mark Kemball:

I was going to suggest that - go by train. Possibly train and ferry, as the Eurostar seat pitch is a little tight.

You can't have an exit row seat (or front row seat) in an aircraft if you have any sort of injury that in any way affects your mobility, for fairly obvious reasons.

Neil

In reply to FrankBooth:

I don't think you can fly at all with a full plaster cast on. There may be a way it can be splinted without a full cast. It's to do with swelling caused by the compression/altitude.

Hopefully the hospital can sort this for you and your airline will find you a flight with a legroom seat which does not impede emergency arrangements. You may have to go business class! Marginally cheaper than the private jet.

Andy

In reply to Andrew Wilson:

For Munich-Birmingham with Lufthansa, the price difference for business class is marginal but so are the benefits - same seats, same seat pitch IIRC.

In reply to FrankBooth:

If you could fly to Manchester Singapore airlines do a Singapore to Manchester route with a stopover in Munich so you can sometimes get cheapish flights from Munich to Manchester and their planes are big and quite comfortable so maybe good for your leg.

In reply to FrankBooth:

Bearing in mind pretty much every flight back from the Alps to the UK during the winter has someone with some sort of leg injury I can't see it being that much of an issue? Phone the airline.....

In reply to galpinos:


Plus 1 The airlines are used to dealing with this.

In reply to FrankBooth:

So what has happened?

In reply to FrankBooth:

It may be a bit late now, but...

Best you can do is to book a ticket in a plane that is lightly booked. You can make a guess on that by the ticket prices and/or the flight time. Then just rock up to the plane and speak with the people at the front desk who will try to allocate you a seat with none else in the same row. If you ask for this before booking they'll try to make you pay for 3 seats.

You will need to have a letter from the hospital explaining in clear terms that you are medically fit to fly, and that will have to be passed to and authorised by the airlines medical honcho or whatever it's called, so you better be at check-in well in advance. You can also try to get this authorised in advance (in fact apparently you must) but good luck getting that sorted over the phone...

You'll have to be able to enter and exit the plane on your own steam walking/hobbling/skipping, and will also have to be able to have the leg 'down' in a normal sitting position for take-off and landing.

If you land in one the crappy London airports expect to be ferried to the airport doors by one of those golf buggies and then dumped there, so make pick up arrangements clear before you fly.

Good luck!