T3 & crutches!
May 9, 2007, 10:22 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Birmingham, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 115
T3 & crutches!
Am flying to Auckland in 5 weeks time, first time on CX in J as an adult...
Anyway, couple of questions!
I did a rather good job of dislocating/fracturing ankle before Christmas and am still relying on 1 crutch for any extended walking distance and for standing still (cause it hurts lots!)
- flight is in the evening (T3), are security queues going to be a nightmare?
- ankle has a tendency to swell to rather large proportions when i've been stood on it/walking on it for a while, so no idea what a flight is going to do it. Will be trying to keep swelling and pain to a minimum with meds, but would be FA's be obliging if i asked for some ice to stick on it? - have a rather attractive ice bag thing i got in the states
Bit annoyed that I had to cancel trip earlier this year due to accident, otherwise this would have been my silver qualifying flight.....might be able to inc the lost miles as part of my accident claim, just a shame about the TP's!
Anything else I should be considering or sorting out? - return leg should be in the new J class, already reserved seat on upper deck
Ta!
Anyway, couple of questions!
I did a rather good job of dislocating/fracturing ankle before Christmas and am still relying on 1 crutch for any extended walking distance and for standing still (cause it hurts lots!)
- flight is in the evening (T3), are security queues going to be a nightmare?
- ankle has a tendency to swell to rather large proportions when i've been stood on it/walking on it for a while, so no idea what a flight is going to do it. Will be trying to keep swelling and pain to a minimum with meds, but would be FA's be obliging if i asked for some ice to stick on it? - have a rather attractive ice bag thing i got in the states
Bit annoyed that I had to cancel trip earlier this year due to accident, otherwise this would have been my silver qualifying flight.....might be able to inc the lost miles as part of my accident claim, just a shame about the TP's!
Anything else I should be considering or sorting out? - return leg should be in the new J class, already reserved seat on upper deck
Ta!
May 9, 2007, 10:47 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: LINCS England
Programs: GHA Gold Priority Club Gold,Etihad Guest,EK Skywards,BA exec and QR privilege
Posts: 447
Anna,
I can offer a suggestion to the security Q question,if you have difficulty walking long distances or standing for long periods,request wheelchair assistance. You may or may not Q jump but at least you won't have to stand in a Q for however long.
Harry
I can offer a suggestion to the security Q question,if you have difficulty walking long distances or standing for long periods,request wheelchair assistance. You may or may not Q jump but at least you won't have to stand in a Q for however long.
Harry
May 9, 2007, 10:49 am
#3
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 48
Sorry to hear about your busted ankle...
I think the security queues at T3 are usually very tedious even in the so-called fast track for J passengers. I would advise telling the airline that you need wheelchair assistance. That way you will be whisked along in your chariot to the front of the queue by a friendly porter who will then very kindly take you to the biz lounge. Later he will come back and take you to the gate and you will be pre-boarded ahead of everyone else.
Try to make sure you keep your ankle elevated on the flight and you shouldn't have too many problems. After an ankle fracture you are at slightly increased risk of getting a deep vein thrombosis - the best things you can do about this are to drink plenty of water, move around the cabin when you can and do the leg exercises that you will find somewhere in the in-flight mag. Don't get too anxious though - the risk is small
I think the security queues at T3 are usually very tedious even in the so-called fast track for J passengers. I would advise telling the airline that you need wheelchair assistance. That way you will be whisked along in your chariot to the front of the queue by a friendly porter who will then very kindly take you to the biz lounge. Later he will come back and take you to the gate and you will be pre-boarded ahead of everyone else.
Try to make sure you keep your ankle elevated on the flight and you shouldn't have too many problems. After an ankle fracture you are at slightly increased risk of getting a deep vein thrombosis - the best things you can do about this are to drink plenty of water, move around the cabin when you can and do the leg exercises that you will find somewhere in the in-flight mag. Don't get too anxious though - the risk is small
May 9, 2007, 11:26 am
#4
Join Date: May 2007
Location: London WC2/W1
Programs: BAEC Silver; Muccis du Monde des Peluches
Posts: 6,627
Assistance and upper deck are incompatible
You'll be very unlikely to be allowed a seat on the upper deck if you need assistance getting to the gate.
I had exactly this issue when I flew LHR-GRU (Sao Paulo) in February - ticketed in CW. I was recovering from a stress fracture in my foot. I was still at the point where I was supposed to avoid walking long distances, such as the 10-15 minutes to the gate at Heathrow (and more than half an hour if wearing my orthopaedic boot, which made me very slooooooow). But pottering around the plane wasn't a problem in the slightest, and I could even run in an emergency - it would just have slowed the healing process down a bit.
I tried explaining all this to BA, precisely because their website asks that you let them know in advance about this sort of thing. Unfortunately, as it turns out, they have a very black and white distinction between passengers requiring assistance and those who don't. Consequently, I was classified as a wheelchair passenger, which had various pros and cons.
Advantages: Got a buggy ride for me (and my boyfriend) from the Terraces Lounge to the gate. At the other end got whisked off the plane ahead of everyone else, plonked in a wheelchair, and escorted past all the immigration and customs lines. Luggage came through faster than us so it was gate to taxi in about ten minutes.
Disadvantages: Shortly before OLCI, I noticed I had been assigned an aisle seat right at the back of Club downstairs and I wasn't permitted to change it. I ended up spending over an hour on the phone to BA being passed between various different people. All of them could see I had been allocated the seat because I was a "wheelchair passenger", but frustratingly none of them knew whether my status or seat could be changed and they all had different ideas about which department should deal with it. At the end of all this, I was rather grudgingly given a window seat a couple of rows further forward.
I had already told BA I would probably be somewhat better on the return trip (two weeks later) so everything was back to normal - upstairs.
I don't wish to sound ungrateful for the assistance, particularly at the Sao Paulo end, but the system was very one-size-fits-all and I was really given the runaround on the phone and a good deal of misinformation. Also, the cabin crew were great and made a lot of (not really necessary) fuss to make sure I was comfortable.
So anyway, I think you're going to have to choose between the wheelchair and that upper deck seat.
I had exactly this issue when I flew LHR-GRU (Sao Paulo) in February - ticketed in CW. I was recovering from a stress fracture in my foot. I was still at the point where I was supposed to avoid walking long distances, such as the 10-15 minutes to the gate at Heathrow (and more than half an hour if wearing my orthopaedic boot, which made me very slooooooow). But pottering around the plane wasn't a problem in the slightest, and I could even run in an emergency - it would just have slowed the healing process down a bit.
I tried explaining all this to BA, precisely because their website asks that you let them know in advance about this sort of thing. Unfortunately, as it turns out, they have a very black and white distinction between passengers requiring assistance and those who don't. Consequently, I was classified as a wheelchair passenger, which had various pros and cons.
Advantages: Got a buggy ride for me (and my boyfriend) from the Terraces Lounge to the gate. At the other end got whisked off the plane ahead of everyone else, plonked in a wheelchair, and escorted past all the immigration and customs lines. Luggage came through faster than us so it was gate to taxi in about ten minutes.
Disadvantages: Shortly before OLCI, I noticed I had been assigned an aisle seat right at the back of Club downstairs and I wasn't permitted to change it. I ended up spending over an hour on the phone to BA being passed between various different people. All of them could see I had been allocated the seat because I was a "wheelchair passenger", but frustratingly none of them knew whether my status or seat could be changed and they all had different ideas about which department should deal with it. At the end of all this, I was rather grudgingly given a window seat a couple of rows further forward.
I had already told BA I would probably be somewhat better on the return trip (two weeks later) so everything was back to normal - upstairs.
I don't wish to sound ungrateful for the assistance, particularly at the Sao Paulo end, but the system was very one-size-fits-all and I was really given the runaround on the phone and a good deal of misinformation. Also, the cabin crew were great and made a lot of (not really necessary) fuss to make sure I was comfortable.
So anyway, I think you're going to have to choose between the wheelchair and that upper deck seat.
May 9, 2007, 1:21 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Birmingham, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 115
Ta guys. Think I'll be forgoing the wheelchair assistance, will just allow myself plenty of time to get around, at least i can try and sleep on the plane if needs be! Hoping that the next 5 weeks bring about further advances in long distance walking!
May 9, 2007, 6:40 pm
#6
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: DEN
Posts: 1,962
I pulled a gallon ziplock out of my carry on (always have extra zip locks!), rang for the FA, and asked her to fill it FULL for my seatmate's very swollen knee. This time she got the ice she needed.