Originally Posted by
gooselee
Hi United FTers. Looking for some advice - most of my UA/*A experience is piddly intra-Europe award travel and basic US domestic tickets, so I'm far less familiar with UA/*A than I am with my usual DL/SkyTeam.
Situation:
- Parents, both 74 years old, are currently in SIN
- Booked on UA to return SIN-SFO-ATL on 11th December (UA metal, tickets, bought with cash on UA.com, K fare)
- Mom is healthy and mobile, but not strong/cannot carry much more than a standard 22" roller bag
- Dad has had a fall and is currently barely mobile with a walker & pain meds. X-rays show no breaks but he refuses to get an MRI.
- Both parents are experienced travelers but are also kind of stubborn. Don't want to ask for help, check bags, etc. (We're working on that.)
Question to the braintrust is about what the best options are to get them home safely and at least somewhat comfortably? We will contact UA to set up wheelchair service and figure out transfer assistance at SFO. I will find a way to book a car service for them in Singapore to handle their bags and get them to the airport. We will do everything we can to get them to check bags and carry as little as possible. Back in ATL we will of course collect them from the first possible landside point. I may be able to get to SFO to escort them the rest of the way back to ATL, but going all the way to SIN appears cost prohibitive right now, and really it's the TPAC flight that will be the biggest hurdle.
What else can I consider or do? I don't have enough UA miles to matter. I do have a pile of Amex MR (~400k) and a slightly smaller pile of Chase UR (~100k) - would of course not want to blow all of them, but if there's a reasonable way to get them into a PE or J product for either points or cash, I would consider it (even if it means booking a new ticket on a different airline). I'm not sure how UA handles disability seating or if I as a 3rd party can at least buy them up into E+ or something. There's also a level of risk in any buy-ups since they could get to December 10th and decide they don't want to endure the flight at all (there's already been mention of finding a TPAC cruise to get back).
I'm sorry to read about your father's fall. I know it's hard for you to assess your father's health situation from far away. However, if your father is not in good shape, what might happen is that United will balk at transporting him without a note from a doctor saying that he's fit for travel. I saw this happening on a USAirways flight where a passenger refused to put the seat straight up before departing due to pain in his back (and the pain medication in his checked luggage). He was asked to leave the plane and USAirways would fly him only once he obtained a doctor's note.
I wonder if your father had travel insurance. Maybe a medical repatriation would have been a safer choice after the fall. But that would be too expensive without travel insurance. You flying there to assess the situation would be expensive but less than a medical repatriation without travel insurance.