sonora

We are flying from LHR to PHL in November. We have business class/club world seats. Mr S flies with a portable oxygen concentrator, and for that flight he has requested to be hooked up to the airplane oxygen. We have done this before with no issues. For this flight BA is refusing to give him a seat assignment. Of course we want to sit together. Right now I am upstairs in clubworld.

Anyone have a suggestion for how to handle?

UKtravelbear

Have you contacted BA medical / special assistance? It's not clear if you have contacted them or just the normal customer servce line.

Whoever it was you spoke to what reason did they give for refusing the seat assignment?

sonora

Thanks for your response. My husband has spoken with BA several times, and has also emailed with the pmcu desk which I guess is the medical desk. I called today and got a very nice person, who told me that we had to go thru the pmcu desk. He gave me their contact info and I sent them an email, forwarding all the prior emails from my husband discussing this.

When my husband called BA yesterday, they basically told him to quit calling. Today, they told me to contact pmcu, which we have already done. So we are trying to contact them again.

we have flown in Club World on BA before with the concentrator with no problem, in fact, we were super pleased with the service and the helpfulness. Now I feel we are going in circles.

Koru Flyer

Are you in the same reservation/pnr? If not joining the parties may be a good fiirst step? If your husband has no status and is on a separate reservation then (ignoring for now the medical issue) BA will require him to pay for a seat assignment (long story and lots of threads with pros and cons). It may be that that issue is getting in the way? And joining the reservations should enable himto benefit from your status and get over that hiccup.

Or is it that you are trying to get an upstairs seat to match yours, and perhaps no suitable seats remain free uostairs?

KF

Dave Noble

Only for Emerald status would BA do the free seat assignment on another booking - the OP indicates Sapphire status

Anonba

Can I suggest you try this:


Theres a newly launched accesibility team in the contact centres that may be able to help.

sonora

Thanks everyone. I am going to work through all your suggestions. Our records are linked. No one has asked us to pay for his seat assignment, we would be willing to do that unless it was ridiculously expensive. Bu that hasn't been brought up.

We have been trying to get an upstairs seat to match mine and this has gone on several months. There were seats available. Not sure if there still are.

Does anyone know if the Admirals' Club would help? I could drop in to them the next time I fly, but not sure if they expend to helping with British.

thanks for all the suggestions.

navylad

Thanks for posting and hopefully we can provide you with some useful information. To answer your question in your previous post, no the Admirals’ Club are unable to be able to do anything with medical requests on another airline.

As I understand it, you have two PNRs thatbyou have TCPed, but, ignoring the medical issue for a moment, have insufficient status to extend your status entitled free seat selection to the other party.

The other party has a medical condition requiring the use of an oxygen concentrator during the flight. You would like them sat next to you, and further you’d like both your seats tonbe UD on the 747.

Sorry if I have any of the details wrong.

As I understand it, BA are required to make reasonable adjustments for medical conditions. They publish that seats will be assigned for those with medical conditions in suitable seats. My experience, having booked for my parents with my mum’s mobility issues is this usually goes further and you can select most seats within the cabin of travel, although obvious not all seats (we can for example book exit row seats for obvious reasons).

This benefit understand is extended to all members on the booking, but AFAIK, is not extended to a second booking even if TCP has been completed unless there is a GCh (a publisher benefit or the status).

However, if I understand it right, you have status and your partner has the medical condition which should, independently, facilitate you able to book two seats independently that are together on the two bookings (obviously within the suitable published status seat availability timelines).

Equally I understand form on here that there are in particular restrictions on those with some medical conditions on the UD 747 due to the SOP in the event of a water evacuation. This may well be the reason they haven’t allowed you to select UD seats together.

Use of equipment in flight as I understand it will require the clearance and input of the medical team at BA, normal customer service are unlikely to be able to do much without their authority. I would speak to them, details already produced on this thread and are available on the BA website, but, and I hope I’m wrong, you may need to sit on the LD if you wish to sit together.

Katamarino

They might be confused by you asking to be hooked up to the "airplane oxygen"? I don't think such a system exists. The emergency masks have a short supply of chemically generated oxygen, there's not usually an "oxygen system" in existence.

spursdebs

You don’t pay for seat assignments if you have a disability this includes hidden disabilities.

flatlander

Some aircraft have an oxygen ring main which can be used for medical purposes. It is supplied from oxygen cylinders. In addition, some aircraft use chemical oxygen generators and some use bottled oxygen to supply the passenger emergency oxygen masks. This depends on the aircraft type and options chosen by the aircraft operator.

Meanwhile, it seems like the problem the original poster is having is specifically getting two seats together on the upper deck (and it would have been a lot clearer to say that at the start). BA's seating together policies have nothing to say about seats together on the upper deck. I recommend they accept seats on the lower deck together and enjoy their trip.

rapidex

Many of the upper deck seats are reserved for Oneworld Emerald card holders. This may be your problem. You cannot pay for them, but any not taken will be released at T-24.

tomhenry631

There should be some different ward for disable people. They should be given preference.

DoctorCopper

Surely you don’t meant that?

Doc Copper

sonora

Thanks.

My husband does not have any conditions that would disqualify him from an exit row. He has emphysema, and needs supplemental oxygen at altitude. We found out a few flights ago on BA that they have this ability to hook him to the airplane oxygen-who knew?-and that works well on long flights as it conserves battery life in the Portable oxygen concentrators that we fly with. We actually fly with 2, we like redundancy! In this case we have 3 legs, and have seat assignments together on the 1st leg from BCN to LHR, and the 3rd leg which is on AA from PHL to STL. He will use the oxygen concentrators on those legs.

We have already gone through the process of getting the oxygen concentrators approved, etc.

I am not wedded to being on the UD although we do like it there. They have not offered to move me downstairs and then assign him next to me. They have just said that he can't get his seat assignment until we get to the airport.

Yesterday we spoke to an agent who said the pcmu desk would assign his seat, so we emailed them. They emailed back saying that they don't assign seats and we would have to wait for the seating team to get back with us. We were also told this last May.

What are the published status seat availability timelines?

I appreciate the help.