SLfly

Hey everyone,

I kind of have a tough situation, so I have always avoided travel. More recently, I have been considering visiting my brother in another state, which would require a plane ride.

I have a rare condition that causes me not to make my own immune cells. Pretty much, I am constantly getting sick, and when I do it's bad. It also causes many other illnesses such as Lupus, RA, etc. I require daily IV treatments, which I administer myself.

That's where my travel concerns come into play. Obviously I am concerned about illness if someone else is sick. I figure the best I could do is where a mask... but I am not sure if this would be an issue. I have a special mask that protects against certain bacteria and such.

I am also very sensitive to environmental factors such as scents, cleaning chemicals, and dander. This isn't just a small sensitivity where you sneeze a few times. I figure the mask would help a lot with this. I am concerned if there are any service dogs on board. I know that people require them, but do airports know before hand if any will be on board? I can't even go to family functions if they have pets in the house.

I was wondering if anyone ever traveled with similar conditions and could offer any tips/advice. Are there any companies that you would recommend for someone with disabilities?

I have done some research, and saw that some planes have a few rows of 2 seats. I would be traveling with my mother and thought this might be useful because it would decrease the risk of getting sick a bit more. I am just not sure how to dell which planes specifically have this available.

Finally, I have searched about bringing my IV meds/supplies on the plane with me. It seems to be okay as long as the boxes are in plastic bags so TSA could see them without a problem. Am I understanding this all correctly?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

obscure2k

Welcome to Flyertalk, SLfly
I am moving your thread to the Disability Travel Forum
All best wishes...
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Doc Savage

Ask your doctor, as your only doctor will know what you should and shouldn't do.

Ask your doctor to explain things to you, too, as you seem to have been given a lot of misinformation somewhere. Random people on the Internet will just give you more misinformation.

Safe Travels,

Doc

FirstInFlight

This sounds like a difficult situation. Given the infrequent cleaning and cattle-like conditions inherent in today's commercial aviation I would try almost anything else. Hiring a car and driver, calling the local general aviation airport and asking if there is a local flying club or something similar where a private pilot might be able to assist you...

Sorry to hear of your situation. I wish you good luck in finding a solution.

SFO 1K

What cities do you need to fly from/to?

MSPeconomist

Aren't there some organizations and charities that provide free or very cheap private flights to those with serious illnesses?

It might help to know something about the locations/distance involved here.

supermintyfresh

How often are you in public? Have you ever taken public transport such as train or bus? Airplanes offer a similar environment with the caveat of having decreased cabin pressure and low humidity so it is similar to being at a high altitude.

100% definitely consult with your doctor (preferably someone with more understanding of your condition such as your rheumatologist/immunologist and not your primary care doc).

Be aware that you can also check your IV bags as luggage. However, TSA does allow liquid medications larger than 100 mL if you provide medical documentation as shown here: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/special-procedures

In terms of pets, I'm not sure how you can know in advance if one will be on board -- perhaps best to call the airline. They are not that common although you wouldn't want to place your bets that there won't be one. You can ask the gate or even flight attendant to switch seats usually so you are situated further away from the pet as they are usually pretty accommodating. The bathrooms on board are cleaned with chemicals and usually smell so sorry no avoiding that one! I'm sure they wipe down the other surfaces onboard occasionally too.

Consider booking first class, as those usually have rows with only two seats and will also give you more room to stretch out.

Good luck!

SLfly

Thank you everyone for the responses. I will be speaking with my specialist next time I see him.

I am traveling from New York to Florida, so it's not that long of flight at all. At least for the typical person lol.

While I do go out, I typically tend to avoid more crowded places and am carful with what I touch and such. Of course, you can't avoid everything. I actually don't ever take public transportation.

I will have to look into the charities mentioned and the other ideas.

Thanks everyone.

SFO 1K

Between NY and Florida you have several choices, depending on where you start in NY area. JetBlue, Delta, American and United all serve a variety of airports. You'll have more luck with "two seats" if you do the first class option, as that's always the case. You might find buying a third seat in Economy to have a blocked middle is a less expensive option.

Carriers know when they will have a service animal on board, they are declared and documented, so you can check the day before and day of with the airline to verify. They likely would rebook you to another flight if need be.

Finally, the majors have a Disability Desk which will gladly work with you to do everything possible to accommodate you. Each airline blocks certain seats until check-in to accommodate special needs passengers. Google each airline's website and add the word disability in your search to get more information on how to reach them.

Google Examples: "united.com disability" or "delta.com disability"

Often1

The key questions you ask are all questions for your doc. Presumably he has a practical working knowledge of the general state of commercial aircraft and their cleanliness.

Bear in mind that aircraft fly multiple segments per day and may not be thoroughly cleaned for several days. Thus, while the specific segment you fly may not have any service animals onboard, there may well have been service animals onboard during the inbound segment. Whether that level of separation is sufficient, is again something which only you and your doc can answer.

As noted above, the carrier can provide assistance through its disability services desk, but it can only provide information and can't relate that directly to your condition.

MSPeconomist

For NYC to Florida, have you considered (first class) travel by train? If you could book a private compartment or roomette (with its own ensuite faciltities) for the trip, this would avoid a lot of contact with crowds and the general public. It would also be much more relaxing than domestic air travel.

As the distances aren't so far, you could also ask a friend or family member with a nice car to play chauffeur and drive you to Florida, for instance breaking the trip into three days of driving with nice hotel stops along the way. Depending on your destination within Florida (Key West is a long drive from the Georgia border), this could be a relaxed pace (compared to, for example, needing to allow about a week each way to drive to the west coast).

JDiver

MSPeconomist has mentioned the train. My spouse and I took AMTRAK Florida - Washington and return. The compartment we had was made up for day use or at ngbc as a bedroom. There's a restaurant car, which is where you'd likely have more contact with others sharing a table - but perhaps your mother or an attendant could bring meals back to the compartment? The meals were included; facilities, though compact, were in the cabin.

As a onetime pilot, I am aware of charity flights - but these almost invariably are to get people to and from distant medical faculties. Google aviation charities or air charity...

One might consider contacting a Fixed Base Operator or Aero Club to see if there are any possibilities there (private pilots may be reimbursed for fuel etc. but may not request nor receive remuneration, which would be an FAA licence violation), or a major corporation that flies from near the origin to near the desired destination, but these are basically slim chance possibilities.

CDTraveler

Unfortunately I would rate the whole traveling by air process as more germ ridden than the average public bus or subway. Between the lines at the airport, the whole security experience where strangers will use the same pair of gloves to go through your stuff as they used to handle other people's things, then being confined in a closed space for ~3 hours or so where maybe there ins't a dog on your flight but there was one on the previous flight, coughing fellow pax, etc. it is high risk for someone without normal immune function.

I would echo the thought of Amtrak. No pets allowed on most trains, you can get a private compartment to minimize exposure to other pax, no or little security to deal with, etc.

Not sure where in New York you are, but one further thought on taking the train would be to board at a secondary station rather than say, Penn Station. If you could get to New Brunswick (NJ) by car you'd board from an open platform with relatively few other people. Penn Station is a mob scene and you'd be exposed to far greater crowds.

As for food, right now one of the trains running NY to FL, the Silver Star, is experimenting with eliminating the formal dining car and charging far less for individual compartments because meals aren't included in the fare. The trip is 23 hours, so if you can bring a cooler, the fares aren't too far from airfare for a private compartment.

workandski

OP doesn't mention whether his or her medication has to be refrigerated. The first time I flew with medication that had to be kept cold, I just asked the flight attendant if she would put it in the refrigerator for me. That's when I learned that airplanes don't have refrigerators. It's obviously not the biggest problem, but just something to keep in mind when making travel plans.

JDiver

The TSA has specific requirements for those who need to take cooled medications: