travelling with oxygen on short haul flights

[Janetbronwync]

BA do not supply oxygen. I've spent almost a week trying to sort out where to get 2 litres of oxygen from for my husband (he needs the same for return journey to Italy). I found the Doctors very unhelpful and got charged £35 for them answering about 4 questions as I had filled most of the form in myself (for BA's approval to fly with medical conditions). I am so stressed out with the whole thing - I am so disheartened that nobody seems to be able to come up with a quick answer. I may get charged £200 each way! How ridiculous is that. He's had a flight test - okay to fly apart from this. This was supposed to be a celebration for our 50th wedding anniversary and its turned into the most stressful experience ever. Never done this before and I could actually break down and cry with all the effort I have had to put in. JC

[stone-UK]

Hi

The only possible solution it to hire a portable concentrator if your can use pulsed dose delivery system

Contact

healthoxygen.com/rental-inf...

For pricing, they will supply sufficient battery power for duration of the flight plus fifty percent, which is a requirement.

They operate 24hrs.

[CoffCoffWalkWalk]

I hope you find a solution Janetbronwync 🙏

Happy Golden, 50th Anniversary with best wishes x

[JasperDylan]

Hi Janet ,I am in the same position has your Husband I need oxygen to be able to fly we have had to hire a Concentrator from 02 Oxygen it’s the Omega with the 16 cell battery that will give you 6 hours of use I have also ordered an extra battery total cost £360 Concentrator £45 extra battery

That’s for a 10 day holiday in actual fact they are delivering it a couple of days before we go

Travel insurance his the big thing I got turned down by a lot of them because of oxygen got one from all clear insurance £1200 for 10 days but if you take it for 12 months it’s £1500 hope this helps .

Just a warning to every one that once you mention oxygen on flights the airline will want to see your insurance policy .

[Janetbronwync in reply to JasperDylan]

They get you all ways don't they! I have contacted O2 and am awaiting details from them but our flight is only 1 1/2 hours so may not need an extra battery - I'm also in touch with insurance companies but so far haven't mentioned the oxygen bit although I've declared all my husband's ailments. Just comparing quotes.

[JasperDylan in reply to Janetbronwync]

You need to mention the oxygen because if you don’t and you go on a flight it doesn’t matter the length of time you are up in the air so to speak if the plane has to divert they will charge you for th3 costs of the diversion that’s in the thousands £ s

Have you had a flight test to see if you require oxygen for flying the bottom level his 75% I came in at 73%

Hope this helps you .

[piping in reply to JasperDylan]

Am very interested. ..my bottom oxygen rate was 88% andsaid l "may" need oxygen. This is for a2 and a half hour domestic flight.SStarted at 96% and dropped to 88%.Now don't know if I should go through all the hassle and risk lt

[JasperDylan in reply to piping]

Hi piping I believe the oxygen levels at 35000 feet are very different to being down on the ground

That’s why they do the flight test you are tested in a simulated oxygen level of the plane at that level the bottom line his 75% if you go below that then you will require oxygen

[piping in reply to JasperDylan]

So long as your oxygen level is over 77% it is ok to fly?

[JasperDylan in reply to piping]

I would say no because looking at my results

Ear lobe blood gas on air Sa 90.6%

Ear lobe on blood gas on 15% Oxygen Sa02. 84.1%

The test on 15% Oxygen his the level of oxygen in flight

Therefore I require 2 ltr s of Oxygen per min

Hope this helps

[piping in reply to JasperDylan]

Thanks for taking the time to reply 😊

[Linnie13]

Try TUi

[Maureenpearl]

Hi Janet,

I went on a long haul holiday to Jamaica in May and I booked it March. I went with TUI airline and booked it through the Coop travel agent who did all the phone calls to check what the airline need from me. I was told I had to have another fit to fly test done which had to be within thirty days of traveling and a letter from my GP with all my medications.

TUI supplied the 2 litres of oxygen I needed on the flight for free. They had four small canisters on board for me to use and I usually need 6 litres when moving about so about two years ago I bought a portable concentrator which I was allowed to take onboard with me (not all portable concentrators are allowed on board).

Travel insurance was the issue with me because they wanted between £1000 and £4000. I was insured through my bank but not for the Pulmonary fibrosis and Lupus.

Hope you get the right concentrator for your husband to use on your flight and have a great 50th anniversary celebration.

[Janetbronwync in reply to Maureenpearl]

Thanks for the information - I've filled in all the forms and too late I found out about Tui and other airlines, Air Malta, Air France, etc. - I will certainly look into that next time and forget BA. All sorted now though.

[Susan1200 in reply to Janetbronwync]

Well Janetbronwync,I wish you and your husband A very happy 50th anniversary 🥗🍨🍾🥂,and have a great holiday 😀💞🐘

[Janetbronwync in reply to Susan1200]

Thanks for everyone's good wishes. All sorted out now. Managed to get the oxygen and health insurance for around £1,100 - that's including insurance for the two of us. I think flying is a no no from hereon - lots of great places in the UK that we haven't seen yet so maybe a rail tour later in the year.

[Shellc]

Since when does Ba not supply oxygen ? It was always free after filling out a Med form

[Janetbronwync]

They changed their policy in February this year - only supply it for long haul.

[oooodicky]

Hi 👋 I had same trouble with some airline and a letter saying I was ok to fly cost me £25 off dr, if you see your computer nurse ask if you can have a portable ( Inogen one ) portable oxygen machine weight about 2 kgall airlines let you take onboard its passed as fit for all planes ✈️ good luck nothing ventured nothing gained.

[oooodicky]

Hi me again you get up to 9 hrs with inogen one portable and it cost me nothing from my community oxygen nurse so ask don’t be afraid, tui air charge nothing for onboard oxygen but only allow two people I think. Ciao

[Karcsi]

Hi guys, where can you do the flight test before you travel?

[dave26]

Hi Janet Only just come back to this site and saw your post. For future flights it may be worth looking at TUI as they supply free oxygen for the flight (only one person per flight)