Awful Qantas Business Class Check-In Experience for Ill Wife

[nlagalle]

Re: Awful Qantas/BA Business Class Check-In Experience for Ill Wife

Qantas has responded by offering to upgrade my wife and daughter to First Class for the return LHR-SIN-SYD trip. Much appreciated Qantas

Meanwhile BA elects just to argue that they can't discuss my wife's travels with me, though they happily took the payment for the 2 return business class airfares from me

Good to see that QF have looked after them for the return. Let hope the staff assistance is good at LHR (i know from organsing it for a friend 2 months ago they were great).

 

[TonyHancock]

Re: Awful Qantas/BA Business Class Check-In Experience for Ill Wife

Qantas has responded by offering to upgrade my wife and daughter to First Class for the return LHR-SIN-SYD trip. Much appreciated Qantas

Meanwhile BA elects just to argue that they can't discuss my wife's travels with me, though they happily took the payment for the 2 return business class airfares from me

Excellent response from QF and well done to Red Roo who I suspect has been doing a little work behind the scenes.

Good luck with dealing with BA.

I hope everything works out for your wife.

 

[drron]

Well QF certainly have come through.Well done Red roo.
Unfortunately in this day and age virtually everyone has such privacy laws.
On a side note we were not able to OLCI for QF301 on BA metal recently.

And again we are all hoping that your wife responds well to her treatment and that 2012 will be a much better one for your family.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

is this an upgrade that you are paying for either with cash or points?

 

[awilcockson]

is this an upgrade that you are paying for either with cash or points?

judging by the large I'd say not.

 

[Baysider]

is this an upgrade that you are paying for either with cash or points?

No, purely a gesture by Qantas (subject to seating availability in F).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

No, purely a gesture by Qantas (subject to seating availability in F).

not sure if this is already the case, but did you manage to secure a more direct routing home?

 

[Baysider]

not sure if this is already the case, but did you manage to secure a more direct routing home?

Sydney rather than Melbourne. They wanted to stick to the A380 for extra comfort.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Sydney rather than Melbourne. They wanted to stick to the A380 for extra comfort.

direct Singapore Brisbane, albeit on angled beds... does not offset the hours of extra travel, a terminal transfer and having to sit upright for the domestic leg? (just asking in case you weren't aware of the options)

 

[Baysider]

direct Singapore Brisbane, albeit on angled beds... does not offset the hours of extra travel, a terminal transfer and having to sit upright for the domestic leg? (just asking in case you weren't aware of the options)

They actually have arranged an overnight with an old friend in Sydney. Also domestic J has enough of a recline to overcome the pressure on the base of her spine from sitting.

 

[Baysider]

My wife could not face the BA transfer sagas again. Her condition suffered so badly from the trip over that in the end I brought them back CPH-DXB-BNE in Emirates first class. Emirates allowed my wife to be laying down for take-off and landing. Only one stop, in Dubai, with a room provided at the terminal under the first class provisions.

She arrived home, I'm told, in far better shape than she had been in during the entire stay in Denmark. I guess partly a response to treatment, and partly due to the tremendous care and assistance provided by Emirates, she apparently had something of a quantum leap en-route to home. She is now getting around reasonably well and continuing treatment that she brought back from Denmark.

 

[docjames]

I am glad our wife is home safely.

I will pass a comment that lying down during takeoff and landing is unsafe and i would have thought against aviation regulations.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I am glad our wife is home safely.

I will pass a comment that lying down during takeoff and landing is unsafe and i would have thought against aviation regulations.

while it's not ideal... obviously some passengers, such as stretcher cases, and the very sick, can and do complete take-off and landing while reclined.

part of the reason to be locked upright is for the safety of others around you. once you remove that in first class then there is less of an issue.

 

[drron]

The RFDS do it a lot.

 

[docjames]

Yes, with appropriate strapping/securing of the horizontal patients.

I dont believe the single waist strap in a standard J/F seat is appropriately secure in the event of sudden deceleration.....

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yes, with appropriate strapping/securing of the horizontal patients.

I dont believe the single waist strap in a standard J/F seat is appropriately secure in the event of sudden deceleration.....

indeed a single strap would not be sufficient. but if you cannot harm any other passengers then I don't think there is a problem.

 

[docjames]

indeed a single strap would not be sufficient. but if you cannot harm any other passengers then I don't think there is a problem.

So when you're lying on the floor because the single belt hasnt held you in your seat and they're trying to evacuate the aircraft and you're in the way, that's not a problem?


I just think it reflects that some airlines are more prepared to bend the rules than others - it's up to an individual to decide if they want to fly an airline that does that.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So when you're lying on the floor because the single belt hasnt held you in your seat and they're trying to evacuate the aircraft and you're in the way, that's not a problem?


I just think it reflects that some airlines are more prepared to bend the rules than others - it's up to an individual to decide if they want to fly an airline that does that.

again...it depends on the seat...if the passenger is in an emirates suite then I don't really see that happening. and there is plenty of room in a first class cabin anyway... if not suites then there are wide aisles and multiple escape routes.

I'm not advocating this as a preferred method... but I have often seen passengers in first class reclined during landing. even seats on virgin and air new Zealand in business class can be reclined for takeoff and landing. Philippine airlines had the very first beds certified for landing back in the late 80s I believe... upper deck first class that allowed passengers to continue sleeping during transit in hnl (I think) on the way to the states.

I guess if there are serious reasons, and it is not an emergency landing, then in this case the comfort of the passenger is probably worth the tiny risk.

I know most accident happen on take off and landing... but i am quite sure that if this was an emergency landing, or if there was some other good reason (perhaps storms or strong winds) then the passenger would have been required to sit upright.

of course we don't know for sure what the conditions were like in the flight. but obviously the passenger and pilot were ok with it.

if it was regular first class however and the passenger was between me and the aisle, then I would either ask to be reseated, or the passenger sit upright. but that is just me being cautious.

 

[docjames]

again...it depends on the seat...if the passenger is in an emirates suite then I don't really see that happening. and there is plenty of room in a first class cabin anyway... if not suites then there are wide aisles and multiple escape routes.

I'm not advocating this as a preferred method... but I have often seen passengers in first class reclined during landing. even seats on virgin and air new Zealand in business class can be reclined for takeoff and landing. Philippine airlines had the very first beds certified for landing back in the late 80s I believe... upper deck first class that allowed passengers to continue sleeping during transit in hnl (I think) on the way to the states.

I guess if there are serious reasons, and it is not an emergency landing, then in this case the comfort of the passenger is probably worth the tiny risk.

I know most accident happen on take off and landing... but i am quite sure that if this was an emergency landing, or if there was some other good reason (perhaps storms or strong winds) then the passenger would have been required to sit upright.

of course we don't know for sure what the conditions were like in the flight. but obviously the passenger and pilot were ok with it.

if it was regular first class however and the passenger was between me and the aisle, then I would either ask to be reseated, or the passenger sit upright. but that is just me being cautious.

So which other rules are ok to ignore? It just seems to me that if an airline is happy to ignore one safety rule, which other ones are they ignoring.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So which other rules are ok to ignore? It just seems to me that if an airline is happy to ignore one safety rule, which other ones are they ignoring.

I prefer to look at it the other way... this is a very specific circumstance, where the passenger is unlikely to be a hindrance to any others. and the benefit to the passenger outweighs the slight risk.

if this was business or economy class, then most probably a different story (more seats, closer together).

it's not a case of ignoring a safety rule... it's a case of acknowledging it, and deciding to go one way or the other. that is different from just not even being worried about it.

as I said... some seats clearly can be reclined during take off and landing (virgin and air new Zealand)... so maybe there's no exact regulation stating all seats must be upright and locked? (I dunno)