Tom & Sharon
25-02-2012, 17:07
I just thought I'd post this, in case anyone is unlucky enough to have to do this.
We flew back to England yesterday, and I have still got a full leg plaster cast on. We looked on all the airlines websites, and they all had the same conditions, that I would have to book 3 seats, just for myself. They said the cast would not have to be split, unless it had been on less than 48hrs. Mine has been on for 3 weeks. It also said I would have to have a certificate to fly from a doctor. We also went to the airport, and asked at the Thomas Cook office if this was all correct, and we were told yes.
OK then, we followed all the instructions to the letter. I booked and paid for 3 seats just for myself, and booked special assistance on the Thomas Cook website. This was followed up by an email conversation with Thomas Cook help department, who confirmed that my cast would not need to be split, and that I neeeded a certificate to fly from a doctor or a consultant. This we got from Dr. Karen Whittaker in Los Cristianos.
We arrived at the airport in good time yesterday to check in for our flight. We went to the wheelchair check in desk which is a seperate check in, but the check in girl could not understand why we had 4 seats booked for only 2 people. She then called a supervisor, who was English. She looked at my cast, and the letter, and said we were not complying with the rules. She said that my cast had to be split, and that Karen Whittaker could not give a certificate to fly, because she's not a Spanish doctor. What? ??? We told her that we had been to the airport to check everything out 2 days before, and it was confirmed that it didn't need to be split. She insisted that this wasn't right. She also said that Karen Whittaker is not a registered Doctor in Spain? ??? She said it had to be on an official yellow form issued by a Spanish Doctor.
We pointed out that on the letter it has her accreditation which says "Colegio Oficial de Medicos Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38/38/5468" so surely this means she is a registered doctor. What else can it mean? You can't practice without being registered? And what difference does it make if you're Spanish? You're either registered to practice or you're not. The supervisor said that out of the 2 things we needed to fly, we had neither! We could see our flight home disappearing!
We had to argue the point for some time, we were sure we were right, and that we had checked everything out properly. Eventually, the supervisor made a phone call to someone, and we received permission to fly.
Just a word of warning to anyone needing to fly in the future, with a plaster cast on. Make sure you double check everything, and know your facts, otherwise you may turn up at the airport and be refused permission.
I will ring Karen Whittaker as well, out of interest to myself, and also to warn her of what they said at the airport, as I think she needs to know what happened for her own future reference.
We flew back to England yesterday, and I have still got a full leg plaster cast on. We looked on all the airlines websites, and they all had the same conditions, that I would have to book 3 seats, just for myself. They said the cast would not have to be split, unless it had been on less than 48hrs. Mine has been on for 3 weeks. It also said I would have to have a certificate to fly from a doctor. We also went to the airport, and asked at the Thomas Cook office if this was all correct, and we were told yes.
OK then, we followed all the instructions to the letter. I booked and paid for 3 seats just for myself, and booked special assistance on the Thomas Cook website. This was followed up by an email conversation with Thomas Cook help department, who confirmed that my cast would not need to be split, and that I neeeded a certificate to fly from a doctor or a consultant. This we got from Dr. Karen Whittaker in Los Cristianos.
We arrived at the airport in good time yesterday to check in for our flight. We went to the wheelchair check in desk which is a seperate check in, but the check in girl could not understand why we had 4 seats booked for only 2 people. She then called a supervisor, who was English. She looked at my cast, and the letter, and said we were not complying with the rules. She said that my cast had to be split, and that Karen Whittaker could not give a certificate to fly, because she's not a Spanish doctor. What? ??? We told her that we had been to the airport to check everything out 2 days before, and it was confirmed that it didn't need to be split. She insisted that this wasn't right. She also said that Karen Whittaker is not a registered Doctor in Spain? ??? She said it had to be on an official yellow form issued by a Spanish Doctor.
We pointed out that on the letter it has her accreditation which says "Colegio Oficial de Medicos Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38/38/5468" so surely this means she is a registered doctor. What else can it mean? You can't practice without being registered? And what difference does it make if you're Spanish? You're either registered to practice or you're not. The supervisor said that out of the 2 things we needed to fly, we had neither! We could see our flight home disappearing!
We had to argue the point for some time, we were sure we were right, and that we had checked everything out properly. Eventually, the supervisor made a phone call to someone, and we received permission to fly.
Just a word of warning to anyone needing to fly in the future, with a plaster cast on. Make sure you double check everything, and know your facts, otherwise you may turn up at the airport and be refused permission.
I will ring Karen Whittaker as well, out of interest to myself, and also to warn her of what they said at the airport, as I think she needs to know what happened for her own future reference.