Weird question Being ill and flying.

Efour

Efour

Efour

Caporegime
Joined
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Norrbotten, Sweden.
Hypothetical.

If you were heavily flu'd up or suffering from sickness/diorehea would an airline let you fly? Would you have to blah it at check in?

I'm thinking scenarios where you have been abroad and got food poisoning, fever etc etc.

Do they reschedule you for free? Is it at your own discretion?

There's enough people here that someone must have experience with this.


Actual
I'm I'll just now wondering how it would effect me traveling to London if I "never" got better ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Not a factual response, but i would bet it would be on the airline (check in desk, boarding gate, air hostess) to make a judgement on whether you didn't look well enough to fly, and even then i'd suspect that's an extremely rare occurrence.

They'd unlikely reschedule you (or for free), this would be down to claiming on your travel insurance.

Edit: I'm sure if someone was truly unwell enough to travel, they wouldn't even make it to an airport, let alone sitting around for several hours in some majorly uncomfortable chairs just to make it on to a flight.
 
Make sure you look presentable and as healthy as possible when boarding, and wait till the end of the boarding process before getting checked at the gate. You will face less scrutiny, they will be keen to get people on to let them finish shift or move to their next scheduled gate.
If you are challenged about your health at the gate, just claim you are lacking sleep, or had a few too many the night before to explain looking a bit off. You could even claim you took a sedative (to help you sleep on the flight) a little too early if needed.
Also, pills (legal ones of course) will help hide illness or pep you up a bit!
 
Efour said:
Would you have to blah it at check in?
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Why would anyone do this - you are asking for them to stop you from flying. The staff are not medial professionals and would likely take the most precautionary course of action

My OH ate some off prawns the day before we left Thailand. There was no way she wasn't going back on that plane. She was in agony all the way back, but smiling away...was still ill the day after. Think of the disruption that would be caused if you don't get on that flight - at least a re-book, hotel, medical certificate and insurance claim. Hassle, hassle, hassle

One of my friends was in a group of 14, of whom 10 ate the dodgy tomato soup the night before during the celebratory, end of holiday, meal. The 10 of them hogged 2 of the toilet cubicles all the way back (long haul). Necessary, but not too fair on the other passengers
 
Good lord. Id think id just try and skip the flight and doss down where ever i was...
 
I worked at LHR in my early 20's as an aircraft refueller, fun fact I refuelled the first ever A380 in LHR, Singapore Airlines was a beast.

Anyway, was once on the pan next to a flight from India, the poo sucker truck came up and started to dislodge the waste and the hose split - that was a very bad morning, made worse by the fact that the flight had suffered a mid air outbreak of the ***** due to the food being served, (think it was kept over temp before being reheated) it was due to fly to I think Manchester but had to divert to us for medical aid.

My idea of hell that.
 
I've been stopped twice in airports for looking unwell - both times in Asia, where they do tend to be pretty hot on flus, be it bird, swine, whatever.

Once was at check in coming back to Taiwan from Hong Kong after a visa run - my bank had helpfully blocked my cards when I arrived, so I'd not had anything to eat or really been able to sleep since landing the day before. Just explained it to the guy on the desk when he asked me if I was unwell, no problem after that.

The second time was a transfer in Beijing, flying Taipei-Bejing-London. That time I was feeling rough anyway (not entirely unusual during my first year living in Taiwan), and got flagged by one of those cameras they use to check temperatures after you've got off the plane. A very polite woman came over and escorted me away to "Quarantine Room 2", where I was presented with a bunch of forms to fill out in Chinese. Fortunately, I had my wife with me, as by this point I'd started shaking a bit too with nerves, and worries about missing our connection, and my Chinese handwriting isn't that great at the best of times :p Sat there for half an hour or so, then they shoved a thermometer in to my armpit and decided I was fit to fly. Decided not to question how they came to that conclusion, as I certainly felt a lot worse than I had half an hour earlier!
 
Dis86 said:
Why would you want to risk infecting a plane full of people? That's just a **** move.
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That was my first thought too, but it is an actual tough moral dilemma to face, what would you do if you were in a foreign country feeling like crap with flu, desperate to get home? It's a tough choice but i think i'd attempt to fly!
 
wez130 said:
That was my first thought too, but it is an actual tough moral dilemma to face, what would you do if you were in a foreign country feeling like crap with flu, desperate to get home? It's a tough choice but i think i'd attempt to fly!
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I'd do what Dis86 would obviously do and pay to stay in the hotel for several days until the illness had worn off.
If I couldn't afford it I'd live on the streets until I was ready and then pay the extra to get home because that's what any decent person would do.
Honest.
 
Dis86 said:
Why would you want to risk infecting a plane full of people? That's just a **** move.
Click to expand...

You think I am hanging around in a country that is not my own, when I can be at home in my own bed?
Contrary to popular belief, getting on a plane with a bug/virus/etc does not automatically infect everyone on the plane.
I believe studies proved that cabin staff on the plane represent a far greater risk to passengers than other passengers.
Just keep yourself to yourself, dont cough at people and breath into their faces and it's a mildly increased risk for someone sat right next to you.
Hell if you are really worried, go full on and wear a face mask to protect others from your mildly elevated risks.

If I never flew when I was ill, I would have been hauled up for performance issues. I was on over 100 flights a year at one point and you bet your bottom dollar I was getting home as soon as possible regardless of how I felt!
 
The other consideration is where you are flying too. Many countries in Asia, Vietnam included will scan passengers before immigration to spot those with temperature and quarantine you for the safety of the general population (Think SARS, Bird Flu etc.). you don't want to be quarantined in Vietnam, or most countries. May ruin your vacation.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
I'd do what Dis86 would obviously do and pay to stay in the hotel for several days until the illness had worn off.
If I couldn't afford it I'd live on the streets until I was ready and then pay the extra to get home because that's what any decent person would do.
Honest.
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Don't blame me next time you're on a flight and end up with Ebola 3 days later!
 
Efour said:
If you were heavily flu'd up or suffering from sickness/diorehea would an airline let you fly? Would you have to blah it at check in?

I'm thinking scenarios where you have been abroad and got food poisoning, fever etc etc.

Do they reschedule you for free? Is it at your own discretion?

There's enough people here that someone must have experience with this.
Click to expand...

I have direct experience of this, thought it was some years ago. Was very hung over and it was coming out of both ends... had puked into a bag while waiting to board the plane and went to board while holding a sick bag. Didn’t even consider that I’d not be allowed on tbh... they just waved me through.
 
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