Flying Abroad - 18 hr trip

[john_dozer]

Company may be sending me out tomorrow to South Korea. I don't have a travel CPAP and only have a Resmed S9 Autoset. A quick check of their website I think I can use the power supply if I find an adapter

Any suggestions for the plane trip? My option is to stay awake the whole trip which may be doable. I think international trips are business class as my company's policy but that changes back and forth.

[RandyJ]

I fly to the UK frequently and don't bother with my machine since I keep the seat back tilted up a bit when I sleep. I usually fly business class, and there are AC outlets at every seat. If you wish to take advantage of the fact that the seats in business class are capable of going completely flat and use your S9, the power should support it as long as you only use the blower and not the humidifier.

You can find out if your seat will have an outlet here: http://www.seatguru.com

Check with your airline; some require to be notified that you plan on using cpap in flight. Resmed has a letter on their website you can print out and bring with you regarding machine conformity to standards etc: http://www.resmed.com/assets/documents/ ... r_eng1.pdf

Since it's last minute, you should be able to get an adapter at the airport either here or upon landing. South Korea uses the same 2 round prong plug that most of Western Europe uses, though they run on 110 like the US.

Edit: They run on 220.

[john_dozer]

Thanks for the reply. Just to note, all my research points to S. Korea being 220V and 110V in a few places as it becomes obsolete.

And unfortunately sleeping sitting up has never really helped me much. Maybe its because my head is either facing forward to tilted down and/or to the side.

[RandyJ]

Thanks for the reply. Just to note, all my research points to S. Korea being 220V and 110V in a few places as it becomes obsolete.

Sorry about that. I was reading a table and read the wrong line.

Voltage is immaterial in any case...

[msla]

Air turbulence, another reason not to use a humidifier while sleeping on an air plane.

[Drowsy Dancer]

There's a bunch of information in this thread about the details of the federal regulations to which all domestic carriers are subject (and foreign carriers under some circumstances as discussed ad nauseum in the thread): viewtopic/t88573/Travelling-with-CPAP-f ... -time.html

What airline are you flying? Check their website about requirements of notice of your intent to use a CPAP (if you're just carrying it onboard there is no advance requirement). That having been said, I've never actually given advance notice of my intent to use my CPAP on an airplane, and have always been permitted to use my machine in-flight.

Don't use the humidifier in flight, it draws too much power. The airline can theoretically say you have to use a battery to run your CPAP, but this is stupid because they will let you use a laptop inflight. The one drawback of using the power outlet at your seat is that the power tends to go on and off, so you will have a restless night. On on flight the power at my seat was supplied in one of those cigarette lighter-type outlets, and I needed a converter for that. Fortunately they had one on the plane (I now carry one in my CPAP bag).

Locate the little airplane symbol on the sticker on the bottom of your machine (see the photograph in the thread referenced above). That means that your manufacturer has tested your machine and it satisfies FAA standards for in-flight use (the Resmed letter is helpful on that issue as well). That's the one thing I've ever had a flight attendant weeble about, but I eventually calmed her down on the issue.

If you run into hassles on the ground before you leave all carriers subject to the ACAA have to have a Complaint Resolution Officer available at all times the carrier is operating with the authority to overrule everything but a safety decision of the pilot-in-command. This is why it's important for you to be able to establish that in-flight use of CPAP is NOT a safety issue because the machine is rated for airplane use.

If your flight looks like it's really full, make sure you preboard with your CPAP and put it in the "priority stowage"--that way, if they start pulling off people's carryon luggage and checking it because there is no room, your CPAP will be the last thing to go (folding wheelchairs have priority over other assistive devices, including CPAP, but the odds that there will be enough folding wheelchairs to overfill priority stowage before you get there are pretty slim).

[billbolton]

The one drawback of using the power outlet at your seat is that the power tends to go on and off...

Which is why many airlines wont permit at-seat power to be used for for any therapeutic medical device

[Drowsy Dancer]

The one drawback of using the power outlet at your seat is that the power tends to go on and off...

Which is why many airlines wont permit at-seat power to be used for for any therapeutic medical device

This policy mades sense for use of a POC. It makes less sense for a CPAP machine, where (1) it is not used continuously throughout the flight in any event and (2) the consequences of a power interruption to a CPAP in use are less severe than the consequences of a power interruption to a POC in use. I don't believe it's a life-threatening event for the power to go off on my CPAP momentarily, and I ought to be able to assume the risk that it will do so.

The "many" airlines not permitting the use of in-seat power, FWIW, do not include the airlines on which I have flown since acquiring a CPAP.

[billbolton]

The "many" airlines not permitting the use of in-seat power, FWIW, do not include the airlines on which I have flown since acquiring a CPAP.

Which airlines have you flown where you actually used a CPAP inflight from at-seat power, and how many such flights on each airline?

[Drowsy Dancer]

The "many" airlines not permitting the use of in-seat power, FWIW, do not include the airlines on which I have flown since acquiring a CPAP.

Which airlines have you flown where you actually used a CPAP inflight from at-seat power, and how many such flights on each airline?

I flew on American Airlines on 10/20/2012 from DFW to MAD and used a CPAP in-flight from at-seat power.
I flew on American Airlines on 11/4/2012 from MAD to DFW and used a CPAP in-flight from at-seat power.

I did not give AA any advance notice whatsoever of my intention to use the CPAP in-flight. If you look at AA's website, consistent with my theory above they are much more concerned with POC users having batteries *available* but will permit POC users to use at-seat power.

In the event a powerport is available at your seat, it may only be used during flight and may not be used during taxi, takeoff, and landing.

On the first flight noted, there was no power at my particular seat. The flight attendant found a seat for me with power and let me switch to it, and supplied me with a loaner cigarette lighter attachment.

On the second flight noted, the FA was, I think, confusing my machine with a POC and I had to spend a fair amount of time explaining the actual type and model of machine and ended up showing her my prescription (which technically I wasn't required to show, because plain-vanilla CPAP use does not require a medical certificate, but whatever...I had the goal in mind) and in fact made the argument, which she accepted, that the only thing that would happen if the at-seat power died temporarily is that I'd wake up, not die.

The MAD-XRY (La Parra) legs on Iberia were too short for me to break out the CPAP but I believe their policies derive from AAs.

I'm assuming that you have personal experiences that were different from mine. I'm wondering how recent your bad experiences have been, because, I have pointed out, the regs have changed. With the changes in the regulations, especially the changes in 2009 and 2010 of which you were not aware (recalling from a previous thread), I suspect that CPAP users experience fewer hassles from airlines than they did before, say, 2008.

From the chatter on frequent flyer message boards, Delta used to be one of the worst airlines for travelers with disabilities. The $2 million fine they got socked with for ACAA violations in 2011 seems to have gotten their attention http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDe ... -0003-0007 (it's true that the fines were not due to CPAP-related violations AFAICT, but I expect their CROs are quite nervous).