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CAUTION: Flying with CPAP on United

Posted by Ingmar53 on July 27, 2007 at 17:16:24:

I had a bit of a nightmare today dealing with United Airlines over use of my CPAP on upcoming flights. I am booked in business class for several trips to Asia and Australia over the next few months. I book early so that I can get my preferred seats. I decided that I would try using my CPAP for the first time on an upcoming overnight flight from San Francisco to Sydney--mostly to avoid the embarrassment of snoring and disturbing others. I have a compact Puritan-Bennett GoodKnight 420e with a compact battery pack.

It took awhile to get a response to my e-mail, but I eventually was directed to someone in Detroit who asked for my flights and CPAP make and model. I was eventually told that all was approved. Then I happened to check my itinerary online and was shocked to see that all my seating had been changed.

When I called United, international reservations could not determine why I had been relocated (to far inferior seats, I might add) but noticed that it occurred the same day as my CPAP permission was granted. It took 45 minutes on the phone to finally discover that CPAP users are considered "disabled"--although they quickly backed off that terminology when I challenged it. Therefore CPAP users cannot be seated in exit rows.

I was furious that I had been bumped from premium seats without any notice. They also changed my seats for another trip in October where I'm traveling with a friend--and they changed HIS seats too. They even bumped me from premium seats on connector flights where I wouldn't be using the CPAP. I eventually got some of the latter reinstated, but some had already been given to others.

It was clear that most of the people I spoke with had no idea what a CPAP is. How is having a small nasal mask emanating from a box that fits in my brief case is a hazard but someone using a bigger laptop with noise-cancelling earphones is not? Beware!

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