Alternative to CPAP-long airline flight

[harmonicamoon]

Hola! I will be traveling across the pond. A long flight. I will not be using my CPAP on the flight. I am concerned about disturbing my neighbors with snoring. Is there a solution besides giving everyone ear plugs?

[JohnNJ]

I have been on long flights where people were sleeping, including me. Everyone in Business Class or First Class should have noise cancelling headphones and will not hear you. If you're in Coach and want to try to limit your snoring, you could try the mouth guard from Snore Rx. A friend uses it and it stops the snoring. Does nothing for the OSA but it does make it quiet. You should use it at home before getting on the plane to see if it will work. It has a money back guarantee. Good luck.

[PaulaO2]

Sit up as much as possible so gravity isn't your enemy.

Why won't you use your CPAP?

[harmonicamoon]

Sit up as much as possible so gravity isn't your enemy.

Why won't you use your CPAP?

Thank you for your reply Paula 02.
No CPAP on plane as
I don't have a battery.
Not sure of available power.
Its complicated. Prior permission. Papers, etc.

[PaulaO2]

Yeah, I've often wondered what the heck I would do if I ever flew overseas or something. I just figured I'd stay awake.

[DocWils]

If you are not in the upper classes, your seat won't go back far enough to trigger apnoea. If you are in business or first, most airlines today have the ability for you to plug in you device. However, if you are anything like me, you won't ever get to a stage of sleep deep enough to trigger apnoea on the plane. Anyway, transatlantic flights are too short to drop off, at least for me, or maybe I am just too nervous a flyer.

There is no problem taking your device onboard. You always should anyway, never put it in the luggage. There is a provision in airline safety codes for medical devices, and this falls under that category.

[ThatOtherGuy]

I have looked into this for OS travel later in the year. Carriers will likely have a form you need to complete, they are quite comprehensive forms. Planes have a 110V system you can plug into so the only thing you have to be sure of is that your machine uses a 110V supply (this is the last thing I need to research for OS travel) plus the correct plug for the outlet. Is it safe to assume that you are taking the machine away with you? So taking it as onboard luggage I would have thought offers far more peace of mind against loss or damage.

Good luck.

[DocWils]

Always, if you can, take your machine as a carry on - since few of the cut rate airlines that operate in the US fly transatlantic, I must assume you are flying with a major airline, either in the Star Alliance Group or the One World Group, and both have standard carry on allowance for medical devices, including CPAP, and do not include them in your carry on limit. There are standard letters you can get to attest to the medical nature of the machine and the need to bring it as a carry on. Some airlines even have downloadable forms you can fill out - to date, the only reason that I have encountered for any trouble was an uninformed courter or security agent, and within half a minute it was always cleared up with their superior. And the only time happened was in the rather tiny airport of Florence, Italy by a young and inexperienced (but self important) counter jockey. I have never once encountered a problem flying through major airports, including two of the stickiest for "rules" (often to asinine extremes)- Toronto Pearson and Heathrow, both who waved it through without a problem. Tip - always keep it in it's own case and don't combine it into your normal carry on case, as there are weight rules of 8 kilograms for those, and as I said, the CPAP is exempt from that and should be taken separately.

In most cases you won't ever encounter a problem at all, and I never even mention it at the counter any more (actually, I don't go to a counter anymore, since Swiss and most Star alliance carriers use Web Check-in, so I already have a pre-printed ticket and need only go to luggage drop-off, which is very quick) - security asks you te remove it from the bag when you put in for x-ray, and since it is fairly easy to see it is not a bomb and has no chemical traces of one, it passes through with out question.

If you get a clueless steward (or whatever the current politically correct but inaccurate term is) just ask to speak to the bursar about plugging it in - they are the most experienced member of the flight team always, and will know about CPAP and what to do. If anyone acts like an idiot, you have IATA on your side, so stick to your guns, but on transatlantic flights, you should not have a problem. They know about these devices and are experienced in handling them. Your only problem will be that some jets do not have a place to plug them in, sometimes it depends of the class you are travelling in, often it depends on the age of the - a lot of older models simply don't have plugs in the seats - Swiss has been overhauling their entire fleet and now have it in all classes, so far as I know so does Air Canada, can't speak for American carriers, but I think air France, Lufthansa and BA also have mostly international plug sets in every seat now, if the place is 10 years old or younger. It also depends on if you are flying on Airbus or Boeing. Most often all this info is available on the web site of the carrier either in the booking process or the web check in process, there will be a description of the amenities for your class and seat selection.

Other tip - if you are on the big side, pay the extra and fly business of higher - the economy seats on a lot of carriers transatlantic are far too narrow for comfort and for big people, sitting in them for six hours can lead to a lot of problems, including blood clots or temporary nerve problems as the heavily pinched hips and buttocks cut off proper circulation. While this is okay for short haul flights of two hours or so, on transatlantic flights I find this near criminal, and am part of an advisory board now trying to get certain airlines to stop money grubbing and change this, or be faced with increased damages claims on the part of patients we see all the time. We are lobbying airplane manufacturers as well. For overnight flights, the extra cost is worth it, for daytime flights it can be argued less so, as you can more often get up and walk around in comfort and are less likely to sleep anyway (take an isle seat). So business flying to Europe, economy flying to the US, if you can't afford business both ways.

[harmonicamoon]

Thank you DocWils for your quick and very informative reply. I am flying BerlinAir. I will contact them.
Thanks again,
Pako

[harmonicamoon]

I contacted BerlinAir. They informed me that the CPAP will be part of my 9Kg limit on cabin baggage. Must be battery powered as there are no outlets.