Manchester to Orlando - seats for teen with epilepsy

Hello
Myself and my two daughters are heading to Disney in June. I have contacted the special assistance team to let them know my daughter has epilepsy and despite medication does still have around 1 or 2 seizures a week. They told me that they may be able to allocate my daughter and myself bulkhead seats (where the sky cots usually are) depending on who else needed them etc. I understand this as others may have greater need but if they are available it would just give me peace of mind when we travel that we have a bit of room around us if she does have a seizure.

My question is when are these likely to be shown as allocated on our booking? We are flying club members so I know I can pre-select seats FOC 3 days out. If we are allocated bulkhead seats are they likely to be shown on there by 3 days out. Just thinking if we can't get bulkhead then I would be best selecting somewhere else where at least I ensure we are together.

Another question from those of you familiar with these planes is if we don't get bulkhead where would you suggest I look at to sit.

Many thanks

Ang

Assuming you're travelling in Economy cabin Could you opt to pay for seat selection now? I think it's £25 per person.

Also if she has any triggers based on flashing lights I would try to sit forward of the wings so the wingtip strobes aren't an issue.

Apologies if this is teaching you to suck eggs but make sure you have her medication in your carry on, (enough for the whole trip). Getting replacements if a bag is lost is a potential nightmare.

W.

Hello
Myself and my two daughters are heading to Disney in June. I have contacted the special assistance team to let them know my daughter has epilepsy and despite medication does still have around 1 or 2 seizures a week. They told me that they may be able to allocate my daughter and myself bulkhead seats (where the sky cots usually are) depending on who else needed them etc. I understand this as others may have greater need but if they are available it would just give me peace of mind when we travel that we have a bit of room around us if she does have a seizure.

My question is when are these likely to be shown as allocated on our booking? We are flying club members so I know I can pre-select seats FOC 3 days out. If we are allocated bulkhead seats are they likely to be shown on there by 3 days out. Just thinking if we can't get bulkhead then I would be best selecting somewhere else where at least I ensure we are together.

Another question from those of you familiar with these planes is if we don't get bulkhead where would you suggest I look at to sit.

Many thanks

Ang

Hello Ang and welcome to the site.

To answer your questions directly;
-these won't be shown on your booking unless you are a FC Au member, travelling in PE or in UC, your initial post doesn't make it clear as to which cabin your family and yourself are travelling in.
-as a family booking, if it is made as such, VS will be trying their best to make sure that you guys are sitting together. As a medical issue is involved I am sure that you and your daughter will not be separated.
- Disney in June MAN-ORD indicates that you are likely flying on a B747 ... again I am guessing.. if you are doing the transatlantic on a connecting flight please let us know, there are a few options that cover the route. On this, I have got to ask which cabin class you are flying to properly advise... so many factors at play on that one.

At the end of the day, as you have notified VS that there is a med issue with one of your party I am sure they will do all they can to make sure that you have the best seats for your situation. When do you fly out?

Joey

Hello

We are flying economy on 18/6 returning 30/6 direct from Manchester to Orlando.

Thankfully she is not triggered by flashing lights, tiredness is the biggest factor. We've booked the 1245 flight and as we are only a 30-40 min max journey to the airport here I'm hoping she can get a good nights sleep before outbound flight as she won't have to wake up really early to travel.

I will make sure her medications, fit to fly letter, etc are all in my handbag.

So from what I'm reading any special assistance seating won't show on my booking. Is that right? So if I select seats (either now or 72 hrs before) will Special assistance still look to see if they can help - they won't just assume we chosen other seats instead?

Thanks again

Oh forgot to add - yes we all booked together as a family of 3.

This is the one main drawback of the LGW/MAN 747's since their refit - the lack of the economy "mini cabin" behind PE in front of door 2 (the normal boarding door). There were only 2 or 3 rows of economy seating here, but it was ideal for people with medical conditions as it was a small, fairly private cabin area. It allowed medical conditions / medication to be dealt with a degree of privacy compared to sitting in the main economy cabin.

Given that the Orlando route gets a lot of passengers with severe disabilities (quite possibly making that one special trip to see The Mouse that they will be unable to repeat) the loss of the mini-cabin must be a nightmare for Virgin Special Assistance.

Back to the OP - Virgin will allocate the bulkhead seats based on need, so passengers with babies needing a skycot will more than likely get first dibs on these seats. I'd probably recommend paying to book either extra legroom seats, or if your daughter is 16, then exit row seats. The only caveat for the exit row seats is that the evacuation slide housing on the door normally restricts the legroom for the passengers in the A/K seats (main deck only) & the exit row seats on row 38 are next to toilets, so passengers may loiter in front of where you are sitting whilst waiting for the toilet.

Also, the extra legroom seats are positioned where they are going to have visibility of the strobe lights on the wings if seated at a window seat. Nothing a window blind can't solve, but I know strobe lighting can be a problem for sufferers of epilepsy. Possibly less of an issue on the day flight to Orlando, but the strobe will be very visible on the night flight home.

I would have thought the fact that the daughter is prone to seizures would mean they wouldn't let her sit in an exit seat anyway, as you have to be physically fit and able to operate the door in the event of an emergency (as well as being over 16).