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This is an automated response to your first post

Sounds as if the flight from Heathrow goes on to your final destination after a stop in San Paulo. ie A through flight to Rio from London via San Paulo.

Depending on who our carrier is from Heathrow will determine if your baggage gets checked through to your final destination. If the carrier code shares with British Midland then you should be able to checkin baggage all he way to final destination from Manchester.

The electronic coded baggage labels attached to your suitcases by check in staff (if checked all the way through) will identify the various flight numbers - and short transfer notice if deemed necessary from the operator.

Nivsy

To check luggage through on BMI the onward flight MUST be on the same ticket if you have 2no seperate tickets they will not book your luggage through you will have to pick it up at Heathrow and check it in with your onwards carrier.This is the reason I stopped using BMI from LBA,I now travel back to Qatar from Manchester.

http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/planningandinformation/check-in/throughcheck-in.aspx

petros,

Can you give us your flight itinery please? Bmi, or their codeshare partners don't fly to San Paulo (Sao Paulo?) I don't think. If you can confirm your flight details, ie who you are flying with from Heathrow (or give me your flight numbers and dates and I'll check for you), we'll be able to advise more. You'll be flying with Varig (RG - T2), TAM (JJ -T4) or British Airways (BA - T4) I would think. From the information you've provided, you'll have to collect your luggage once at Heathrow then transfer to the correct terminal (if needed) and check-in with the airline operating your omward flights. If it's the same airline who is providing your onward flight to Rio, they should checked you straight through on that flight. If it's a different airline or non-codeshare, then you'll have to collect your lugage and check-in again in Sao Paulo.

Darren

As your wife is partially disabled I suggest that you request assistance, at least for the Heathrow transit. If these flights were booked as part of a TO package then contact their customer service dept and then they should be able to sort this out for you - have your invoice number ready. If you booked it DIY (though it sounds as if you didn't because if you did you'd have the info you're asking for) then you would need to contact the customer service depts of the airlines direct. The TO is legally obliged to provide assistance for disabled travellers and she doesn't need a Blue Badge (my Mother does have one but we've never been asked for details of it whenever we've requested assistance). At the very least the TO and airlines are legally obliged to provide this service for the Manchester-Heathrow and Heathrow-Sao Paulo legs because they are on flights operating into/out of UK airports and so you will at least be guaranteed assistance for the Heathrow transit (likely to be the most stressful part of the whole journey in my experience!). As my knowledge of the legal situation is limited to the EU I can't vouchsafe arrangements for the Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro leg but any airline worth its salt should still provide assistance.

For further peace of mind, once Darren has confirmed the flight details, I would then also check direct with the airlines that they have been passed this info and have tagged your booking accordingly - this should entitle you to priority boarding, medical seating etc.

SM

SMa wrote:

she doesn't need a Blue Badge (my Mother does have one but we've never been asked for details of it whenever we've requested assistance).
SM

I've twice requested assistance for my MIL and been asked for her blue badge number both times. Once was a DIY flight with Monarch and I think the other time was a cruise package with Thomson.

luci

Hi Luci,

Seems as if different companies interpret their obligations differently. I've never been asked and that even included Ryanair who if they can find a reason for avoiding providing a service normally do! Just running over in my head the holidays/journeys we've taken since her arthritis started to really impact on her mobility, to the extent that we've requested assistance, we've used FlyBe, BA, GB Airways, Ryanair, JMC (as was, they've reverted to Thomas Cook now), Thomas Cook, MyTravel, LoCo travel (gone bust since!) and a German-owned airline whose name I can't remember. At first I always used to ask did they need details of her Blue Badge and always made sure we actually had it with us at check-in etc just in case we were asked to produce it but after being told a number of times that they didn't need it, I stopped asking about it!

I'll have to check the legislation but I seem to recall a clause in the most recent DDA which says that companies have to take all reasonable measures to ensure that people with disabilities can access their services and that this is not dependent on the assessed needs but on the quality and ease of access. In other words, the 'test' is not whether someone has been assessed as being disabled but whether they are disadvantaged/disabled by the nature of the access to the service. In other words, they can't refuse to provide assistance to someone who would not be otherwise able to access the service just because they've never been formally assessed as needing it. Not sure I've worded that terribly well! Recently my Dad has needed more help in the run-up to a hip replacement and in the immediate post-operative period but he was relectant to apply for his own 'Blue Badge' because he'd convinced himself this was only a temporary incapacity. So now I've been requesting wheelchair assistance for both of them and never had the request for him treated differently to that for my Mum. I've always been asked quite detailed questions about what assistance they need eg Can they manage the airline steps if there's no air bridge or do they need a hydraulic lift? Will they need assiatnce on board the plane or are they mobile enough to walk down the aisle? Will they need a wheelchair only and a travelling companion will be available to push or do they need a 'pusher' as well? Will we need assistance with baggage or not? but never to date about whether they are Blue Badge holders. Perhaps now that more and more people are aware of their rights to such assistance, TOs and airlines are tightening up their procedures? Or perhaps others have been abusing it?

SM

many thanks. flight info manchester to heathrow BD591 (BMI) heathrow to sau paulo JJ8085 (TAM) sau paulo to rio JJ8085 or JJ8029 the reason two flight numbers is the invoice says 8085 the travel firm says 8029 so even more confusion.

petros,

As suspected, you'll have to collect your luggage once you land at LHR then check-in for your onward flights with TAM. They should check you in all the way to Rio at that point.

Safe journey,

Darren