I did not say he had scabs on his face I said scars which were pink marks remaining on his skin all the scabs were gone he was well over that stage.I also did not assume the staff or pilot has children but that anyone who has contact with children could tell that the marks were not spots. As it was the weekend before they were meant to fly 7am Monday where do you get to see a doctor to get a letter she was told as the spots were over a week old it would be fine.

I would agree that it would be better for all if they did state that people would not be allowed to fly in these circumstances in their T/C.
As Joe public cannot be expected to know everything and sometimes are maybe pre occupied with other things as it can be stressful going on holidays.

It is no fairer to say

but that anyone who has contact with children could tell that the marks were not spots.

than it would be to say that anyone who has had experience of air travel would have known that you need a docter's letter confirming fitness for travel after being ill with chickenpox. Cabin crew aren't medically qualified and they have to play safe in any matter that relates to the health and wellbeing of other passengers.

By chance I've just had one of my students experience a period of extreme anxiety because she is in her final trimester and expecting twins and she had a very nasty scare after realising that she had come into contact with a child who was possibly still infectious with chickenpox. Chickenpox is a disease that can have very serious consequences for some people and cabin crew need to take the risk seriously.

I'm sorry that your family had their holiday spoilt in this way but anybody who has recently had an infectious disease which has possible serious consequences for people who catch it needs confirmation from a docter that they are past the infectious stage before they can fly. This is part of the standard terms and conditions of TOs and airlines and I admit it can be a bind reading all that small print at the back of the brochure or wading through page after page on screen and it is such a great temptation to simply tick or click the box which says you've read and accepted the terms and conditions of the booking. But doing so means that you have no comeback when something like this happens to you.

SM

Read all the small print on first choice can't see it!!

I still think as it was only 1 week after the child had full blown chicken pox it would have been a sensible thing to do to see a doctor. You've just mentioned above that it was the weekend before a 7am Monday flight so therefore the child must still have been recovering at that point. Also these marks which were the remains of what had been spots and would be fading daily could look very much like a rash of some sorts. And again, without anything in writing from a doctor they are taking your word that these are scars from chicken pox when it could be all manner of illnesses which can produce a rash.

It's just something that will have to be put down to experience and it is unfortunate that check in staff and others didn't find it a problem but the cabin staff member did - on another flight there might not have been the same outcome.

Something to think of for the future, as I said before it's all very well us saying all this in hindsight. I guess the major thing that comes to mind is does the child feel well, is he/she over the worst, are they okay flying, rather than what the effect on others might be.

i always look at the worst case scenario.My son has allergys (eczema,asthma and peanut allery,amongst others) and i always disclose everythung to the insurance companys and therfore have to pay 20 to 30 pounds more in insurance for him.And although on holiday he is alway totally well(more than over here!!) and feel better that we are totally covered.

Read all the small print on can't see it!!

I find that very strange because on the First choice website in at least 2 of their sample sets of terms and conditions - I didn't bother checking any more after reading the same thing twice - they clearly state

MEDICAL CONDITIONS

If you have a medical condition, serious illness, recently undergone surgery, or have suffered a recent accident, you must be cleared for travel by the airline and may require a Fitness to Fly Certificate from your GP. All requests for medical clearance must be submitted to First Choice Airways at least 4 working days before the date of departure. N.B: Conditions which require medical clearance include respiratory, coronary or infectious illness.

Chickenpox is an infectious illness and hence covered by their terms and conditions

Another of their nasty catch alls.
If you don't get your insurance with FC then you do not necessarily declare the health issues to them as you do to the insurance company. there is no place on the web site booking procedure. In fact try getting through on the phone sometimes, it is enough to give you high blood pressure. This little catch all says they can stop you flying as you haven't told them even though both your doctor and insurance company say there is no reason.

Meanwhile, I seem to recollect that stuff like ChickenPox is most infectious when you don't see it. By the time you see it, it's nearly over.
interesting though as I would be chasing the doc to get a "not fit to fly" note but if he said OK, I would definitely not have thought of a "fit to fly" so we all learn a little bit.

Have come across a few FC crews now, and whereas many could not be more pleasant and appear to be there to help you have a good trip, there are some crews who seem to consist of stroppy jobsworths to whom you are squatters and to be avoided like the plague, they must have loved the chickenpox excuse.

This has nothing to do with whether you take out your insurance with First Choice or not - the above quote is taken from their sample booking conditions for package holidays and flight only bookings that are freely avaialble on their website and are not part of the conditions relating to their insurance policies. Also, there is no indication in any of Lady's posts that the family had informed or taken the advice of their docter or insurance company prior to being off-loaded. Had they done so they might well have been more aware of these sort of conditions because docter's are well used to the need for fitness to fly letters/certificates in these circumstances.

As for when Chickenpox is infectious it is most infectious from when the blisters appear because that is where the reservoirs of virus are and burst blisters are probably the source of greatest infection but patients are infectious and can pass it on from before they appear and remain infectious until the virus enters its dormant phrase. It's only once the blisters have started to crust over can one say that the infectious period is nearly over but most docters advise that it's only once the blisters have completely disappeared that one is fairly safe from passing it on. It never completely disappears from the system and Shingles is the sign that it has been re-activated which can happen for a variety of reasons.

SM

This is slightly off topic but on the same kind of thread running through it and I guess it's all about the airlines accountability.
Last October my husband and I flew to Cairns in Far North Queensland via Brisbane with Virgin Blue.
On the Melbourne to Brisbane leg the voice of the purser came over to greet us. Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls (Virgin are lovely like that) today we have a special guest on board... I elbowed my old man and said we've got 'his nibs' on board old 'Bluey' himself Sir Richard Branson... but no such luck. "We have a guest with a severe nut allergy and so we cannot sell any foods off the trolley (tis a bring your own butty airline, but can buy sandwiches, snacks and drinks at reasonable prices). Just about everything on the trolley was banned, even the products that stated on the packaging that it 'may' contain nuts. On chatting to the crew who came round selling precious little... she said she'd been flying 7 years and this was the second time in 2 weeks that she's come across this (maybe this was the passengers return journey).
The whole plane was inconvenienced by one person... the airline must have been terrified that the passenger may have gone into an anaphylactic shock if someone had opened and ate a chocolate bar than may have travelled along the same production line of another product that contained nuts... the smell of the peanuts getting into the air-conditioning and the allergic passenger inhaling the nut smell.
I dread to think how that same passenger or the rest of us for that matter would go on an Asian long haul flight with all that satay.
Whist I feel very sorry for this persons medical condition I personally feel that he/she should have 'masked up' in order to prevent inhaling anything harmful ... and not expect 300 people to not eat anything.

Unless of course it's you with the severe nut allergy!

The whole plane may have been severely inconvenienced but 'masking up' might not have been an option

Must have been a pretty severe allergy for them to have taken the steps they did - I doubt they do it for the fun of it you know.

I actually feel sorry for the allergy sufferer tho' must be awful knowing you severely inconvenienced a whole plane load of people so that you could enjoy a holiday - shame no one could empathise with them!

As this thread has now gone off topic and the original question has been answered quite extensively I will lock it.

MarkJ HT Mod