My husband has recently had knee surgery. We will be flying in about 3 weeks on BA. The question is that his knees are usually jammed up against the back of the seat in front of him whenever we fly as he is a tall guy.. We can't afford upgrades to any better seats other than regular coach. We don't know how this will affect his knees after surgery, but it can't be good for him. Would he be able to get a seat with more leg room if we took a doctors letter to the airport with us or would we need to call customer service. Thanks in advance for your help.

Have you checked the difference between Regular Coach and their 'Premium Coach' ( sorry don't know the exact name, sure someone else will add ).
A letter 'may' help but that only would apply if any spare seats 'were available', if there are no seats there are no seats, that's the way it goes.
I would see if you can manage to pay something extra for the Premium Coach which gives you Coach service but extra leg ( aka Knee ) room.

Perhaps have a ploite word with their customer service to find out how much extra that would be.

Also do check with your Doctor regarding this relative to any medication or advice the Doctor can give you regarding travel in general after this surgery.

My husband had knee surgery a few years ago and had to fly often right after. He is also tall and usually when the gate agents saw his leg brace they would try to give him a bulkhead seat. If it was not available he would request an aisle seat so that he could stretch his leg in the aisle when possible.

If your husband won't have a brace at that time you could always bring documentation of the surgery and see if the gate agent is able to give you a bulkhead seat or emergency exit row seat, both of which usually have more legroom.

I would also try to call customer service to reserve a bulkhead or emergency exit seat beforehand, if possible.

<b>Statia</b>,

I don't think the airline(s) would be to keen on giving a post-surgery person with limited movement an emergency row seat. The FAA regulations stipulate that the person(s) sitted in the emergency exit rows have to be able to help during an emergency.

The bulkhead and/or some aisle seats are reserved and airport controlled for situation just like this.

BA has economy+ seas which on the average cost just few hundred more. Perhaps the OP's husband can buy up to E+ and the OP can stay in the regular economy?

I would not count on BA having a soft heart just because you have a note from the doctor. If comfort/health issues are really that important to the husband, buy up to economy+ seat. After all, you are flying to Europe on vacation, so BA is looking at it this way. &quot;If they can afford to go, then he can afford a E+ seat if it's really needed.&quot;

It's possible that BA may &quot;upgrade&quot; your husband and maybe you as well for free to E+, but what if they don't? If it's that important, spend few hundred more and guarantee a more comfortable ride over the big pond.

Here's what I woould do: order him a wheelchair.When you check in at the ticket counter, they will have it there.Wheel him off to the gate.They will have seats blocked for &quot;medical&quot; case, of which this is one.Then wheel him to the door of the aircraft, away you go.Order one for arrival airport as well.When you order it via the fone, the agent will ask if he is ambulatory(can he walk from the door of the aircraft to his seat) and yes he is.Done.And no charge.

Remember to ask the person sitting in front of your husband to &quot;recline their seat slowly.&quot; And yes, Economy Plus would be the way to go.

A doctor's note may help to get your husband upgraded to E+. Don't count on anything higher.
Also, the doctor's note does not cover you. So he may get moved to E+ but you almost certainly will not. Your husband will NOT get an exit row seat. this is only for the able-bodied which he is not since he is looking for a medical upgrade.

If you want to be assured of some extra room, take the others' advice and get the E+ seats. If you can't afford 2 seats, then you can get him the E+ and you the E since he is the one with the problem. Or request bulkhead seats.

Forgot to add, check with the surgeon to make sure your husband should be flying soon after surgery. Depending on the type and extent of surgery, the surgeon may not approve of flying within 6-8 weeks of surgery. Depending on the surgery, he may also be at increased risk for blood clots. Ask about this as well.

I hurt myself on the last afternoon of a ski trip and ended up in the ER. The MD wrote me a note requesting help making me comfortable on my AA flight home the next morning.

The only help they would offer was an aisle seat. First class had empty seats, but they told me that an MD note carries no weight for an upgrade because so many people cheat.

One can always find an MD to write almost anything - and it is very easy to forge something. Probably half the people who will be on that plane over the age of 40 have some medical condition that would be more comfortable with a larger seat, first class. Nice try, but add me to the list of people who do not think this will work - and I will start a new category of heartless people who do not think it should work.

AAFF, I only offered the idea of emergency exit row for the case of extra leg space, assuming the passenger had full movement and was physically okay to assist in an emergency. The OP's question seemed to me more a question of comfort than disability. Perhaps I misunderstood.

My own husband never requested emergency exit row after his surgery for that reason. He flew literally days after and did not have full mobility to assist in an emergency. I gathered that was not necessarily the case with the OP's spouse.

I had knee surgery a few months ago and was sure I had an aisle seat which allows one to stretch out the leg when others are not going down the aisle as well as able to get up more easily and walk from time to time. We found our plane coming home was not loaded so there were extra seats one could move to and actually stretch out,but it was not that way on our trip to Amsterdam from Charlotte as it was fully loaded.

Add me to the list of people who think this approach won't work and shouldn't work. If your husband is really that injured you should either spring for the upgrade or cancel the trip. Don't expect to get something for nothing.

Thanks for everyone's replies. It was just a question as what we could do to avoid re-injuring his knee. It would be better if he could have a bulkhead or emergency exit row seat as to stop the possiblity of a reclining passenger putting their seat down into his knee and damaging it again. He is capable of assisting in an emergency and does not need a knee brace or cane. If he can't get those seats, it will have to be an aisle seat that he can sit with his leg straight out at times.

If he can straighten his leg out then no problem. Doesn't have to be an aisle seat. If he sat in an aisle seat with his foot stretched out into the aisle then his need could be subject to a good whacking with a service cart, or just bumped by someone in the aisle.

If he actually needs to straighten his leg to be comfortable then don't get a bulkhead seat. There is just not enough room for long legs to be straight in a bulkhead seat.

BeachBoi-in this age of full flights and having worked for the past 33 years for an airline, I have NEVER heard of &quot;medical seats&quot; being set aside.

If your husband is able-bodied and can assist with emergency evacuations, the medical upgrade you are hoping for no longer applies (sorry, you can't have it both ways).

If he really can help with the emergencies and you tell the CS that you want more room because of his knee, he WILL NOT get the emergency seat!

Best you can hope for is bulkhead which has more room than regular seats or pay for E+.