Travel Oxygen - Choices?

tara · Nov 13, 2007

This year, I started wearing oxygen at night. My first travels are planned in one month. Guess what, my insurance does not provide oxygen travel arrangements. When I travel I become a self-pay patient.

The good news for me is that I only require 2-3 Liters of O2 at night, say, up to 12 hours. The bad news is, I have to pay cash.

What type of systems do you use when you travel? What companies do you rent from? Has anyone heard of the Imogen One or Sequal Eclipse? (or any other portable concentrator?) I read somewhere online the Imogen One has been approved for airline travel. This could come in handy on overseas trips for me. Does anyone know if this is true?

Has anyone bought a portable concentrator? Which one did you get and why? I'm thinking it might be worth my investment in the long run.

My current home system is one of those Invacare large concentrators. I *could* take it on road trips, but then I'm stuck in a tiny hotel room with my whole family listening to that loud generator all night long. No thank you. I need something quieter and portable.

What do you use? If your insurance covers travel, what company do they travel with? Apria recommended "Travel o2"

Any/all experiences/advice would be helpful. Thanks!

tara · Nov 13, 2007

This year, I started wearing oxygen at night. My first travels are planned in one month. Guess what, my insurance does not provide oxygen travel arrangements. When I travel I become a self-pay patient.

The good news for me is that I only require 2-3 Liters of O2 at night, say, up to 12 hours. The bad news is, I have to pay cash.

What type of systems do you use when you travel? What companies do you rent from? Has anyone heard of the Imogen One or Sequal Eclipse? (or any other portable concentrator?) I read somewhere online the Imogen One has been approved for airline travel. This could come in handy on overseas trips for me. Does anyone know if this is true?

Has anyone bought a portable concentrator? Which one did you get and why? I'm thinking it might be worth my investment in the long run.

My current home system is one of those Invacare large concentrators. I *could* take it on road trips, but then I'm stuck in a tiny hotel room with my whole family listening to that loud generator all night long. No thank you. I need something quieter and portable.

What do you use? If your insurance covers travel, what company do they travel with? Apria recommended "Travel o2"

Any/all experiences/advice would be helpful. Thanks!

tara · Nov 13, 2007

This year, I started wearing oxygen at night. My first travels are planned in one month. Guess what, my insurance does not provide oxygen travel arrangements. When I travel I become a self-pay patient.

The good news for me is that I only require 2-3 Liters of O2 at night, say, up to 12 hours. The bad news is, I have to pay cash.

What type of systems do you use when you travel? What companies do you rent from? Has anyone heard of the Imogen One or Sequal Eclipse? (or any other portable concentrator?) I read somewhere online the Imogen One has been approved for airline travel. This could come in handy on overseas trips for me. Does anyone know if this is true?

Has anyone bought a portable concentrator? Which one did you get and why? I'm thinking it might be worth my investment in the long run.

My current home system is one of those Invacare large concentrators. I *could* take it on road trips, but then I'm stuck in a tiny hotel room with my whole family listening to that loud generator all night long. No thank you. I need something quieter and portable.

What do you use? If your insurance covers travel, what company do they travel with? Apria recommended "Travel o2"

Any/all experiences/advice would be helpful. Thanks!

tara · Nov 13, 2007

This year, I started wearing oxygen at night. My first travels are planned in one month. Guess what, my insurance does not provide oxygen travel arrangements. When I travel I become a self-pay patient.

The good news for me is that I only require 2-3 Liters of O2 at night, say, up to 12 hours. The bad news is, I have to pay cash.

What type of systems do you use when you travel? What companies do you rent from? Has anyone heard of the Imogen One or Sequal Eclipse? (or any other portable concentrator?) I read somewhere online the Imogen One has been approved for airline travel. This could come in handy on overseas trips for me. Does anyone know if this is true?

Has anyone bought a portable concentrator? Which one did you get and why? I'm thinking it might be worth my investment in the long run.

My current home system is one of those Invacare large concentrators. I *could* take it on road trips, but then I'm stuck in a tiny hotel room with my whole family listening to that loud generator all night long. No thank you. I need something quieter and portable.

What do you use? If your insurance covers travel, what company do they travel with? Apria recommended "Travel o2"

Any/all experiences/advice would be helpful. Thanks!

tara · Nov 13, 2007

This year, I started wearing oxygen at night. My first travels are planned in one month. Guess what, my insurance does not provide oxygen travel arrangements. When I travel I become a self-pay patient.

The good news for me is that I only require 2-3 Liters of O2 at night, say, up to 12 hours. The bad news is, I have to pay cash.

What type of systems do you use when you travel? What companies do you rent from? Has anyone heard of the Imogen One or Sequal Eclipse? (or any other portable concentrator?) I read somewhere online the Imogen One has been approved for airline travel. This could come in handy on overseas trips for me. Does anyone know if this is true?

Has anyone bought a portable concentrator? Which one did you get and why? I'm thinking it might be worth my investment in the long run.

My current home system is one of those Invacare large concentrators. I *could* take it on road trips, but then I'm stuck in a tiny hotel room with my whole family listening to that loud generator all night long. No thank you. I need something quieter and portable.

What do you use? If your insurance covers travel, what company do they travel with? Apria recommended "Travel o2"

Any/all experiences/advice would be helpful. Thanks!

LisaV · Nov 13, 2007

Hi,
Exactly what does your trip involve (where are you going and what form of transportation are you going to use)?

Apria's Great Escape program ( <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.apria.com/aw_item_cmn_show_data/1,,10,00.pdf">http://www.apria.com/aw_item_cmn_show_data/1,,10,00.pdf</a> ) says that there is no cost to you in their providing oxygen at a different location than your home if you are within their network area. We found that to be true when we stayed in hotels. We would arrive at the hotel and they would have a big liquid tank awaiting us. Since my late husband used the Helios system for portable O2 he was as set once we got to a hotel as he was at home. (They also had smaller liquid O2 tanks that would fit in a car that we could get for weekend road trips.) Liquid O2 is completely noiseless (unless it is on demand when there is a puff puff sound) but hard to get for nighttime only use.

If you're flying and you need O2 during the flight. (And check with your doctor to see if that's true. You might need it while flying even if you don't need it during the day at home at ground level.) That's something different. Each airline has different rules. (I'll try to edit this later to put in the Innogen stuff, but I think some info is up at <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.portableoxygen.org">http://www.portableoxygen.org</a> .)

If you are going out of the country (or out of the Apria network) then that's different. If you are going on a cruise boat then that is different. Again the Great Escapes Guide introduces some of the issues about all of these things.

Have fun!
-LisaV
P.S. I do know (from forums) some people who have bought the Innogen one for travel. It's not real good for walking around because it has a short battery life. And for flying (check with your airline) you also need to carry double the number of batteries that would be needed to for your flight -- and that can be a lot. But folks who have bought one swear buy it (Especially those who use RVs because you can plug it into a car lighter outlet.)

LisaV · Nov 13, 2007

Hi,
Exactly what does your trip involve (where are you going and what form of transportation are you going to use)?

Apria's Great Escape program ( <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.apria.com/aw_item_cmn_show_data/1,,10,00.pdf">http://www.apria.com/aw_item_cmn_show_data/1,,10,00.pdf</a> ) says that there is no cost to you in their providing oxygen at a different location than your home if you are within their network area. We found that to be true when we stayed in hotels. We would arrive at the hotel and they would have a big liquid tank awaiting us. Since my late husband used the Helios system for portable O2 he was as set once we got to a hotel as he was at home. (They also had smaller liquid O2 tanks that would fit in a car that we could get for weekend road trips.) Liquid O2 is completely noiseless (unless it is on demand when there is a puff puff sound) but hard to get for nighttime only use.

If you're flying and you need O2 during the flight. (And check with your doctor to see if that's true. You might need it while flying even if you don't need it during the day at home at ground level.) That's something different. Each airline has different rules. (I'll try to edit this later to put in the Innogen stuff, but I think some info is up at <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.portableoxygen.org">http://www.portableoxygen.org</a> .)

If you are going out of the country (or out of the Apria network) then that's different. If you are going on a cruise boat then that is different. Again the Great Escapes Guide introduces some of the issues about all of these things.

Have fun!
-LisaV
P.S. I do know (from forums) some people who have bought the Innogen one for travel. It's not real good for walking around because it has a short battery life. And for flying (check with your airline) you also need to carry double the number of batteries that would be needed to for your flight -- and that can be a lot. But folks who have bought one swear buy it (Especially those who use RVs because you can plug it into a car lighter outlet.)

LisaV · Nov 13, 2007

Hi,
Exactly what does your trip involve (where are you going and what form of transportation are you going to use)?

Apria's Great Escape program ( <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.apria.com/aw_item_cmn_show_data/1,,10,00.pdf">http://www.apria.com/aw_item_cmn_show_data/1,,10,00.pdf</a> ) says that there is no cost to you in their providing oxygen at a different location than your home if you are within their network area. We found that to be true when we stayed in hotels. We would arrive at the hotel and they would have a big liquid tank awaiting us. Since my late husband used the Helios system for portable O2 he was as set once we got to a hotel as he was at home. (They also had smaller liquid O2 tanks that would fit in a car that we could get for weekend road trips.) Liquid O2 is completely noiseless (unless it is on demand when there is a puff puff sound) but hard to get for nighttime only use.

If you're flying and you need O2 during the flight. (And check with your doctor to see if that's true. You might need it while flying even if you don't need it during the day at home at ground level.) That's something different. Each airline has different rules. (I'll try to edit this later to put in the Innogen stuff, but I think some info is up at <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.portableoxygen.org">http://www.portableoxygen.org</a> .)

If you are going out of the country (or out of the Apria network) then that's different. If you are going on a cruise boat then that is different. Again the Great Escapes Guide introduces some of the issues about all of these things.

Have fun!
-LisaV
P.S. I do know (from forums) some people who have bought the Innogen one for travel. It's not real good for walking around because it has a short battery life. And for flying (check with your airline) you also need to carry double the number of batteries that would be needed to for your flight -- and that can be a lot. But folks who have bought one swear buy it (Especially those who use RVs because you can plug it into a car lighter outlet.)

LisaV · Nov 13, 2007

Hi,
Exactly what does your trip involve (where are you going and what form of transportation are you going to use)?

Apria's Great Escape program ( <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.apria.com/aw_item_cmn_show_data/1,,10,00.pdf">http://www.apria.com/aw_item_cmn_show_data/1,,10,00.pdf</a> ) says that there is no cost to you in their providing oxygen at a different location than your home if you are within their network area. We found that to be true when we stayed in hotels. We would arrive at the hotel and they would have a big liquid tank awaiting us. Since my late husband used the Helios system for portable O2 he was as set once we got to a hotel as he was at home. (They also had smaller liquid O2 tanks that would fit in a car that we could get for weekend road trips.) Liquid O2 is completely noiseless (unless it is on demand when there is a puff puff sound) but hard to get for nighttime only use.

If you're flying and you need O2 during the flight. (And check with your doctor to see if that's true. You might need it while flying even if you don't need it during the day at home at ground level.) That's something different. Each airline has different rules. (I'll try to edit this later to put in the Innogen stuff, but I think some info is up at <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.portableoxygen.org">http://www.portableoxygen.org</a> .)

If you are going out of the country (or out of the Apria network) then that's different. If you are going on a cruise boat then that is different. Again the Great Escapes Guide introduces some of the issues about all of these things.

Have fun!
-LisaV
P.S. I do know (from forums) some people who have bought the Innogen one for travel. It's not real good for walking around because it has a short battery life. And for flying (check with your airline) you also need to carry double the number of batteries that would be needed to for your flight -- and that can be a lot. But folks who have bought one swear buy it (Especially those who use RVs because you can plug it into a car lighter outlet.)

LisaV · Nov 13, 2007

Hi,
Exactly what does your trip involve (where are you going and what form of transportation are you going to use)?

Apria's Great Escape program ( <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.apria.com/aw_item_cmn_show_data/1,,10,00.pdf">http://www.apria.com/aw_item_cmn_show_data/1,,10,00.pdf</a> ) says that there is no cost to you in their providing oxygen at a different location than your home if you are within their network area. We found that to be true when we stayed in hotels. We would arrive at the hotel and they would have a big liquid tank awaiting us. Since my late husband used the Helios system for portable O2 he was as set once we got to a hotel as he was at home. (They also had smaller liquid O2 tanks that would fit in a car that we could get for weekend road trips.) Liquid O2 is completely noiseless (unless it is on demand when there is a puff puff sound) but hard to get for nighttime only use.

If you're flying and you need O2 during the flight. (And check with your doctor to see if that's true. You might need it while flying even if you don't need it during the day at home at ground level.) That's something different. Each airline has different rules. (I'll try to edit this later to put in the Innogen stuff, but I think some info is up at <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.portableoxygen.org">http://www.portableoxygen.org</a> .)

If you are going out of the country (or out of the Apria network) then that's different. If you are going on a cruise boat then that is different. Again the Great Escapes Guide introduces some of the issues about all of these things.

Have fun!
-LisaV
P.S. I do know (from forums) some people who have bought the Innogen one for travel. It's not real good for walking around because it has a short battery life. And for flying (check with your airline) you also need to carry double the number of batteries that would be needed to for your flight -- and that can be a lot. But folks who have bought one swear buy it (Especially those who use RVs because you can plug it into a car lighter outlet.)

tara · Nov 13, 2007

Hi Lisa,

Thank you for all the helpful information. Unfortunately my insurance only pays for oxygen at a local company here in Sacramento called Timberlake. I called Apria to see if I could set up a cash pay account with them for my trips, but since I'm not a home customer they won't provide service to me as a cash paying customer while I'm on vacation. (My insurance is Pacificare with SIP medical group) Apria was helpful though, they provided the name of a home oxygen service called "Travel o2". I haven't heard back from them yet though.

Thank you again. I appreciate all the info.

tara · Nov 13, 2007

Hi Lisa,

Thank you for all the helpful information. Unfortunately my insurance only pays for oxygen at a local company here in Sacramento called Timberlake. I called Apria to see if I could set up a cash pay account with them for my trips, but since I'm not a home customer they won't provide service to me as a cash paying customer while I'm on vacation. (My insurance is Pacificare with SIP medical group) Apria was helpful though, they provided the name of a home oxygen service called "Travel o2". I haven't heard back from them yet though.

Thank you again. I appreciate all the info.

tara · Nov 13, 2007

Hi Lisa,

Thank you for all the helpful information. Unfortunately my insurance only pays for oxygen at a local company here in Sacramento called Timberlake. I called Apria to see if I could set up a cash pay account with them for my trips, but since I'm not a home customer they won't provide service to me as a cash paying customer while I'm on vacation. (My insurance is Pacificare with SIP medical group) Apria was helpful though, they provided the name of a home oxygen service called "Travel o2". I haven't heard back from them yet though.

Thank you again. I appreciate all the info.

tara · Nov 13, 2007

Hi Lisa,

Thank you for all the helpful information. Unfortunately my insurance only pays for oxygen at a local company here in Sacramento called Timberlake. I called Apria to see if I could set up a cash pay account with them for my trips, but since I'm not a home customer they won't provide service to me as a cash paying customer while I'm on vacation. (My insurance is Pacificare with SIP medical group) Apria was helpful though, they provided the name of a home oxygen service called "Travel o2". I haven't heard back from them yet though.

Thank you again. I appreciate all the info.

tara · Nov 13, 2007

Hi Lisa,

Thank you for all the helpful information. Unfortunately my insurance only pays for oxygen at a local company here in Sacramento called Timberlake. I called Apria to see if I could set up a cash pay account with them for my trips, but since I'm not a home customer they won't provide service to me as a cash paying customer while I'm on vacation. (My insurance is Pacificare with SIP medical group) Apria was helpful though, they provided the name of a home oxygen service called "Travel o2". I haven't heard back from them yet though.

Thank you again. I appreciate all the info.

luke · Nov 13, 2007