✅
Trip Verified | Our terrible time with Air Malta started with baggage check-in. We bought our tickets through Expedia and they just said "Economy". Turns out Air Malta has like 5 different ticket types and the one we had didn't have checked baggage. We didn't know this in advance, but whatever, we payed to check-in our luggage. We were traveling as a group of 3 and my friend was in a wheelchair because her leg was broken. She has been in a full cast up to her knee for over a month. On our way to Malta from Israel on flight Air Malta 829 that departed Sunday morning Apr. 14, 2019 at 7 AM, my friend was questioned about her cast, how long she's had it and if she's cleared to fly. We answered all of their questions, told them the cast was a month old and that the doctors cleared her to fly. In the end of this questioning we were all allowed to board and the Israeli ground stewardess even found my friend a row of seats so that she could elevate her leg comfortably. On our way BACK from Malta to Israel on flight Air Malta 828 that departed Friday morning Apr. 18, 2019 at 1 AM, my friend was giving the same round of questions, except that this time they declared she was unfit to fly and that their doctor said it would be very dangerous for my friend to fly with a full cast. It did not help that we told them we flew with there airline 5 days ago and that she was fine (they said that this was a mistake and she should never have been let on the first flight to begin with) or that we had papers (in Hebrew) proving my friend's cast was at least several weeks old - nothing helped. They told us she had to go to a clinic in Malta to get her cast cut so that it was a half (and not full cast) and that we were wasting our time. My 2 traveling companions got in a cab and went to go get the cast cut, in a foreign country where we knew nothing of the healthcare system. This would have been fine, but the clinic they sent us do didn't have the equipment to cut the cast! So that trip was a waste. When we asked what we could do if their own recommendation didn't pan out and they said that my friend would have to stay to get her cast cut at the hospital. We tried to find out from the Maltese Air Malta manager if there would be any kind of compensation since they would not let my fried on the plane - could they transfer her ticket? Book her a hotel for her extra overnight stay? We were given a negative response on both counts and she told us that it was stated clearly in the Air Malta rules that you cannot fly with a full cast (we searched for a while for these alleged rules and couldn't find them, only general airline guidelines that said you shouldn't fly within a few days of getting a cast) so this was our problem. When we tried to find out what else we could do and if we could maybe get the hospital that treated my friend to send an email in English that cleared her to fly, the manager speaking to us was very rude, said she was repeating herself and just walked away. Since the 3rd traveling companion and I could not afford to wait any longer or buy new tickets, we left my friend in a cast, with her wheelchair and crutches, to stay alone overnight and try and book another flight. Air Malta was obviously no help whatsoever. In the end my friend got a doctor's letter in English saying she was cleared to fly, and booked herself a flight back to Israel through another airline company (with a layover in Vienna, so this was not the most convenient flight.