My wife and I were recently on a trip. Leaving we had no issues. However, our return trip included a layover in Miami; we were flying American Airlines. At the gate, I informed the agent that my wife has a severe peanut allergy and requested they not serve peanuts as a snack. The agent immediately (not exaggerating) became irritated with me. She was adamant that because first class passengers had paid good money that they cannot be denied a meal which could contain nuts.
I was flabbergasted and asked point blank if they place the comfort of first class passengers above the possibility of a medical emergency. At that moment the flight’s captain arrived and overheard everything. They flatly denied even being able to provide a buffer zone around us where they would not serve peanuts as a snack. I stormed away from the counter and sat down. Moments later the same agent approached and asked to see our tickets, which we presented. With no explanation, she took them and tore the stubs off! I asked her what she was doing, and she said that they had to make a decision as to whether or not to allow us passage because the captain was afraid of an in-flight emergency.
In the end I was able to explain that we had my wife’s epi-pen and they were satisfied with that. I’m reasonably certain that it helped when I also explained that I am active military and on returning from leave.
I am infuriated that instead of agreeing with a simply request, American Airlines chose the comfort of higher-paying customers and was going to completely block us from getting on the plane; they blatantly treated us like lower-class people whose well-being didn’t matter to them.
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