I’m a frequent traveler for work. So, I know the drill for dealing with my allergy. I call the airline ahead of my flight, I alert the gate agent when possible, and I always tell the flight attendants upon boarding of my allergy.
This particular trip, I was traveling for a singing competition (I’m an opera singer), so I was extra precautious. Nonetheless, I had a feeling things may go wrong when at the third step of this process the flight attendant at the front of the plane asked me, “Well, how bad is your allergy really?” I sort of shook my EpiPen at him and said, “Bad.”
Snack service started and I began to feel pretty itchy. Ever the optimist, I thought it must just be the dry airplane air. Then the flight attendant got to my row, looked horrified, and said “Oh no! I wasn’t supposed to serve peanuts.”
To the flight crew’s credit, this attendant did check on me multiple times through the flight, but at that point there was little to be done. I broke out in hives. My throat was itching. I felt nauseated. It was not good. They, of course, did not have Benadryl on board.
To the flight crew’s discredit, no medics were called to the gate at landing. I had to walk to my next gate, flag down an agent, and a ait for her to deplane another plane before medical was called. Airport medics in SLC, by the way, do not have Salumedrol or Prednisone on hand. Only Epi and Benadryl. I really wanted to avoid an ED visit and did not take Epi. Which was dumb, but I’m alive.
Delta has repeatedly informed me that my flight is non-refundable. They have offered me $150 in “DeltaCares Vouchers” which covers less than half of the cost of my itinerary (not to mention the loss of potential prize money from the competition that I obviously bombed). They have reiterated how generous this is since I was only “uncomfortable” for a quarter of my trip.
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