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On or about January 3, 2020, I took a flight from Honolulu, HI to Portland OR with my son. We had just flown to HNL from Tokyo. I boarded early, with the disabled passengers, because I am a 100% disabled veteran. I was then given zero service throughout the flight. No drinks, no snacks, no chance to pay for in flight entertainment. Not a single flight attendant acknowledged I was even there, and when I attempted to communicate, I was completely ignored.
I now understand why.
It's come to my attention that flight attendants sometimes mark"gate crowders" or anyone trying to get on flights ahead of others to be ignored and given no service. The problem is that though I'm very much disabled, it's "invisible", usually. I mask the fact that I live in horrible, chronic pain very well. I am usually able to manage my mobility problems by sitting as much as possible. I had just flown in from Tokyo and guess what: I don't carry my opiate pain medications on the infrequent occasions that I travel overseas, for reasons that should be obvious. My pain is exacerbated by changes in air pressure and climate- I was in a lot of it and really didn't need to be dealing with the usual zoo of people getting on the plane and screwing around, having to twist and duck to avoid people getting their bags in the overhead bins, etc. I just wanted to go to my seat and sit to minimize my discomfort, which I did. I now understand that I was punished for that. And I am furious. It was already a sore spot at the time and an unpleasant memory, but after learning that I was almost certainly singled out for this treatment because staff assumed I was malingering (I do have a VA card that shows service connected disability and would have been happy to produce it at the time), I am disgusted and feel very much discriminated against. Because that's what happened. Assumptions were made, they were wrong, and I was denied services I paid for because of it. I was punished for taking care of myself, and I demand satisfaction.
Claimed loss: Dignity, in flight services PAID FOR. This was discrimination. This was an insult.
Desired outcome: I want an apology. A real one from a real person, and not just in writing. And a partial refund, because I wasn't given what I paid for.
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