“Sorry Ma’am, this is the priority line.”
A mere three months into 2013 and I have already taken 13 flights and clocked over 20,000 miles, ensuring that I will sail through the first hurdle of maintaining Silver Medallion status for next year. I will admit my personal goal is to break the 50,000 mark this year. Flying Silver Medallion with Delta means you get some perks. Since I am merely Silver the perks are not as great as if I were Platinum or Diamond, but I will take what I can get.
One of my favorite perks is a dedicated area for check-in at every airport. Every time I enter the airport, I look for the check-in desk for Silver Medallion, sometimes it is with the rest of the Sky Priority folks (LGA) sometimes it is closer to the general check-in (DTW). Sadly, no matter where it is, it seems that I do not fit the description of what a “priority” passenger looks like. Without fail, when I walk into the Priority check-in line I am asked if I am priority or I am TOLD that I need to go to another line as the line I am standing in is for Priority travelers. Usually I have a snappy comment, but today I was annoyed beyond belief.
After hanging out with my friends and getting some late night snacks from Pop Burger, I arrived back to my friend’s Harlem apartment around 4:30am, packed my bags and laid down for a quick power nap. At 5:15am I crawled off of the couch managed to throw some clothes on and headed downstairs where an equally sleepy taxi driver was waiting. I barely was able to keep my eyes open during the cab ride and was shaken awake when we arrived to LaGuardia’s terminal C.
I had the driver stop in front of the door where Sky Priority check-in was. I paid the driver, grabbed my bag, headed inside and stood in line. Before I could put my heavy carry on bag on the floor a delta representative asked me if I had my boarding pass. I said no. She then informed me that I needed to use the kiosk then go to the other side to drop my bag because this side was for Priority passengers. My well rested self would have put my bag down, hopped on my soapbox and told her why discriminating against people based on outward appearances is ruining this country. The sleepy me, visibly rolled my eyes and told her that I was Priority (meaning I have priority check-in benefits). Surprised, she quickly tried to make up for her mistake, again telling me to use the kiosk to print my boarding pass.
After printing my boarding pass I asked her, what next. She told me to stand in line to drop my bag. Now someone else was in line in front of me. I pointed that out to her. She said nothing. I was annoyed. After waiting nearly ten minutes for the two people in front of me to be serviced, I was waived forward. Still annoyed by the previous encounter with the Delta employee, I just wanted to drop my bag and get this over with. The first thing out of the woman’s mouth was “Are you priority or first class?” This was not a question of which one am I, it was a question of are you one. Had she not been on the phone helping another passenger I would’ve given her a piece of my mind. I wanted to call a manager over to ask for apologies, but my sleepy self had no fight left in me.
I wish that I could say this is the first time such a thing has happened. Unfortunately, this happens 90% of the time, the assumption that I am standing in the wrong place. I suppose it is an assumption that I am illiterate as well. I am not sure if it is my dressed down attire, today it was bright colored pants with neon laced Nike dunks coupled with two braids on either side of my head, sans any semblance of make up. Perhaps it is my black skin. Perhaps it is my early 20s appearance. I am not sure if I should blame it on race, age or some other characteristic that I possess which suggests that I could in no way be a Silver Medallion or Sky Priority passenger. Perhaps it is my lack of white skin and male genitalia.
I am interested to hear your comments!
***Please note that after receiving a reply tweet from @DeltaAssist I have amended some language in the post to accurately reflect the benefits of Silver Medallion.***
This Post Has 6 Comments
I am a young 20s appearing, white female. I get this kind of treatment all the time with Alaska Airlines despite elite status or first class ticket (upgrades with miles). When traveling holiday flights with American first class I experienced the same. In fact they tend to literally look over me if I am at the beginning of the line and even say “sir, next” motioning to the man behind me sometimes. Or they assume I am a child with a nearby family or with a nearby man because a young woman couldn’t possibly be traveling alone. I do tend to dress up for the airport now as that seems to help a tiny bit with the “you are in the wrong line, go over there and use a kiosk” stuff. I get pissed off when they call me Miss or by my first name (when I clearly heard them call the man Mr. Blahblah) instead of Ma’am and usually say it’s Dr. (eek).
Hello Alisha,
Thank you for sharing your experience!
[…] 2013, I blogged about a bad experience I had with Delta, in which I asked them to clarify their diversity training practices. They assured me this was […]
[…] 2013, I blogged about a bad experience I had with Delta, in which I asked them to clarify their diversity training practices. They assured me this was […]
It's interesting to see that Delta was more concerned about you getting the Silver Medallion details right, over making up for what is an unquestionable lack of professionalism and customer service.
My initial reaction was to think that you were discriminated against for being black. But now come to think about it, had you been black but rocking a Louis Vuitton with some Louboutin, a perfect manicure and some MAC make up on, they probably wouldn't have questioned your priority status. Same thing applies if you had you been an over dressed young white female OR male, or even under dressed for all that matters.
The bottom line is that most airlines believe that such privileges are reserved to a select few: their elite travellers who generally happen to be business men or women, or some naturally rich person/kid. In any case, they would tick the box of that 'luxurious' appearance that would make the Silver Medallion status a unique group to belong to.
Unfortunately, it turns out that their marketing skills is extremely discriminatory, and you may not change it overnight, but owe to put a strong complaint against them because 13 flights with Delta within 3 months isn't cheap! You run their business and they need to recognize/appreciate it!
Thanks for your comment and I definitely agree with what you've said. I was annoyed by the initial response. I think that the supervisor he eventually sent me an email could tell that I was annoyed. In the end, they compensated me for my less than optimal experience. The person that I have been dealing has been very polite and seems open-minded to the suggestions that I offered for how they can improve their service and ensure that their employees are more culturally sensitive. Now whether or not anything changes will remain to be seen.
I agree with you about it not being solely about me being black. Sometimes when I travel I dress up, but sometimes, like when leaving the club and going to the airport, I just want to be comfortable.
Thanks again for your comment!