I checked in for our flight with plenty of time, more than 8 hours. I checked myself in and purchased an exit row seat then later I checked my husband in, also purchasing an exit row seat. When we arrived at the airport, the agent told me I did not have a seat. I explained that I had purchased the exit row seat and I showed her my boarding pass on my phone and my receipt for the upgrade. She told me I "checked in too late". I explained to her that I checked myself in first and my husband later, so why does he have a seat and I do not? She told me she could not help me. Using my boarding pass on my phone, we proceeded to the gate. The gate attendant tried to scan my pass and it erred. He then proceeded to try to give me another seat, away from my husband. I explained to him that I purchased the seats in the exit row for my husband and myself and I was not going to sit in a different part of the plane in a worse seat. I showed him my receipt for the purchase. People behind me began to get restless and complaining so he finally relented and let me on. But he took my carry on bag. I asked him why and he said it was too large for the overhead. Ironically, my husband and I have the exact same bags. His is black and mine is light gray. My husband is 5'9" and I am 5'3". I had actually placed some items into his bag so mine would be smaller and lighter. He allowed my husband to walk on with his bag, which by the way, easily fit into the overhead. But he would not allow my bag. Why? Prejudice. Because I was smaller in stature and my husband taller, he automatically assumed that my bag, in comparison to my height, was larger. I am considering filing a discrimination suit so that attendants will stop discriminating against smaller people. This happened once before. When the attendant would not permit me to take my bag onto the plane, I handed it to my 6'2" son and he walked right on with it. I am sure there are plenty of attorneys who would love this case.
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