Female doctor saves the life of a stranger on a flight, but only her boyfriend gets rewarded 25,000 airline points because they assume he's the MD: ‘[He] gets greeted as Dr and the I get called Ms’

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jun 17, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

What's the worst-case scenario when flying in a passenger airplane? A faulty landing, duct-tape on the wings at the tarmac, or an unforeseen medical emergency?

Cruising at 20,000 feet up in the sky, this medical emergency happened with the right collection of passengers aboard: a pair of dating doctors with complimentary PhD's in medical responses. Luckily, this passenger was well taken care of, but the airline made a serious fumble afterwards when they tried to "thank" their on-flight heroes. As if the insult of a meager 25,000 fly points wasn't enough to feel under-appreciated, the airline also sent correspondence that misnomered their two heroes. Well, more specifically, just the woman.

While the dating doctors are both certified PhD physicians, in all the paperwork, they only referred to the boyfriend as "Doctor" and his comrade and partner as "Miss." On top of the very small expression of gratitude (25,000 fly points), this title mix-up rubbed this hero the wrong way, causing her to dash online to Reddit's r/MildlyInfuriating subreddit to vent about it all. 

Normally, I don't care about titles or misnomers; I've been incorrectly called "Jessica" my entire life. However, when it comes to an earned title, one that takes 10+ years of student labor, late nights, and lab hours to achieve, you better believe I'm calling someone "Doctor" if they've earned it. Especially in the medical field, this sort of title has earned the respect not to be forgotten, no matter what gender you are. Perhaps it was just a clerical mistake on behalf of the airline, but I think this might earn this lady doctor more than just a one-way ticket to Cleveland or Orlando. 

Perhaps her PhD, as well as her epic heroism on a flight gone wrong, should earn her a more heroic title than "Miss" or "Ma'am." Where do you stand on this? Although it's just a technicality and therefore only "mildly infuriating," I think this particular argument should be brought up on the corporate flagpole, if not for any other reason than to score a few more fly miles as a reward. Not that they saved that passenger for the money or glory…

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