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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  • Cheezburger Image 10639333632
    via Canva+ (keiferpics)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • My partner and I are both physicians who responded to an inflight medical emergency. This was how the airline responded.
    via ChronicallyBelle
  • American Airlines oneworld Hello Dr. On behalf of American Airlines, please accept our company's formal thank you for the assistance you provided aboard flight AA 2026. We are all grateful that you were on board and freely offered your medical expertise when it was needed most. Dr. doubt, you greatly improved a difficult situation. without a As a tangible expression of our appreciation for volunteering your time and experience, we have added 25,000 bonus miles to your AAdvantage® account. This m
    via ChronicallyBelle
  • Both of us are physicians and we're both clearly identified as such when we responded to a medical emergency in flight. True medical
    via ChronicallyBelle
  • emergency were we were conferring the entire flight about possibly diverting the flight, medically managing the patient, and we were met by paramedics on the ground.
    via ChronicallyBelle
  • The flight attendant took both of our information including titles and medical specialties. Of course my boyfriend gets greeted as Dr and the I get called Ms which
    via ChronicallyBelle
  • happens all the time in the hospital due to bias of women in medicine.
    via ChronicallyBelle
  • We checked our AAdvantage accounts and neither has Dr. Listed in our profiles.
    via ChronicallyBelle
  • Mildly infuriating to say the least. Especially to all the women physicians who get called Miss or nurse in the hospital.
    via ChronicallyBelle
  • ferminriii. Only 25,000 points? I once complained that my seat was broken and I took some pictures of the metal that left a little scratch on my leg. They gave me 25,000 points for that.
    via ferminriii
  • Nigel_featherbottom When I was 12 years old and signed up for United's ff program, I was asked to chose a title and chose Dr.
    via Nigel_featherbottom
  • Cheezburger Image 10639333888
    via Canva+ (keiferpics)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • They still refer to me as Dr. When they send me junk mail.
    via Nigel_featherbottom
  • TheWorld Discarded ⚫ I was the reverse people refused to believe I was their nurse, as a man. Whatever you say doc!
    via TheWorld
  • Gandlerian · At first I assumed you were complaining you did not get awarded enough complimentary miles for volunteering. This is a valid complaint however, especially if they wrote "Dr" to him.
    via Gandlerian

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