Viral travel stories usually have a short shelf life.
Something strange happens, social media gets angry for a few days, and then everyone moves on to the next outrage.
But every once in a while, there’s an interesting second chapter.
That’s exactly what happened after one passenger found something in his airline seat that never should have been there in the first place.
If you were reading travel news last week, you may have read about the American Airlines passenger who found a used condom and its wrapper wedged in the seat. When he made the airline aware of the issue, their response was, shall we say, lackluster.
On May 21, Paul Franklin, an American Airlines million miler for over 20 years, and an AAdvantage Executive Platinum member, to boot, was on a flight from Phoenix to El Paso, when he discovered a used Trojan Magnum condom, along with its wrapper, wedged in the seat.
PC: Paul Franklin. Used with permission / He said the flight attendant took the condom away before he was able to get a photo of it, but she held the wrapper for him to take a pic
After Paul landed, he spoke to a supervisor at PHX, but he said she didn’t apologize or seem to care – she just wanted a copy of the photos he had taken.
Frustrated with the supervisor’s lack of….concern? empathy?…he emailed the airline’s customer service department. Here’s their response:
PC: Paul Franklin. Used with permission
May 22, 2026
Hello Paul:
Thank you for contacting Customer Success.
Given the onboard standards that we have for our aircraft, I can understand your disappointment with your uncleaned seat on flight AA3835. I regret that your flight wasn’t enjoyable due to this. That’s not at all the kind of experience we want you to have with us, however, I am glad to read that you were proactive and notified the flight attendant and gate agent upon landing in El Paso.
Please be assured that we take all of our customers’ concerns and feedback seriously. The comments that you shared with me today will be made available to our leadership team in Phoenix for further review and will be used to refine and update our practices. We want our customer journey to be the best in the industry, and we thank you for giving us the opportunity to drive change.
On behalf of everyone at American Airlines, Paul, please know that we appreciate you very much. As an AAdvantage Executive Platinum® member, your business means a great deal, and we hope to have the opportunity to rebuild your confidence in us. It would be our pleasure to serve you again on another American Airlines flight!
Sincerely,
Adrienne Treet
Customer Success
American Airlines
So basically a very vanilla response that sounded very much like it could have been written by AI (FWIW, I Googled the name “Adrenne Treet” – no one hit. Nothing.). It was just:
“We’re glad you told someone.”
“We care.”
“We’ve shared your feedback.”
“We appreciate your loyalty.”
“We hope you’ll fly with us again.”
The End.
And did you notice? No sort of apology, never mind any sort of compensation for, hello!, finding a used condom in his seat. I mean, a biohazard like that is definitely a step or two above finding crumbs in the seat back, y’know? And how does a bright yellow condom wrapper go unnoticed by whoever cleaned the plane between flights?
Paul said he then had several back-and-forth exchanges with both AI and an ineffective customer service representative. It got him nowhere.
Frustrated, on May 24th, Paul posted his story on an American Airlines complaint group on social media, asking for advice on what to do next. The responses were generally more troll-like than helpful, with multiple people suggesting he was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Sorry y’all, but I think finding a used condom in your seat is a bit more than a molehill. I mean, bodily fluids and all, y’know? But maybe that’s just me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The rest of the story
Anyway, that seemed to be the end of the story as far as most social media outlets were concerned. But we contacted Paul to find out if anything else had happened, and he said that it had.
He said that on Friday, May 29th, a manager from American Airlines called him. He said that she apologized for what had happened and, to the airline’s credit, offered him a refund for the ticket.
Paul said he couldn’t accept the refund in good faith because he had taken the flight and got home. “I told her I would be happy to accept some miles or an upgrade on my next flight.”
On the morning of Monday, June 1, Paul said that 7,500 miles had been added to his account.
“It’s not exactly what I thought they would do, but I honestly couldn’t take the refund,” Paul told us. “I just wouldn’t have felt right about it.”
But Paul added he’s not going to keep the miles.
“I have actually donated several thousand miles to charity over the years. And that’s exactly where the 7500 miles is going to go.”
In the end, Paul got something that seemed far more important than the miles themselves: someone at American Airlines finally listened.
The airline’s initial response felt generic, impersonal and dismissive. But the later phone call, apology and compensation showed a level of concern that had been missing from the earlier interactions.
As for the 7,500 miles, Paul says he never intended to keep them.
After more than two decades as a Million Miler and Executive Platinum member, he says they’ll be donated to charity instead.
Which means that one of the strangest airline complaints of the year may wind up doing some good after all.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
