According to the story, the woman’s final destination was Ireland. Prior to boarding her flight in New York, she informed the flight crew about the bites she received on the previous flight. Despite pre-paying for an upgraded ticket for her international leg of the journey, she was given three choices by the airline according to her accounts: leave the flight immediately, get off the plane, seek medical attention and fly later, give up the economy comfort class seat and sit in the rear of the plane. She relented and went to the back of the plane. Upon her return home, she questioned the airlines treatment of her in this situation. The airline initially offered her a $200 voucher for her trouble. Not happy with that response, she pushed harder. The airline then offered an additional $500 in compensation to help off-set the cost of the comfort class ticket that she was not able to partake in. To date, the airline refuses to take responsibility for the bug bites and claims that their plane is clear of any pests because no other passengers have similar complaints of bed bug or flea bites. You may read the story here.
It is true that it is difficult to determine the origin of bed bug bites, especially when you do not find actual bed bugs crawling about. It is possible that the passenger was bitten by some sort of bug prior to boarding the airplane and only began to suffer the effects of the bites once she was airborne. At the very minimum, once a complaint is launched, an airline should immediately investigate the complaint however. The seat in question, as well as those nearby, should be examined by a licensed pest control professional. In the instances of bed bug bites, not all people suffer the allergic reactions to the bite wounds so it is possible for some people to be bitten by the bloodsuckers and never know that they have been bitten.
Bed bugs have been around for centuries, but modern day bed bug encounters are relatively new to most people in American society. NJ residents are encouraged to contact a licensed NJ Pest Control professional if they believe they have encountered bloodsucking bed bugs.