‘The Bachelor’s Liz Sandoz Presta Says Air Canada Sat Her In A Vomit-Filled Seat

Air Canada is facing more accusations of forcing customers to sit in seats soiled with other people’s vomit.

“Air Canada made me sit in someone else’s vomit for an eight hour international flight and then acted like it was no big deal,” former Bachelor contestant Elizabeth “Liz” Sandoz Presta says in a Oct. 16 Instagram post explaining the incident.

The dating show alum says that upon sitting down in her seat on a recent Air Canada flight, she immediately noticed “something was off.” The buttons were “sticky,” a “funky” smell lingered in the air and there were “chunks of food on the remote control (and) sprayed on the wall.”

“It was really gross,” she adds.

Sandoz Presta asked a flight attendant if she could switch seats, but was informed nothing else was available. However, the passenger noticed toilet paper sitting in empty seats in the back of the plane.

“Upon insisting further that something else be done, I was brought a biohazard kit to clean it up myself,” Sandoz Presta says.

The content creator, who primarily uses her platform to post pregnancy and birthing tips, says she later learned that as a passenger she is not allowed to sit in other people’s bodily fluids nor be exposed to the harsh chemicals used to clean it up.

“I was very uncomfortable for the eight hour flight. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t touch anything,” she says. “I had to get home to my kids so I had to take this flight.”

Air Canada did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

After landing at the airport, the customer says she had to buy new clothes since her previous set was ruined.

Sandoz Presta later reached out to Air Canada about the incident, but was “disappointed” in their response.

“There was no real apology, nothing meaningful done and they didn’t take real accountability for their actions,” she says.

“Nobody should have to buy a ticket and then be forced to sit in a biohazard. Air Canada, you need to do better,” she says at the end of her video.

In the caption, Sandoz Presta pointed to various protections and regulations that she says should have prevented this from happening, including the European Union’s Air Passengers Rights Regulation of 2004, the Montreal Convention, Canadian Air Passenger Protection Regulations and even Air Canada’s own Conditions of Carriage.

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This is not the first time Air Canada has faced public scrutiny after passengers were forced to sit in seats with other customer’s vomit. In August 2023, the airline apologized to two passengers who were escorted off a plane after refusing to sit in a soiled seat. Fellow passenger Susan Benson described the incident in a Aug. 29 Facebook post

At the time, Air Canada told CNN, The Associated Press and The Washington Post that they issued an apology to the passengers “as they clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled.”

“We are reviewing this serious matter internally and have followed up with the customers directly as our operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance,” the statement read, according to the outlets. “We remain in contact with them about this matter.”

Sandoz Presta was a contestant on Nick Viall’s season of The Bachelor in 2017. She later married husband Vito Presta in February 2019. Together they share two kids.