A Virginia family is suing Delta and its partner airline KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, claiming they were 'swarmed and bitten by bedbugs' on a flight earlier this year.
The Albuquerque family filed the complaint on December 18, alleging that the international flight they took to Serbia on March 21 was infested with bedbugs.
The family, from Roanoke, Virginia, say the bites caused 'raised and itchy welts, lesions, and rashes across their torsos and extremities.'
Photos included in the lawsuit show their children covered in red lumps on their necks, chests and backs.
The family had booked a Delta flight out of Roanoke and caught a connecting KLM flight in Atlanta, which stopped in Amsterdam before reaching their final destination in Belgrade, Serbia.
They used Delta's SkyMiles program to purchase their approximately $8,800 in seats on flights operated by KLM, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit said it was when they boarded flight DL 9667 to Amsterdam that the bugs began crawling on them. Albuquerque and Garcia were seated in front of their children.
'Approximately two hours into the flight, Mrs Garcia began feeling like bugs were crawling on her and that she was being bitten,' the complaint states.
The Albuquerque family of Roanoke is suing Delta and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines after they claimed a flight they were on was infested with bed bugs.
They were bitten by the insects which caused 'raised and itchy welts, lesions, and rashes across their torsos and extremities,' the lawsuit stated.
'It was at this point that she realized that bugs were crawling on her light-colored sweater.'
The filing said the bites ruined their family vacation and caused humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety, discomfort, inconvenience, medical expenses, and loss of clothing and personal items.
When they alerted the flight attendants, they told the family to stay quiet to avoid alarming other passengers, according to the document.
'Prior to landing in Amsterdam, the flight attendants again urged Dr Albuquerque and Mrs Garcia not to tell anyone about the infestation because, if they did so, they would miss their connecting flight to Serbia,' the lawsuit alleges
The family took photos of the bugs and the rashes they caused, and recorded them in pictures and videos.
Before boarding their next flight to Belgrade, flight attendants gave them plastic bags to put their alleged contaminated items in.
The family is now seeking $200,000 in damages, plus interest
The family said after they arrived at their destination they boiled their clothes in attempt to kill the bugs
The Albuquerques took photos of the bugs and the rashes they caused, and recorded them in pictures and videos
The family had to wash their clothes in boiling water upon arrival at their destination to kill the remaining bugs, according to the complaint.
The Albuquerques took their kids to a pediatric clinic, where a doctor confirmed the bites were from bed bugs, the documents state.
'The doctor also provided the children with notes indicating that they could return to school, noting that they were 'not contagious' despite the visible bite marks and welts on their skin,' the complaint states.
'As a direct and proximate result of the bite marks and rashes, [the children] suffered great embarrassment at school.'
The family is now seeking $200,000 in damages.
In a statement to People magazine, Delta said: 'As this pending litigation eventually states, the allegations at issue relate to flights not operated by Delta Air Lines. Delta will review the complaint and respond accordingly in due course.'
KLM told The Independent that the airliner was 'unable to comment on the specific allegations at this time' but would address the matter in 'the appropriate legal channels.'
The Daily Mail has reached out to Delta and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for comment.