A disgruntled American Airlines passenger says her flight was delayed after her flight was canceled. She then claims she had to pay for a $200 hotel room out of her own pocket.
The video is by TikToker Amy (@ab0g0) and has received more than 350,000 views on the platform in three days.
Her caption reads, “The third day in a row that @American Airlines has canceled flights to Charlotte, this time because they booked an entire flight without having two pilots!”
The poignant creator begins her video with, “Come with me to get absolutely fucked by American Airlines.” From there, stills and video accompany the narrative as Amy shares her ordeal with viewers.
@ab0g0 Third day in a row that @American Airlines has canceled flights to Charlotte, this time because they boarded an entire flight without two pilots! #fyp #airport #traveldelays ♬ Original sound – Amy
“We boarded for the entire flight and then we sat there for two and a half hours waiting for a pilot,” she says. “Then Deplaned was another 13 hours late.”
Amy claims: “The airline didn’t provide anyone with accommodation so I had to leave the airport and book a hotel. Spent $200 because it was all that was available, arrived at the hotel at 12:30am even though I was supposed to land at my destination at 10:30pm and we were supposed to leave at 10am tomorrow.”
@ab0g0 Got one of the last seats on a new flight but my flight has yet to depart and is now 18 hours late 🤩 #americanairlines #airport #fyp ♬ Original soundtrack – Amy
In a follow-up video, the unfortunate traveler reports that her flight was even more delayed the next day and that the voucher the airline eventually compensated her with only covered about “1/3” the cost of the coffee and bagels.
Luckily, Amy says she was able to change her flight and return home. As she pans her camera through the airport’s arrivals areas, she also notes that “the original flight is still in Philly and is still getting delayed.”
Amy’s video follows a number of other recent complaints about the airline that have been reported by the Daily Dot. In June, the airline was accused of wrongfully charging a passenger $350 to replace a ticket the airline wrongly canceled and offering another passenger a measly $25 credit after she lost $600 to change a flight that the airline had canceled. The airline was also recently accused of racism when it offered to pay for a white family’s hotel but not a person of color.
However, one passenger benefited from a recent 18-hour delay by being the only passenger boarding a flight from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Commentators commented on Amy’s video, and some shared their own horror stories.
“Girls I had a 30 hour delay on my flight it was absolutely embarrassing,” shared one.
Another remarked: “This happened to me with American! They forced me to sleep without accommodation and I had to fly to an airport an hour from home.”
“Girl, I feel you!” yet another said. “We were traveling on American Airlines less than a week ago and our plane was delayed an hour and a half, causing us to miss our connecting flight…”
“Sorry,” said someone else. “There are all these rules about what kind of compensation is owed, but the information is never readily available and easy to understand.”
American Airlines’ website includes a customer service page that states, among other things:
“In cases where a delay or cancellation is caused by us, we will provide you with the following upon request:
- A voucher to an approved hotel with available rooms in case you are delayed overnight and are outside of your place of residence.
- Transportation to a hotel and back to the airport using a third-party hotel shuttle/transportation service or a transportation voucher.
- Meal vouchers if your delay is 3 hours or more after your scheduled departure.
If we are unable to provide you with an Approved Hotel Voucher, we will reimburse you for reasonable hotel expenses. If a third party hotel shuttle/transportation service is not available or we are unable to provide you with a transportation voucher, we will reimburse you for reasonable transportation costs.”
But while many people aligned themselves with the Creator and chose American, one claimed, “Right now, it’s ALL the airlines.”
Another offered a different perspective, trying to rouse sympathy for “poor flight attendants who are only paid at departure and have to take all complaints without compensation”.
The Daily Dot reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and American Airlines via email.
*Initial publication: July 3, 2023 at 6:21 p.m. CDT
Phil West
Phil West is an experienced professional writer and editor, and the author of two books on soccer, The United States of Soccer and I Believe That We Will Win, both from The Overlook Press. His work has most recently appeared in The Striker, where he serves as Editor-in-Chief, MLSSoccer.com, Next City and Texas Highways. He lives in Austin and is also an instructor in the writing program at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
