Recently, a woman named Danielle Schwab was left fuming after her fiancé Mikey was unexpectedly downgraded from first class to premium economy on their flight from London to Chicago.
The couple had been celebrating their engagement, and Danielle's parents had generously gifted them first-class tickets as a special treat.
However, their joyous occasion was marred when a flight attendant approached Mikey and informed him that he needed to be moved to a different seat to accommodate a crew member who required rest.
Woman furious after airline downgraded her fiancé from first class to make room cabin crew
Mikey was puzzled and questioned the reason for the downgrade, to which the crew member explained that the seat was needed for a staff member to sleep.
Danielle later revealed on TikTok that her financé had been selected from a 'list' and that there was nothing else the staff could do, other than offer him a refund or a seat on the next flight.
Danielle expressed her outrage at the airline's actions, describing the staff as 'forceful' and 'pushy' during the interaction.
She lamented that the family would no longer be able to celebrate their engagement in the first-class cabin as planned and that they had not received any compensation for the inconvenience.
While Danielle acknowledged that this was a "first-world problem," she emphasized that the "horrible customer service" was simply unacceptable.
She felt that the airline's decision to prioritize the crew's needs over their paying customers' experience was a blatant disregard for their customers' comfort and satisfaction.
United Airlines' response on the matter
In response, United Airlines issued a statement, explaining that the seats normally reserved for crew members to take their required rest breaks were not functioning properly on this particular flight, necessitating the reassignment of two customers to premium economy.
The airline further expressed their understanding of the customer's frustration and promised to refund the price difference for the seats and provide each of them with a $1,500 certificate for future travel.
The incident quickly attracted the attention of public opinion, many people expressed their outrage on behalf of the couple.
On long haul flights the crew have their own space. I have never seen them rest in first or business class. They have their own beds . If anything they should move him to a different seat in first…This is why I don’t really believe this story, one user said.
Wouldn’t surprise me if this was United..!! The second user said.
United airlines should be forced to provide a full set of return tickets for the family…this need to be stopped airline think they can get away with anything, another wrote.
This is why I don't fly anymore. The last time I took a flight the crew had better accomodations than paying customers, someone wrote.
Similarly, a passenger was kicked off a flight after an airline resold his pre-booked seat to a family.
A lawyer named Juan Manuel had purchased a roundtrip ticket from Bogotá, Colombia to Los Angeles with a connection in EI Salvador.
He arrived at the airport 2.5 hours before his flight and checked in, but when he went to board the plane, the airline staff informed him that his pre-booked seat had been resold to a mother and her two children.
Despite having a valid ticket, Juan Manuel was not given a seat on the flight. The airline staff apologized, citing overbooking as the reason.
This led to a heated argument, with the staff threatening to call the police if Juan Manuel did not get off the plane. Eventually, he decided to leave the flight.
Another passenger even offered to have her daughter sit on her lap so Juan Manuel could have the seat, but he refused, saying he was leaving because of the airline, not the other passengers.
As compensation, the airline offered Juan Manuel an $8 meal voucher and an $80 flight voucher. However, this did little to make up for the disruption to his travel plans.
