A woman who was attempting to return home from her Italian vacation is sharing how American Airlines compensated her after her flights were overbooked — prompting social media users to weigh in.
Susan Berry is a 36-year-old freelance fashion photographer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who recently spent two months in Italy for work.
Berry said she was able to spend an extra three nights in Naples, Italy, after her flights ended up full.
“I showed up to the airport and the manager at American Airlines was like, ‘Hey, we’re overbooked [and] looking for volunteers to stay. You get $1,200 in vouchers, a four-star hotel, all meals,’ and before he could even finish his sentence, I was like, ‘Me, I’ll do it,’” she said of the credit she received for the first flight that was overbooked.
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While Berry said she was originally excited to return home, she wasn’t “ready enough to turn down $1,200 in travel vouchers” for her next adventure.
Berry said she and eight other passengers — who also had to stay an extra night — were then shuttled to a hotel just outside of Naples.
She said, “Everyone else was kind of… forced to stay, and so I was the only one that was pumped up and kind of rallied the troops together.”
Berry decided to document her experience in TikTok videos, one of which now has more than 1.4 million views.
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She dubbed the experience, “Camp American Airlines” — saying it felt like she was at a day camp with strangers.
She said the hotel the airline placed them in was nicer than where she had been staying in Italy, and the free three-course dinner at the hotel made her “thrilled” to be there for an extra day.
The next day, however, the group of stranded passengers were shuttled back to the airport to get on the next flight out to Philadelphia.
“So, I show up, you know, ready to board that flight because I’m going home that day,” she said. “But I get there, and I hear the manager again [say], ‘Oh, we’re overbooked, [and] we need a volunteer.’”
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Berry said that after hearing that the airline was offering $1,200 vouchers to stay the night again, she was more than happy to keep the vacation going.
She said, “At this point, I started realizing… I think they’re overbooked for a while and I heard through the grapevine that they were, so that’s when I started thinking about… I could do this forever — a few days and rack up some good vouchers.”
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Social media users weighed in on her viral TikTok video detailing how much in travel vouchers she could potentially make by continuing this extension — most of them advising her to go for it.
One user wrote, “I wonder what it’s like to be one of God’s favorites.”
Another agreed, saying, “Well, that’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Some users, however, advised Berry to proceed with caution.
“Do they expire? That would be my issue,” one TikTok user commented.
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Another said, “Hold out for the cash instead of vouchers.”
American Airline’s “Conditions of carriage” terms, which an airline representative emailed to Fox News Digital, states, “We will ask for passengers who are willing to voluntarily give up their seats in exchange for compensation in an amount and form to be determined solely at American’s discretion.”
“When you volunteer to give up your confirmed seat on a flight, we will compensate you in a form and in an amount we think is fair,” the terms, which are also listed on American Airlines’ website, continued.
Berry said that after her second night at the hotel, she ended up back at the airport for a third time — and the employees there couldn’t help but laugh.
“So, this time, yeah, all of the airport knows me,” she told Fox News Digital, adding that employees at the airport said, “You’re the only person we’ve ever seen this excited about staying behind.”
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“By that point, I was just the leader of the pack,” she said.
Berry collected a $1,150 voucher for her third night of volunteering to stay — but her luck ran out on the fourth day.
“To be honest, I’m pretty sure American Airlines caught wind of what I was up to because of the whole TikTok thing,” Berry said of her now-viral video.
Berry said that at the end of the journey, she ended up with $3,550 in travel credits with the airline.
When asked if she would do it again, Berry said, “I would totally do it again.”
She said she was in no rush to get home by a specific date, so she felt like she was doing a good deed for someone who needed to be home by a certain time.
“I’ve got all the time in the world right now,” she joked.
As for how she’ll use her credits, Berry said she’s looking at booking tropical destinations such as Rio, the Caribbean and Hawaii, as they would be great spots to photograph.
