Her Husband Got Downgraded From Business Class So A Flight Attendant Could Have His Seat Instead
You may have heard of the rare but amazing occurrence when airplane passengers randomly get upgraded to first or business-class seats.
But have you ever heard of someone getting downgraded from business class? Not only getting downgraded but downgraded so a flight attendant could take their spot?
One woman went viral when she documented and posted her and her husband’s horrific experience with United Airlines after her husband was downgraded from his business class seat so a flight attendant could sit in it instead.
Danielle Schwab (@watergirl8296) was in London, England, with her parents and her fiancé, Mikey, who had recently proposed. As a nice surprise, Danielle’s parents surprised them with business class tickets for their long flight on United Airlines from London’s Heathrow Airport to Chicago, Illinois, the first part of their journey back to the U.S.
As Danielle explained in one of her many TikTok videos regarding the matter, she and Mikey were very excited to have these seats as Mikey has never had a first-class or business-class flying experience before.
Just as they got settled in their seats, a gate agent supervisor boarded the plane, approached Mikey, and told him a flight attendant needed his seat, so they’d have to downgrade him to Premium Economy.
“My fiancé got moved to coach,” explains Danielle in her first viral video, which she recorded shortly after Mikey was asked to move.
“They bumped him because they wanted a flight attendant…or someone part of the crew to sit in first class instead. I understand that the crew works really hard. However, we booked these seats ahead of time, and this is not fair. This is not customer service. This is ridiculous.”
Danielle and Mikey were allegedly told that flight attendants must have a certain number of seats that can transform into beds they can sleep in during long flights. For some reason, on Danielle and Mikey’s flight, there weren’t enough of those special seats available for the flight crew.
Photo 37131445 © Tyler Olson – Dreamstime.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
So, instead of putting the plane out of service on this particular flight, Mikey and three other passengers out of first and business class to give the special seats to the flight attendants.
Danielle and her family were not only incredibly confused by the situation but also shocked by the gate agent supervisor’s poor attitude. Throughout the flight, the plane’s flight attendants, who had no control of the situation, were apologetic and continued checking on Danielle and her family. They claimed the issue was “handled horribly” and were just as flustered as Danielle.
Once their flight landed in Chicago, a customer service supervisor approached Danielle and her family before their final flight home. Unfortunately, instead of receiving immediate compensation, apologies, and refunds, they were simply given a copy of this employee’s business card and were referred to the United Airlines “feedback” customer service web page.
“We filled out the forms, spoke to multiple people asking for help, and each one referred us to the website and would not talk to us,” explained Danielle in one of her TikTok videos.
Danielle and her family were not financially compensated for Mikey’s seat until over a month later, after her story hit some news outlets.
“We paid to sit in business class as a surprise for our engagement,” explains Danielle.
“This surprise was taken away to where all four of us could not enjoy [it].”
Can you imagine what a nightmare that must’ve been?
@nursedani82 #stitch with @Danielle Schwab Update #unitedairlines #customerservice #dobetter
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