Swoop gets roasted, deletes IG post for $99 hoodie that doubles as round-trip ticket

Feb 22 2023, 7:30 pm

Ultra-low-cost Canadian carrier Swoop has released a limited-edition hoodie that comes with a round-trip ticket to a balmy destination in Canada, the US, or the Caribbean of your choice.

Called “The Warmest Hoodie Ever,” the item marked the debut of Swoop’s new clothing line called Swoopwear.

It is made of cotton and polyester, priced at $99 a pop, and has a scannable QR code printed across it. Only a hundred hoodies were put up for purchase and they’ve already sold out.

The drop has had an effect Swoop was probably not expecting though.

A lot of people have been roasting the airline online and now Swoop’s original Instagram post about the hoodie has been deleted.

 

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A post shared by Swoop (@flyswoop)

The airline had a reason for its random-seeming foray into fashion.

“Our travellers often remark on how their Swoop flights cost less than ‘a pair of designer jeans’ or ‘a tank of gas,'” Swoop said in a press release. “We decided to bring this concept to life with the introduction of the Warmest Hoodie Ever to remind Canadians how easy and affordable it is to find the perfect beach vacation with Swoop: just scan, fly, beach.”

Swoop added that it was “kind of joking” about the hoodie being the warmest of the lot: “All hoodies are warm, but this one gets you a $500 flight voucher. With the Warmest Hoodie Ever, Canadians can fly roundtrip to destinations across the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean for the low price of $99.”

But commenters were not having it.

“I wouldn’t order one. The order would either be extremely late or cancelled,” said one person on the now-deleted post, slyly remarking on the airline’s frequent flight cancellations and delays.

Another said Swoop would probably cancel your hoodie order for something “out of their hands” like a “national printer ink shortage,” and not even offer a refund. Yet more people complained about the carrier’s customer service, saying that they were frustrated by its AI-generated responses.

Soon after deleting the post, Swoop issued another update on Instagram.

“THE WARMEST HOODIE EVER IS SOLD OUT!” it said. “Don’t worry if you missed it, we still have tons of ultra-not-expensive flights to hot places and we have sunny Flyday deals landing this Friday! If you managed to grab yours, congrats — start planning your beachy vacay, and don’t forget to pack the sunscreen.”

One person wrote that they were upset that their hoodie order was cancelled.

“What?? I ordered and got confirmations this morning and now hours later got cancellation notices?!” wrote Instagram user @theregoesblair, saying that she’s been a devout fan of the airline.

“This is trash! What a bait and switch,” she concluded, calling the deletion of the first post “pretty shady.”

However, the company says the hoodies were only being sold in limited quantities and has spoken with the customer regarding the issue.

“The Swoopwear website stated that there was only one Warmest Hoodie Ever available per person. We saw several instances where the same person attempted to purchase more than one hoodie, and in these situations, the duplicate order was cancelled. We updated our Instagram post when our hoodies sold out, sharing the news that they were no longer available, and informing followers that we still have ultra-affordable fares and a big sun-flying sale coming on Flyday (Friday).” the company told Daily Hive Wednesday.

The email statement to Daily Hive added that it was ” thrilled to see such strong demand for Swoopwear, and we’re excited to explore future innovative products to bring affordable air travel to life.”

There were also complaints on the new post that weren’t fashion-related: “Hey Swoop! You just cancelled our flight home from Punta Cana to Toronto today,” wrote Instagram user Tracy Kailan. “No one seems to know what’s going on.”

And those jokes about orders being cancelled? Yeah, they’ve apparently come true, too.

Swoop

The airline confirmed there have been some cancellations as a result of inclement winter weather in Southern Ontario. A spokesperson told Daily Hive that the company apologizes to those impacted travellers for the inconvenience and urges those impacted to reach out for alternative travel options.

“We know how frustrating it is when travel doesn’t go according to plan and provide travellers with self-serve reaccommodation or refund options by email and link to Live Chat with an agent (average wait time 15 mins).” the company said.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story has been updated with a statement from the company. 

National Trending StaffNational Trending Staff

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