Woman said fiancé was forced to give up business class seat for United Airlines crew (VIDEO)

Jun 7 2023, 5:05 pm

It was supposed to be a memorable flight for a newly engaged couple flying with United Airlines, but now it’s an experience they’ll likely remember for the wrong reasons.

In a May 24 video with 12.4 million views, Danielle Schwab (who goes by the TikTok username watergirl8296) claims that United Airlines staff forced her fiancé to give up his seat for a crew member. He was then downgraded from his business class seat to premium economy.

Schwab explained that her parents had surprised her and her fiancé Mikey with business class seats from Heathrow to Chicago.

Mikey has never been in first class or business class, and we only have been maybe once or twice in our lives, so this was an amazing surprise!” she said.

Excited about their flight, the couple settled into their seats and prepared for the nearly nine-hour flight. However, just before their departure, Schwab claimed that a gate agent came on board to tell Mikey that they’d need to downgrade his seat to premium economy to make way for crew members. They had also allegedly asked three other people to give up their first-class seats.

While onboard, Schwab recorded a video stating, “My fiance got moved to coach. 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.”

Watch the video below:

@watergirl8296 #unitedairlines #dobetter #unitedairlinestiktok #fyp ♬ original sound – Danielle Schwab

In a follow-up video with her fiancé, Schwab said it’s likely the seats that are normally used by flight attendants during their break were not working. As a result, passengers were asked to give up their seats.

@watergirl8296 Part 2!! #unitedairlines #unitedairlinestiktok #dobetter #fyp ♬ original sound – Danielle Schwab

According to the couple, upon landing, they were greeted by a customer service representative who took them through customs, gave them his business card, and told them to submit a claim. However, Schwab said, “No one will talk to us.”

One commenter said, “Sounds like a problem for the airline, not the customer that paid for the seat.”

Another stated, “Everyone saying [they would] just get the reduced fair isn’t getting the point — they paid for a certain experience and didn’t get it after getting engaged.”

One person shared a similar experience.

“Happened to us as well. So unfair,” they wrote. “We paid $3,700 per ticket. They have absolutely no regulations [on] what they can do.”

In a statement posted on TikTok, Schwab wrote, “We understand that this takes time, but this whole experience was beyond unacceptable. We understand that this is a first-world problem, but this was horrible customer service that should have never happened. We wanted to share this story to spread awareness and see what can be done.”

Daily Hive has reached out to United Airlines for a comment.

Irish Mae SilvestreIrish Mae Silvestre

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