A lucky American Airlines passenger takes full advantage of the opportunity and collects as much money as possible in travel vouchers at Naples airport in Italy.
Susan Berry, a 36-year-old freelance photographer and TikTok influencer, was planning to fly home to Philadelphia after a business trip on August 4. Because the American Airlines flight was overbooked, staff offered $1,200 in flight credits, a four-star hotel and free three-course meals to a passenger willing to give up their seat.
Berry accepted the offer, seeing no pressing need to fly home due to her generous freelance hours. She was one of nine passengers to disembark the flight to Philadelphia that day.
The photographer began documenting her spontaneous adventure on TikTok (@berryfacecreative) and called it “Camp American Airlines” because it reminded her of “a day camp with strangers.”
Berry also noted that the hotel she was assigned to was “nicer” than the one she originally stayed at during her business trip.
The volunteers were returned to the airport the next day, where they had the opportunity to fly home. However, because American Airlines probably didn’t know that these passengers needed to go home, the next flight was overbooked.
Then it dawned on Berry that she could stay in Italy and get free room and board while collecting thousands worth of travel vouchers. So she took her up on the offer and increased the value of her voucher to $2,400.
“I think they’re overbooked for a while and I heard about it through the grapevine. That’s when I started thinking about it… I could do it for a few days and get some good vouchers,” Berry told Fox News Digital:
Berry’s streak of bad luck continued for the third day: her flight to Philadelphia was overbooked again and she collected flight vouchers worth a total of $4,800 (https://www.instagram.com/p/C-csyYuuMmZ/).
She hoped she could keep it up until August 15, when she would earn nearly $15,000 in AA travel fares. This seemed like a very achievable goal, given the major Ferragosto holiday that brings millions of tourists to Italy in August.
“I was mentally prepared to stay for two weeks,” Berry told Good Morning America:
However, she was not so lucky and was overbooked for a fifth time, so she had to go home after five extra days in Italy.
Berry’s next adventure
Although her goal was not achieved, Berry was very pleased with the compensation she received in the form of travel expenses and looked forward to documenting where she would travel next with her new AA credits.
After several teaser videos, Berry revealed that she would first travel to Las Vegas. During her interview with Fox News Digital, she was also interested in traveling to Hawaii, Rio de Janeiro and the Caribbean to find great locations to photograph.
Being overbooked on the same route four days in a row is a rare occurrence for airlines, so it was very fortunate that Berry’s lifestyle and willingness to get more credits allowed her to stay as long as possible. Five days at the airport can certainly help Berry travel more for free. According to American Airlines, travel credits expire one year after the tickets are purchased (https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-service/payment-options/travel-credit.jsp).
What do you think about this opportunity to get free travel vouchers? Does it seem like a good idea to do this on purpose? Give your opinion in the comments section below!
