A TikToker named Susan Berry stumbled upon an airline hack that helped her make thousands.
“Honestly, it worked out great because I really didn’t want to leave Italy, so I didn’t care,” Berry, who works as a freelance photographer, told the Daily Beast. “Plus, they were nice hotels. I met really nice travelers that I became friends with, so I just had a lot of fun.”
When asked if she would do it again, Berry said she would do it “in a heartbeat.” “I would do it forever because I will never turn down anything that is offered to me for free,” she added.
In a viral video posted to her account this week, Berry explains that her American Airlines flight from Italy to Philadelphia is overbooked until August 15.
“They need someone to volunteer to fly until then, and every day they’re getting $1,200 worth of travel vouchers, so now I have $2,400 because I did it twice,” Berry said in the video. She then asks her audience if she should stay until the 15th and use the potential five-figure sum to travel around the world.
Comments under Berry’s post encouraged her to stay and accept the vouchers. “Yes you should absolutely do that. That sounds like a much better story,” one user agreed. “Yes! If they keep putting you up in a hotel and giving you the vouchers THEN THEY WILL DO IT!!,” another wrote.
A caption in one of her updates makes it clear that this is not an unlimited arrangement: as soon as a seat becomes available on a flight, she is taken off standby and must return home. However, there is no limit to the number of vouchers she can collect.
In subsequent videos, Berry is shown earning more vouchers. In a video update, she refers to her experience as “Camp American Airlines.” She shows viewers her routine: going to the airport, volunteering to be a standby driver, taking a bus back to Italy, checking into a four-star hotel, and eating dinner. In total, Berry earned $3,600 worth of vouchers for the three flights she was voluntarily denied.
