Earlier this month, United Airlines experienced a technological issue that grounded several of its flights. According to Reuters, the issue was related to its Unimatic system, which contains information about each flight. While the issue was resolved later that day, for many passengers, it still had consequences. One such customer, Jaclyn Alison (@jaclynalison), opened up about her experience in a viral TikTok, which has amassed 55,100 views.
Alison began by explaining that she first encountered an issue with United Airlines four months prior to the most recent incident. She recounted how, during a hydraulic system failure, there was an emergency landing in Salt Lake City. This led to her missing her connecting flight to Australia and was “stranded” at the airport. However, she was provided with a hotel and food voucher, and additionally gained 10,000 airmiles when she spoke to customer services.
The issue happened a second time
Months later, she booked a second flight, only for boarding to be delayed last minute without explanation. The flight ended up being delayed for another three hours, meaning that Alison, once again, missed her connecting flight to Australia. She was rebooked on the next flight 24 hours later, but to make matters worse, she couldn’t get her bag from baggage. Alison also noted that her last flight had a better seat, while her rebooked flight was basic economy.
However, when she approached customer services, they didn’t give her a hotel and meal voucher. United’s reasoning was that it was classed as an error outside its control. This is despite the business telling news sites (including Reuters) that it did provide hotel concessions. From talking to other passengers, Alison discovered that they received hotel and meal vouchers while she didn’t.
“I’m literally stranded here, and this is the second time this happened in one year, and at this point, I’m ready to never fly United again,” she concluded. “And my advice to you, from someone who travels a lot, I’ve been to almost every continent, don’t ever fly United, because you’ll be screwed if anything happens.”
@jaclynalison @United Airlines would you like to explain why you’re telling the press that customers are being given hotel and food vouchers yet I’ve been stranded with no support after your nationwide system issue? Aug 6 2025 #united #unitedairlines #unitedairlinestiktok #UA2866 #travelmightmare #travel #traveltok #flightnightmare #flightreview #donotflyunited ♬ original sound – Jaclyn Alison ??
What did commenters say?
Some commenters related to Alison’s troubles.
“Girl my flight was on the 6th too and our flight got delayed 3 times and then cancelled 4 minutes before we were supposed to board,” one revealed. “They gave us a business card with a QR code and we weren’t able to get any assistance with customer support, we legit had to sleep in our car.”
A second suggested that air travel in general was the problem. “I travel to America from Australia every year,” they said. “For 4 years in a row I had significant issues with domestic flights in America both on the way there and on the way back. That is 8 flights in a row that resulted in cancellations and being stranded in airports. I now drive 16 hours once I land in the States to avoid domestic flights. It’s an absolute joke.”
A third made their feelings clear, simply tagging United Airlines and writing, “Here we are again? I WILL NEVER FLY UNITED AIRLINES EVER.”
What happened next?
In a follow-up video, Alison revealed that she phoned customer services. She says United stated that her account indicated her flight had an issue, which made her ineligible for hotel/food vouchers. Ultimately, United acknowledged the error, but said she’d need to send her receipts to customer service to be reimbursed.
Alison isn’t the first customer to have issues with United Airlines. Earlier this year, a whole flight had to be u-turned because, embarrassingly, the pilot forgot his passport. And needless to say, customers were unimpressed.
@jaclynalison @United Airlines would you like to explain why you’re telling the press that customers are being given hotel and food vouchers yet I’ve been stranded with no support after your nationwide system issue? Aug 6 2025 #united #unitedairlines #unitedairlinestiktok #UA2866 #travelmightmare #travel #traveltok #flightnightmare #flightreview #donotflyunited ♬ original sound – Jaclyn Alison ??
United didn’t immediately respond to The Mary Sue’s request for comment via email. The Mary Sue reached out to the creator for comment.
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