Delayed or canceled flights are a headache. When it’s due to inclement weather, it is worse. In fact, the FAA reported that weather accounted for the most delays, at roughly 75% from a 2017-2023 study. To remedy the inconvenience, airlines compensate passengers for meals and hotel stays with vouchers. As one woman learned, these don’t always work with United Airlines.
What happened to this United Airlines passenger?
“I’m posting this so that I don’t literally end my life,” TikTok creator Trinity Burley (@trinityburley) begins her clip, which she posted on Dec. 18 while sitting in an airport. “United, I am coming for you and your entire family.” Then, she dives into her story.
“My flight was delayed out of Quebec yesterday. So, I had to stay the night in Newark, New Jersey,” she says. “When I left Quebec, United said, ‘Don’t worry. You will get a hotel voucher when you get there.’”
As soon as the content creator requested the hotel voucher, the airline backed out. “‘It’s weather. It’s out of our control. We’re not giving you the voucher,” she recalls one of the carrier employees saying. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
To make up for it, Burley says the airline offered her a meal voucher. There was just one issue.
“It’s 10 o’clock at night, and nothing is open in the airport. So, I’m just gonna use it in the morning when I get to Charleston,” she says. But it keeps going further downhill.
The next morning, she attempts to use the airline voucher at a Starbucks in the airport, only for another problem to arise. “I go to Starbucks, ‘Oh sorry. We don’t accept that voucher,” the content creator recalls. “So, I get Cinnabon for me and my sweet friend. The bridges are all closed and all the roads are blocked.”
Needless to say, she’s at her wits’ end. “So, here I am eating my spinach wrap that I had to pay for and I have this Cinnabon that I can’t even share with my friend,” Burley says. “I’m on my seventeenth reason now.”
Viewers could relate
The video garnered over 13,000 views. Because of this, many avoided United Airlines like the plague.
“I’m so sorry, but this is why I stay on delta. They have absolutely given me vouchers for weather and even credits for airport issues!” one viewer stated.
A second called out the airline by tagging them, “@United Airlines do better things why we all like delta.”
Moreover, others empathized with Burley, drawing on their own similar experiences.
“WHEN THEY GAVE US MEAL VOUCHERS AND THEY DIDNT WORK AT ANY RESTAURANT IN THE AIRPORT LIKE!!!!!!” one viewer shared.
“I got a meal voucher for the plane and it just didn’t load,” another echoed. “And they were, ‘like sorry idk!’”
“We got stuck at the airport [during 2024.] Everything shutdown for like 32 hours and yeah it’s actually hell just being STUCK,” a third revealed.
Unfortunately, Burley wasn’t the only passenger to go viral with issues with United Airlines’ vouchers. In August, passenger Alison had two incidents with the airline in which she was denied vouchers because her situation was ‘outside their control.’ As a result, she vowed never to fly United again.
When did United Airlines begin handing out vouchers?
In June 2023, the carrier announced it would begin issuing vouchers for flights delayed by more than three hours via text message or on their app, according to CNBC. However, this applies only to maintenance or technical issues, not weather. For United Airlines, meal vouchers have a limited redemption window and places to use them.
“The vouchers are for single use only; essentially, the entire value must be used in one transaction since any unused balance will not carry over or be refunded as a change. Customers can contact us directly if they have questions. The upper right corner states the voucher is single-use,” patient spokesperson Charles Hobart told Fodor’s Travels.
@trinityburley this “center of the roll” better give me the will to live @Cinnabon ♬ original sound – trinity burley
The Mary Sue reached out to Burley via email and TikTok comment as well as United Airlines via press email.
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