A D.C. woman will be flying for free for the next year after getting a $10,000 voucher from United Airlines. But she said the experience leading up to the voucher was not a pleasant one.
Allison Preiss said she was getting ready to board her flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to Austin, Texas, Thursday morning when ticketing agents said the flight was overbooked and they were looking for volunteers to take the next flight.
When no one volunteered, they told Preiss she had to give up her spot on the flight because she had paid the lowest fare.
Preiss started tweeting her frustration with the airline. She said she didn't want to give up her spot because she was flying to a friend's bachelorette party.
The gate agent told her the plane had a broken seat and that’s why she had to get bumped, according to Preiss.
The gate agents offered her a $2,000 voucher, but Preiss told them she would rather have a check.
They were about to write her a check for $650, when an agent offered her a $10,000 voucher and a seat on the next plane.
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"I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty pumped," Preiss said of the voucher.
Preiss made it to Austin in time for her friend's bachelorette weekend.
The airline announced in April 2017 that it would raise its cap for those who voluntarily gave up their seat to $10,000. The move came amid fallout over a passenger who was injured while being dragged off a plane for refusing to give up his seat. Dr. David Dao suffered a concussion, broken nose and other injuries.
Delta had previously raised its cap to passengers who gave up their seats to $9,950, The New York Times reported.
United Airlines is still dealing with fallout after a French bulldog puppy died on a flight. A flight attendant had insisted the dog's owners put it in an overhead bin.
