Woman buys American Airlines flight. Then they make her board a bus at Indiana airport—and start driving to her destination: ‘$400 for a bus ride?!’

A woman says that her work booked her a flight to Chicago—only for her to get to the airport and discover that she was taking a bus.

In a video with over 7.8 million views, TikTok user Kennedy Simone (@thekennedysimone_) shows her American Airlines seat. The seat is not, as the name of the company would imply, on an airline. Instead, she’s seated on a bus—which the screens claim is the company’s “landline” service.

“When you buy a flight from American Airlines but they board you on to a bus on the tarmac so you think they’re driving you to the plane but they just start driving to the destination,” she writes in the video’s description.

But how can this even happen? In a follow-up video, Simone shares the whole story—and reveals the trip’s startling price tag.

How Did An American Airlines Flight Become A Bus Ride?

In a subsequent video, Simone reveals how she ended up taking a bus from South Bend, Indiana, to Chicago, Illinois.

According to Simone, the trip in question was for work. As such, she did not book her own travel. Regardless, she insists that all of the information she received leading up to her journey made it seem as though it was a flight.

“The confirmation email did not say it was a bus ride. It said, ‘You’ve booked your flight,’ like ‘Check in for your flight.’ It always referred to it as ‘flight,’” she explains.

While she says it may have been in the fine print of the ticket, she notes that she travels often for work. As such, she does not always read all of the details of a flight, focusing instead on departure time.

At the beginning of the journey, everything seemed normal. She says she went through normal airport security, even packing a small amount of liquids to meet TSA requirements.

However, after getting through airport security, things began to seem a little off.

What Happened Next?

Simone says that, after making her way through security, she saw that her departure would be from Gate 10. Simone says that, in all of her time traveling through the small South Bend airport, she had never flown out of Gate 10.

“That was my first red flag: the gate looked different,” she says. “Now, it had the desk, it had the workers there. Nothing crazy, but the seating was a little smaller, and it was just shaped different.”

From here, she says that the initial boarding time was missed. As a frequent traveler, Simone says this is common with flights; consequently, she did not think anything was amiss.

Eventually, it came time to board the plane. While lining up, Simone noticed that there was no airbridge attached to their gate. Instead, it was a set of stairs leading to a bus.

It was only after Simone scanned her boarding pass and got onto the bus that she realized that it was not taking her to a plane. Instead, she was to take the entire journey on the bus.

The trip, she says, was not great. The bus was not supplied with enough cookies for all the passengers, and getting through security as a bus at both airports took a considerable amount of time. According to Simone, the total travel time was around two hours and 40 minutes.

They Finally Arrive

When the group was finally dropped off at O’Hare, Simone says that they were dropped off “where the planes normally drop passengers off.” This meant that they had to walk a significant distance through the airport.

Overall, Simone says the entire experience felt “like a scam.”

“Did they probably have it in the fine print somewhere? Yes, obviously they have to, like, legally,” she explains. “Did the remaining emails, did my boarding pass, any of that stuff say that I was getting on a bus that day and not a plane? No, it was always referred to as a flight. ‘Flight time.’ ‘This is how long your flight is.’ ‘This is when you need to get here to board the plane for your flight.’ So that’s why I call it a scam.”

The worst part? The entire trip cost $431.72. For context, a last-minute Greyhound bus costs around $30. Tickets for the South Shore Commuter train line, which runs from South Bend to Chicago, can be purchased for about $16.

What Is This Service?

This is American Airlines’ “Landline” service. According to the company’s website, this service is typically used to connect people from smaller, regional airports to major hubs. 

At the time of writing, this service is only available for Chicago’s O’Hare airport and Philadelphia International Airport.

The benefits, the airline says, include the ability to earn miles, ease of bag checking, free WiFi and power, and having the comfort of being able to relax and work or rest in spacious seats instead of driving.

Simone isn’t alone in being confused about this. A post on the American Airlines subreddit showed a “flight plan” that showed one leg operated by bus. Similar to Simone’s claim, this bus is labeled in the email as a “flight,” though in the area specifying the aircraft type, it simply reads “bus.”

What did American say?

In an email to the Mary Sye, an AA spokesperson says the following:

“Regarding marketing, we do specifically indicate that these are motorcoach segments operated by Landline. This is the case on aa.com and on the American mobile app. We can’t speak to what third-party flight websites display. You can see examples of how this is displayed on aa.com at the end of the email.

These operations are also specialized motorcoach operations. These operate from airports as scheduled service. Customers clear security at the airport of departure, check their bags, and board the service like a scheduled flight departure. Then, when they arrive at the next airport, they arrive as a connecting passenger airside at the gate and can proceed straight to their next flight. This segment is included in the ticket price and are priced wholly as an itinerary like any other airfare. Customers on eligible fares also earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points that count towards status.

These services are designed to help facilitate connecting traffic – not specifically between cities where the service operates. The vast majority of customers on Landline services by American are connecting to and from flights – not solely between the cities operated with Landline or Landline-only itineraries.

We also have website pages that inform customers on this, as does Landline. Landline also operates similar services for other airlines – not just American.”

Commenters Are Shocked

In the comments section, users couldn’t believe Simone’s story.

“So you drove yourself to the AIRPORT to board a BUS to a place that was only 2 hours away by car…AND you paid 431.72 United States of America dollars!?” asked a user.

“Not you beating rush hour traffic to get to the airport in time, only to get back into rush hour traffic to get to your destination!” exclaimed another.

“Yea I would call the airline for a refund or a credit. Greyhound is only like $40 for this ride,” shared a third.

@thekennedysimone_ Replying to @Mario Santana Here’s my follow up answering everyone’s questions!!! #storytime #traveltiktok ♬ original sound – foreverhumblemarc96

We’ve reached out to Simone via Instagram direct message and comment.

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]