‘I am so unhappy’: Florida woman spends 30 hours trying to get home from her bachelorette trip. Then her Southwest flight runs out of fuel
Getting home from a vacation is already frustrating when flights keep getting delayed. It can be even worse when changing airports and spending more money still does not get you home.
TikTok creator @aaaislynn and her friends were returning from a bachelorette trip in Florida when their travel plans started falling apart. Hoping to make it home for work, the group even spent $150 on an Uber to another airport.
But that still was not enough. Their Southwest Airlines flight was later diverted to another state to refuel, and the group eventually missed their connection and had to spend the night at the airport.
They just wanted to get home
The woman explained that she and her friends had spent nearly 30 hours traveling over two days after leaving their bachelorette trip in Siesta Key, Florida. Their original plan was to fly from Sarasota to Chicago before connecting to Portland, Oregon.
After their first flight was delayed, they became concerned that they would miss the connection. A Southwest employee gave the group another option. According to the passenger, they could travel to Tampa and take a flight through Denver instead, which could still get them home that night.
The three women agreed because they needed to return for work. They paid about $150 for an Uber from Sarasota to Tampa, a trip she estimated took around an hour and a half. Their Tampa flight was delayed as well, but they eventually boarded for Denver around 7 p.m. While approaching Colorado, passengers were reportedly told that inclement weather meant the plane would have to circle before landing. That plan did not last long.
The passenger recalls hearing another announcement explaining that the aircraft needed to divert to Amarillo, Texas, because of its fuel situation. She remembers hearing that they were going to “run out of fuel” and needed to land and refuel. The plane landed in Amarillo, where she estimates they spent around an hour on the tarmac while it was refueled. The flight then continued to Denver.
By the time they arrived, their Portland connection had already departed about 30 minutes earlier. It was also the final flight to Portland that night, which meant the change from Sarasota to Tampa had not accomplished what the group had hoped.
Southwest employees rebooked them on a flight scheduled for the following afternoon. The passenger claims they also asked about a hotel, meal vouchers, and other assistance but were initially told the airline could not provide them because the disruption was weather-related.
With nowhere else to go, the group slept inside the Denver airport alongside other stranded travelers. She added that most businesses were closed by then, making it difficult to buy food or water.
The problems continued the following morning. When the women checked their replacement itinerary, that flight had also been delayed enough that they expected to miss another connection. They returned to the desk and were eventually placed on a one-way flight home. That added to her frustration because she claims they had been told the night before that a one-way option was not available.
The passenger also asked whether she could receive a refund and book another airline. She recalls being told she would only receive taxes back and that the process could take around 30 days. After speaking with a manager, she did receive a $15 meal voucher. However, she said the group had already been traveling for roughly 24 hours at that point.
The experience was enough to change how she felt about the airline. After almost 30 hours of delays, rerouting, an unexpected fuel stop, missed connections, and sleeping at the airport, she said she was unlikely to fly Southwest again.
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