Airline leaves 15-year-old at airport for 15 hours, gives him two $12 snack vouchers

Stories of airlines leaving customers stranded and helpless are increasing by the day. Recently, a 15-year-old was left stranded at an airport. TikTok creator Bonnie Ngai (@bonniengaii) accused American Airlines of leaving her brother with no assistance for over 15 hours. She alleges that the minor got no dinner, breakfast, or accommodation, only two $12 snack vouchers. 

Left with vouchers worth $24 for an over 15-hour delay

In the video, Ngai says that her brother was supposed to come to New York City but his flight was diverted to Philadelphia due to poor weather. She says the diversion was totally understandable but they kept delaying the next flight.

She says they landed at around 7-8 pm and were supposed to get on another flight after an hour.  Then it got to two hours, then four hours and finally they rescheduled it to the next day at 11 am. This makes the delay over 12 hours, she says.  

She then explains that the boy had to stay at the airport overnight without a hotel room. Since he was a minor, he couldn't get a room like the other passengers. The airline is expected to provide some compensation to the passenger for the deal. However, the boy got only a $12 snack voucher for the night.

Ngai then says that the first voucher was given near midnight when almost everything was closed at the airport. He then got the second voucher after 11 am the next day. Thus, the boy essentially missed dinner and breakfast. 

Getting frustrated with the situation, Ngai asked her brother to give the phone to the customer service representative at the airport. She politely explained the situation to the representative and asked him if the airline could do anything else for the boy. 

She alleges that the executive very rudely told her that they would need to "verify a bunch of things" before giving the boy another voucher. "He's already got two $12 vouchers," Ngai recalls the executive saying. 

Ngai then claims that she explained to the executive that it wasn't enough for a nearly 15-hour delay. She asked them to take him to a lounge, an American Airlines spot, or anywhere he could get real food. "If you had a 15-18 year old, what would you do? would you not be worried?" Ngai remembers asking the executive. Ngai was shocked to hear the response.  The executive told her, "I would make sure he has some money in his pocket," Ngai says. 

Ngai says she wasn't even yelling at the executive because she knew it wasn't his fault. Despite this, the executive misbehaved with her. Ngai says her brother did have enough money to buy his food and snacks but it was the airline's responsibility to ensure that he was taken care of and reimbursed. "An overnight delay at the airport for an adult is tough enough," Ngai says. 

In the end, Ngai says she would never ever fly with American Airlines again and seeks help from any employee who could help her. In an update, Ngai shared a video with her brother who made it to New York on "zero hours of sleep". 

Several of Ngai's viewers shared the same sentiment. "Oh I’d be FUMING omg," wrote @travel.w.lex. To this, Ngai wrote, "the man’s response made my blood boil."

Meanwhile, several others shared similar horror stories. "We got stuck in Wisconsin! Coming home to Philly. We were in the airport for 7 hrs and made it to Chicago last night and got home this morning. They left our luggage!" added another user @dazedrun. 

For more updates, vlogs, fashion hauls and more, follow Bonnie Ngai (@bonniengaii) on TikTok.