Andrew Tate tried to flex about skipping a private jet before boarding Delta “first class” en route to Emirates—and then posted a rant acting shocked by what he got. The irony is the point: his brand is competence and winning, but he’s melting down over a basic travel decision that any frequent flyer would understand, turning a status signal into a public self-own.
Tate is a former kickboxer turned internet provocateur who built fame and fortune selling hyper-masculine self-help and hustler content while facing serious criminal investigations for sex trafficking (including of minors), rape, and other charges.
In Romania he’s allegedly been involved in human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group to sexually exploit women, as well as at least one rape charge along with money laundering. He faces 21 charges in the U.K. including human trafficking, actual bodily harm, and controlling prostitution for gain.
And Tate does not like Delta Air Lines first class.
I decided to not fly on a jet from Vegas to Dubai because I love Emirates first class with the shower and bar and all.
But there was no direct, so I had to take a short flight with Delta “first class” first before getting on Emirates.
What the actual fuck is this?
You…
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) January 25, 2026
He’s flying Delta first class and not ‘a (private) jet’ because by some reports his net worth is only $12 to $20 million. His ventures, such as they are, may have a lot of turnover (according to him) but that’s not the same as personal profit. But because his image is based on extreme wealth and success, if he wants to trash Delta online, he has to explain away why he’s on board a Delta flight in the first place.
Here’s what’s going on in the tweet:
- Category error: Delta “first class” on a short domestic hop is not a peer product to Emirates long haul first class. He’s comparing regional premium seating to a flagship international first class cabin (with showers on the Airbus A380), then acting shocked by what he got. Did he really not know what to expect?
- Status signaling, then whining: “I skipped a private jet” leads to “peasant bullshit.” In other words, I voluntarily chose a normal rich person option and am mad it’s not the kind of lifestyle I like to project.
- Confident ignorance: If he actually cared, he’d book a lie flat segment across the country to pick up Emirates. This is like reviewing a steakhouse based on the airline meal on your way there.
- Self-own: His brand is supposed to be ‘competence’ and ‘winning’ so publicly melting down over not winning shows the world he can’t navigate something as basic as air travel.
Here’s a useful piece to better understand the phenomenon around this schmuck and fellow travelers, arguing that the ‘high-value man’ archetype celebrated by figures like Tate comes from a much older cultural lineage rooted in mid-20th-century Black American responses to exclusion from traditional status and economic pathways. Those responses – like the pimp archetype in Iceberg Slim’s Pimp: The Story of My Life – emphasized conspicuous displays of wealth and control as compensatory markers of success.
This reframes the Manosphere’s style of flashy clothes, material displays, emotional detachment, and dominance over women as a recycled performance of compensation rather than actual power. The result is a hollow, display-based model of masculinity that ultimately leaves participants isolated — “the loneliest bastard on earth.”
Why are we giving air time to someone who is among the worst the human race has produced? I get that you are doing this to ridicule him, but any attention given to these sort of people are just feeding the trolls.
Anyone who uses a foul expletive to express themselves on a public forum is immediately ignored and forgotten and their messages erased.
Was he flying Ek coach or did he actually pay for a better seat.
Basically human trash.
I have nothing but alligator tears for Andrew Tate. If he doesn’t like Delta’s first class he should switch places with someone in Economy.
So not only could he not afford to fly private for his international flight, but he couldn’t even afford private for a short positioning flight? Do I have that right?
Probably because something like eleven million individuals pay attention to him. Or at least claim to do so.
As with many things, we’re too often focusing on symptoms rather than the actual underlying problems.
Gary: this article suggests you are in need of some mental health intervention
You are giving needlesd PR to a less than human character about whom your readers do not care. But the text if your criticism is mostly about YOU.
Bragging about competence, unnecessary conspicuous comsumption (Blade flights, demands for suites while travelling solo, upset over a $25k credit card limit, announcing planned Bilt card spending few of us can relate to), and false claims of “intellectual expertise” — “mid twentieth century … Pimp”, are about YOU not Tate.
To use your own analysis — what do you feel excluded from and why are you so publicly over compensating?
This is very blunt: you need some help please see a therapist to at least start to deal with this.
Your sell out to Ankur was bad, but this racist name caĺling is over the top.
Get help.
Deltas first class is state of the art 70s so true premium
Too bad he didn’t get someone’s smelly feet and dirty pajamas in his face. I’d pay to see that.
I don’t think you need the “allegedly” when refering to his rape and sex trafficking charges.
He’s lucky he’s not in prison for his many gross and weird crimes.
Filth.
@Michael Lissack – point to these demands for suites while traveling solo? Sometimes I am upgraded but I would like to see these demands?
And getting a free Blade flight as a status benefit – btw that is something even JetBlue has offered it’s elites – is somehow a symptom of mental illness. What does it say about you that (1) you keep reading (2) you cannot distinguish me from an accused sex trafficker and rapist?
Meanwhile I see that yesterday on LinkedIn you posted about your ‘lush private lodge’. And tell.me about how your work as a ‘cruise counselor’ fits into your critique of nice travel? Okey donkey.
As for false claims of intellectual expertise I claim expertise in very few fields. I may write about things I find interesting but leave the comments open – to anyone who wishes to be a jerk! – because I appreciate vigorous critique and especially value the contributions from those who know a subject better than I do. I have no doubt you know more about spending time on boats!
@Gary – I’m with @Common Sense. Giving this pathetic rapist who should be spending the rest of his life in a Romanian prison (Dear Leader got him out of Romania) press is a terrible idea.
He should try American Airlines first class or better yet Spirit.
To be fair I just flew on that same Delta F seat and it is Shite.
There are international airlines that have probably better seats and service that fly out of Las Vegas.