American Airlines Took a Celebrity’s Seat, Blamed Her for Delaying the Flight—Then Threatened to Ban Her as Brazil Erupted

One Mile at a Time covered the downgrade of a Brazilian celebrity from premium economy to coach on an American Airlines flight.

Actress, comedian and tv host Ingrid Guimarães was flying American from New York JFK to Rio de Janeiro. She was onboard in her seat when she was told she was being downgraded to coach, she says, because a business class passenger had a broken seat and that passenger was being given hers in premium economy.

  • She says she was threatened that if she didn’t move, she would be banned from American
  • Employees reportedly announced that they were being delayed because of this woman’s intransigence
  • There was no offer of compensation – she was just kicked out of the cabin
  • Eventually she moved to economy, and she reports she was offered a $300 travel credit.

Her story has been liked half a million times on Instagram. But the real action appears to be on American Airlines social media where reportedly comments have flooded in at scale. I wondered if there were bots involved, but it doesn’t appear materially so.

An American Airlines spokesperson offers,

Our goal is to provide a positive and safe travel experience for all our customers. A member of our team is reaching out to the customer to learn more about their experience and address their concerns.

First of all, in the event of an involuntary downgrade the passenger is legally entitled to the difference in fares between the cabins – not a travel credit. However, airlines have a tendency to minimize that difference, for instance comparing the cost of an advance purchase premium cabin fare to the most expensive coach ticket paid on the flight. Nonetheless, offering a travel credit alone was improper (although they might offer the refund and a travel credit in recognition of the disservice).

Second, I sort of expected the poor service from American in Brazil but that things would have been handled better by the airline at a hub in the United States. But it’s New York JFK, where an American gate agent declared last year that they didn’t care about DOT rules.

The customer had already boarded, though, and shouldn’t have been removed from their seat. The social media backlash in Brazil almost unheard of. As one airline employee put it, it’s approaching David Dao levels although fairly localized to that one country (there, a United Airlines passenger who had already boarded was forced to give up his seat – and bloodied by Chicago airport police when he pushed back).

I wonder, in American’s push for premium, whether they should just buy all of their employees Will Guidara’s book.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Remember you’re only getting one side of the story. There’s a procedure airlines use for downgrades, they just don’t “pick on” a random person.

  2. It would be interesting to know what her actual compensation was. That’s a nearly 10 hour flight, and it’s conceivable that if there had been no seats in premium, she would have chosen a different flight. To find out after you board the plane that you’re stuck in coach is supremely unfair, and I think she should be compensated far in excess of the $300 credit she claims to have gotten.

  3. After another poor flight on AA, if someone wants to ban me from AA – “Oh please, B’rer Bear – don’t throw me into that briar patch”.

  4. Brazil has much stronger airline consumer protection laws than the United States. They would pay many times the airfare if they pulled this in Brazil . . . and she can still sue in Brazil regardless of what she agreed to on the plane.

  5. But had she been given a free upgrade to the Premium Economy seat in the first place or did she actually buy a premium economy seat when she purchased her ticket?

  6. This happened to me last week with Air France. Checked in at noon for my business class seat and by the time I’d walked to the gate they’d given my seat away to a more valued passenger. I used to work for Pan Am, United, & Northwest Orient, and the way it works is that you deny boarding to the passengers who are WAITING for a seat, you do not go into the passenger list and choose whom to downgrade. And by the way, I am SkyTeam “Elite” so am entitled to preferred seating but of course when you’re downgrade a few minutes before departure you get a nice middle seat between two people equally as fat as I. I guess that’s the French way — it’s not my way, and all Air France did was refund the fare difference without even an apology or a “mea maxima culpa.” They will never see my ugly face in their aeroplanes again.

  7. @Mak — If only we had something like EU/UK 261 or Canada’s APPR in the US. Alas, we are so brainwashed by corporate propaganda and the special interests lobby our elected officials against ever doing anything that would meaningfully protect us as consumers here. When will we learn that there’s a better way. *sigh*

  8. What you’re missing from the comments (likely from not speaking Portuguese) is that numerous Brazilians are sharing their experiences of how AA picks on those they perceive as being alone and/or foreigners — even if they speak English but have a non-native accent, so there is zero surprise here that AA bullied someone they identified as a foreigner. It’s the common experience of numerous Brazilians with this airline. That’s why this is blowing up. Someone is finally giving voice to all of these numerous bad experiences that feel discriminatory.

  9. Bob – She bought the seat. That’s why she didn’t understand why she was being forced to move. It’s not her fault someone had a broken seat. And why her? She tried to ask those questions and was yelled at, according to her story.

  10. If she takes legal action in Brazil Trump will just claim it the 52nd state and she lose all protections.

  11. American Airlines hates you.

    It’s amazing, and improbable, but they individually and personally HATE every single human on the planet.

    Other airlines hate you too, but not nearly to as personally or vehemently.

  12. Gary! I just read your Dr. Dao reference! Brilliant! He’s a hero, especially after United tried to defame him afterwards. Hope he got a juicy cash settlement.

    @Clayton R Hollowell — You’re not wrong. Maybe Stockholm syndrome is real, after all. We are just gluttons for punishment, it seems. Bah!

  13. First of all, I need to say that Ingrid Guimarães is a great artist here in Brazil and is loved by everyone. Here in Brazil, the most important and prominent thing for Brazilians is the internet. Basically, 200 million Brazilians have access to the internet. When we see an injustice like what happened to Ingrid Guimarães, we unite for each other, because we go through what our fellow countrymen go through every day. That’s why I would like to say that we don’t use bullshit here in Brazil. We are moved and understand each other, and that way we help each other. I believe in the whole story of Ingrid Guimarães. I know that she is a very serious woman and that she wouldn’t need that to become famous, since she is already a great artist and a millionaire here in Brazil. Therefore, $300 would not make the slightest difference in her bank account. Her appeal at this moment is to raise awareness among airlines so that other people do not go through what she went through. The criteria used to exchange her premium seat for economy, informed by the flight captain, was that she was a single woman, had no companion, and therefore could travel alone. Here in Brazil, we have strict laws, or rather, thousands of laws that are always in favor of the consumer, so if you paid for a seat, that seat must be yours.

  14. Flying buses, with attendants on power trips, that’s all they are these days. I’ll only fly if I can’t get somewhere any other way.

  15. I just wanted to let you know there are no bots involved in the comments. Brazilians are very engaged on social media, especially with controversial matters. It’s crazy right?
    It’s our way of protesting.

    And for me, there is no doubt that the AA team could have handled it better, even if it was a rule of some sort. The humiliation and coercion were the worst parts, especially for a woman traveling alone.

  16. I’m sorry but I will not longer be flying American Airlines, Spirit or any other airline that will allow this type of manipulation of any customer.
    Personal opinion, I think that staff in the airlines business have way too much power when it comes to issues like these. (Ex.) You move seats or you will never fly this airline again.
    It’s up to us to say enough is enough and boycott for issues like this. If an airline company wants to treat it’s customers like crap, then boycott until they close their doors.

  17. The David Dao story was so blown out of proportion.
    He was told that the flight was oversold and then ran onto the plane.
    Security was called because he refused to get off. I wonder if the money he received was worth having the world know that the married man lost his license to practice because he wrote scripts for his boyfriends

  18. I once left my iPad in the seat back pocket on a US Airways flight after landing at MSP. Yes, I know this ages me a bit!. I picked up my luggage and headed to the baggage service office. I wasn’t expecting it to ever be found, and it was my dumb fault anyway.

    To my surprise, my iPad was already in the baggage service office. The cleaners had found it. It couldn’t have been even 30 minutes from gate to that office.

    Something about eliminating the real competition among the big legacy carriers has really cut into the hospitality of the airlines.

  19. It’s funny that you think that are bots
    Brazil is the 2ND BIGGEST WORLDWIDE USER OF INTERNET
    We don’t live in a jungle and about the actress, she is famous only in Brazil and only her Instagram fans are 6X BIGGER than same profile of American Airlines

  20. The poor service and the way American Airlines handle their business ,too soon the only customers left ,will be the terrorists working on buildings demolition !

  21. I hope she does sue in Brazil. Maybe she should hire the Brazilian lawyer who was originally seated next to her, to make sure he isn’t hired by the other side and not testify. If the crew actually called her out, that could possibly be defamation. Some airlines have bad employees that need to be weeded out with lawsuits causing the airlines employing them large losses.

    As for hearing the side of the airline agents and flight attendants, they could come onto forums and blogs and explain but the company probably has rules against it. It is like they lawyered up. I really wish that some would come and explain the other side but I doubt it will happen. Maybe in court with a less than forthright version.

  22. With the poor service and mistreatment American Airlines “offers” their passengers ,too soon the only ones boarding their planes ,will be the ” kamikazes terrorists

  23. Gary, your callback in this post to the AA agent(s) at JFK who “Do Not Care About DOT Rules” is indicative of what happens when we deregulate and/or abolish agencies that are supposed to protect the traveling public from such abuses of power.

    Some folks on here who regularly bash those agencies won’t care until it affects them personally (basically the definition of being a ‘conservative’).

    If you lack empathy, it’s not a strength—it’s weakness. Cruelty is dumb.

  24. “Make *American* Great Again” — as below, so is above: might makes right, bully and extort the perceived weak (or do you think it was a coincidence they picked an unaccompanied woman?) until you get what you want from them, etc, etc

    Signs of an era, folks, signs of an era…

  25. Interesting take on the expectation of bad service “in Brazil”, I am Brazilian, proud to be, and we have great consumer protection laws, and all in all we do get good service over here in many different areas. We may be 211 million people, but enrage the people over here and Brazilian netizens will make the noise needed online to make a point, for better or for worse.
    The tone of that part of your article, of expecting bad service in my country is very disrespectful, even if you may have not intended to come off this way.

  26. She had a free upgrade, another passenger who possibly paid for First Class, or at the least had more loyalty points was given the seat. Move to the original seat you paid for and shut up, quit being such an entitled person! Actors and SJW’s should be forced to sit down below where they keep the dog kennels, that would stop this type of selfish behavior and delays.

  27. I have a little different perspective, I kinda think the guy with the broken seat is a bit of a douche with him watching an innocent woman get bullied out of her seat to accommodate him. Also, why not just sit the business class guy in coach and offer him a coupon? I mean they both paid for a premium seat, his was broken, so its his bad luck. If the seat in coach she was moved to turned out to be broken as well, what, do then we pick a random coach ticket holder and bump them and put her in their seat?

  28. @Tim Dunn — 100%. Was thinking the same thing. AA must be kicking themselves for having let LATAM slip away from OneWorld. Bah!

    @Vall — This guy gets it. When are folks gonna wake up, band together, and fight back. These greedy corporations and oligarchs will take everything from you if you let them.

    @Dana Louise Anderson — You clearly bought into United’s smear campaign against Dr. Dao. Perhaps, you honestly belief the victim’s marital status or orientation absolves the airline for the harm they inflicted on him–if so, that’s your animus, and you should not perpetuate such cruelty. I like to think that Dr. Dao is living his best life these days, on United’s dime. So, don’t let the airlines (or any company) boss you around–and certainly don’t shill for them like Dana does. Boo!

  29. I fly a similar route every month on business with AA, mia to gru. I keep saying and complaining to AA, their staff are the worst in the industry. You pay premium thinking that you will at least have someone polite talking to you, it’s the opposite, they go out of their way to be rude and obnoxious. I was not on this flight but I can totally relate to her struggle. It had happened to me, it will happen again for sure and I will keep on suing AA and they will keep on loosing it.

  30. I’d like to hear more about this before I offer an opinion. I admit that mainline AA is not my carrier of choice, but Envoy has always treated us well.

  31. I feel that AA has many problems, with the most important being its management.

    Bad management. It is incompetent.

    That leads to bad relationship with its employees.

    The employees take it out on their customers.

    As HST said “The buck stops here.” That is true with AA.

  32. Oh no! What ever will we do without the fully-formed opinion of Greggb57…

    Envoy?? Why not Piedmont or PSA? Promoting a subsidiary airline–that’s a new one. Like, do they pay you to say nice things about them–if so, what’s the going rate? I’d like some spare change.

  33. @Tim ja — Nice troll! Fly private for JFK-GIG? My dude, you must be sarcastic, or bad with money. Unless your company is paying for it, I wouldn’t hop across continents in G550–you’d need to be at least a centi-millionaire to justify such waste. Lie-flat in First or Business, even a recliner in Premium Economy, on most carriers, is simply ‘good enough’ for those ‘with means.’ C’mon now. And apparently not ‘a nobody,’ like you (or I), at least in Brazil, a country of 200+ million people.

  34. I fly American Airlines between São Paulo (GRU) and the U.S. (JFK, MIA, DFW) multiple times a year. If you travel this route often, having an AA credit card can be a game-changer—access to lounges, priority boarding, and other perks make the experience much smoother. It also helps to know your rights as a passenger and truly understand the airline you’re doing business with.

    One thing I’ve noticed: Brazilians are incredible people—warm, friendly, and welcoming—but they can also bring a bit of drama to the mix. At the end of the day, travel (like life) isn’t about what you deserve, but what you negotiate.

  35. It has been my experience that American agents at JFK are less and less empathetic and just want to land the plane and get back to their screen on the phone.
    Luckily Delta has entered the market and was pleasantly surprised how nice they were. The meals were much better than America’s service along with brand name alcohol vs their Aviator brand. Breakfast was excellent too.
    I’m glad the JFK-EZE route has competition now.

  36. I love all of the “I am never flying AA“. People should read the CoC. This can and does happen on every airline.

  37. @ Retired Attorney. Thanks for posting . . . I haven’t thought about Uncle Remus Tales in a long, long time. I think it was Brer Fox, but please don’t throw me in that briar patch.

  38. i am de-boarding and taking a different flight. I will not move backward in Class, unless the money is irresistible. No money , well i never needed their money anyway but i bet i get paid well for their actions….. one way , or another…… Why do these airline people think they should sell the seats to more people than they have seats….don’t forget , We , you and I , elected those , that appoint those , that make these rules……

  39. There’s few things more insulting and airline can do after you’re boarded and seated to come up to you and tell you to move because they decided another passenger is better than you and more entitled to what you paid for than you are.

  40. Let me clarify a few missing pieces of the story. To the gentleman who claimed she received a free upgrade, you’re mistaken. She paid for the PE seat, so she was entitled to exactly what she paid for. Regardless, no one deserves to be treated with abuse. Secondly, she was informed by the crew that the “random” criteria for moving passengers was based on the fact that she was a woman traveling alone. Mind you, this happened on the 8th of March- quite symbolic don’t you think? Lastly, I’m not sure what the author of this article thinks about Brazil, but honestly, I couldn’t care less. The laws there are strong, and when you say you expected poor service in Brazil, you’re only perpetuating discrimination.
    If you are a customer and you pay for the service, you should receive what you’ve paid for. Alternatively the crew should try to persuade you by compensating you not violating your rights, discriminating and abusing the shit out of you.

  41. @DK — Oh, so you read each ‘contract of carriage,’ good sir or madame? No, of course not. It’s a contract of adhesion–take it or leave it–no negotiation. We rely on regulators to ensure there are not bad practices at play–yet, still, regardless of what’s on paper, there are abuses of power all the time, in this and every business. So, when things go ‘off the rails,’ if someone is powerful, wealthy, and/or influential enough, maybe they can get their ‘satisfaction,’ after all.

    @bill ganas — I applaud you fortitude, yet most do not have that ‘luxury.’ They cannot afford to ‘wait a day,’ to pay for new, expensive, last-minute tickets with a competitor, or to engage in a lengthy legal battle or public relations campaign against a major business like an airline. So, the best they can do is often to ‘accept their losses,’ to seek resolution directly (reimbursement, credits, etc.), start disputes with their credit cards (which often don’t go well), to complain to regulators (which totally depends on the countries involved–the US is not friendly to consumers, sadly), and/or to complain on social media for sympathy and public pressure.

    @Greg — 100%. It is insulting. Yet the airline will still call you, the aggrieved, ‘entitled,’ but, like, with negative connotation, not like, ‘it was your right.’ It’s incredibly frustrating. Consumers have little power these days. We’re getting squished like bugs, left and right. And some still ‘shill’ for these greedy, corrupt big businesses–I hope they get paid well to ‘bootlick’ for them.

    @Gi — Thanks for those ‘missing pieces.’ I wasn’t even aware of the significance of March 8 in Brazil, until you mentioned it. Apparently, it is International Women’s Day, and there are often marches across that country in solidarity. I’m fairly confident those AA agents at JFK weren’t aware–because it’s not a major holiday here. Sure, it is ironic that the passenger was a woman. That certainly explains why some Brazilians may be more upset about this incident, even if those factors aren’t really the issue at hand (she did not get the seat or class of service she paid for.)

  42. I used to travel several times a year with American Airlines, only because daily flights from New York to Rio de Janeiro all year round, which now only happens between Christmas and the end of Carnaval. I always had terrible experiences, I always traveled by business , and even paying more I always had terrible service. I wasn’t at all surprised when I read what happened with this actor . This is the service they always provide, terrible service, lack of courtesy and education of flight attendants.

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