Category Archives for Passengers.
Passengers on South African low-cost carrier FlySafair were filmed passing banknotes up the aisle during boarding, like they were paying fares onboard in a minibus taxi. It’s a joke—FlySafair is cashless for inflight purchases—but it points to a real throwback: airlines like People Express once let travelers board without tickets and then sold fares in the cabin. Here’s how that worked, and why it’s basically impossible in modern U.S. air travel.
“Are you from Florida?” was all it took to set off a passenger on a Frontier flight—she erupted at a flight attendant, repeatedly accusing the crewmember of having an “issue with minorities” and claiming she’d been “triggered.”
The flight attendant stayed calm, told her she was “in control of your own actions,” called for security, and the woman was removed from the flight.
A Delta flight attendant noticed a toddler “needed a job,” so she put her to work. Minutes later, the pint-sized helper was marching down the aisle with a trash bag, politely asking passengers, “Trash, please” — and the whole cabin played along.
A passenger on a Southwest flight out of Phoenix filmed Donald Trump Jr. and a woman in a bright red pantsuit arriving in a black SUV, walking the ramp with what appears to be a Secret Service detail, and taking stairs under the jet bridge to board. Trump family members flying commercial isn’t unusual—but the funniest part is that after all that VIP choreography, he still picked Southwest.
Alaska Airlines staff refuse to let her fly after she shows up with two big cats in a single underseat carrier and insists she has “done this for years.” She escalates into a “you are ruining Christmas” rant, demands to be shown the policy “where I booked,” and argues there’s no restriction—while the agents tell her the cats don’t have enough room and she’d need separate carriers (and effectively, another underseat space).
American Flight 1124 from Barranquilla to Miami diverted back after a lavatory dispute escalated into a crew confrontation, and the passenger later blew 0.00 on a breathalyzer at the gate. The FAA judge found he wasn’t intoxicated and rejected the threat allegation, but the passenger is still banned – and suing trying to get flying privileges back.
A lost jacket turned into a five-figure travel bill. After a British Airways passenger tweeted for help, scammers posing as BA support got his booking details, cancelled his return ticket, and the airline refused to reinstate it—quoting $17,511 to fly home.
Two boys plotted an airport dinosaur surprise for their grandma, practicing their roars and waiting in costume for her to walk out of arrivals. But when the sliding doors finally opened, grandma emerged in a T-Rex outfit herself — wearing the exact same costume she once used to scare them, and completely stealing their moment.
A man bragged online that he was flying first class “because of Trump” and posted a photo of his boarding pass—complete with the details anyone needs to pull up a trip in many airline “Manage My Booking” tools. By the time he reached the airport, someone had already canceled his reservation, turning a political flex into an instant lesson in why you never share a boarding pass online.
A low-cost carrier passenger got called out at the gate for a carry-on that was just a bit too big, and instead of paying to check it he ripped the wheels off on the spot. The bag technically makes it into the gate sizer — but then he struggles to pull it back out, turning a fee-avoidance “hack” into a perfect live demo of why these rules drive people insane.
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 »
