Brittany Hockley, who made it to the finale of The Bachelor Australia in 2018 and returned for 2020’s Bachelor in Paradise, lashed out at Etihad Airways when they refused to sell her an upgrade to business or first class – but wanted $1000 to check her luggage.
First she complained she couldn’t book her extra checked bag online. Then she discovered at the airport that Etihad wanted $1000 to carry it. She had two checked bags total, one containing “equipment.”
Brittany wrote: ‘So because I work abroad I had to carry an extra bag for equipment. So a total of two bags.
‘I tried to book the extra bag online, but the website wouldn’t let me. So I called. They didn’t let me either. Said it had to be done at the counter. Asked about a price for an extra bag, “she couldn’t tell me – she had no numbers”.’
She continued, “When I go to the airport, they charge me $1,000 extra for one bag. On an empty flight. $1000 for a bag.
Credit: Instagram / Brittany_Hockley
Credit: Instagram / Brittany_Hockley
The co-host of the Life Uncut podcast thought for $1000 maybe she could sit up front and increase her checked bag allowance. Apparently there were seats available but they couldn’t organize the catering. She figured $1000 would even cover the standard cost of a PlusGrade bid for an empty business seat. She’s a frequent flyer and knows the drill. (“‘Asking for the upgrade isn’t ‘right’ either, but that’s what it costs to bid on the upgrade anyway.”)
And, she says, this would have been her first time out of economy. However when she found herself in economy she practically had the whole cabin to herself. Filming the sea of empty seats, she offered “Hope they serve me first.”
Credit: Instagram / Brittany_Hockley
She didn’t say where she was flying in the video, but some media speculated she was departing Sydney for Abu Dhabi.
Interesting. The top checked bag fee I can find on their website is $335. Unless she was lugging one heck of a lot of overweight luggage around.
Do not believe her.
Actually I do believe her. Baggage fees when checking in are often higher, maybe not this high but it sounds as though she was dealing with some recalcitrant customer service people who didn’t know what they doing during the Pandemic. Probably management suddenly doing work ‘beneath’ their status.. The bad publicity from this will cost Etihad $1M or more in future revenues. I’d recommend they look into who made this stupid decision.
Another self entitled narcissistic brat.
Actually I think she is a regular airline traveler. What a thought! People are so quick to criticize without looking at the evidence. So who is the self entitled narcissistic brat. You or her? Would it be better if it was a self-entitled Australian businessman?
For a thousand bucks, they could at least have put her in business and give her an economy meal.
I can believe her! All these ME airlines are pretty much the same. My own experience to this was on Qatar. I tried and tried to get the website to allow one extra checked bag of less than 50 lbs, but the website would not allow me pay on line, for the on line rate regarding the extra bag! On the phone I asked if we could do it while I was talking with the agent. “No, she said, you have to do it at the desk when checking in, but they will charge you the on line rate since the site is having problems”. ( The on line rate for a 45 lb extra checked bag was 200 US dollars, but desk check in in person is 250. Guess what, they told me they’d charge the on line rate, but when I got home, found out they charged me the 250 dollar last minute gate check rate )!?! At least they didn’t charge me a grand! I think these arabs are “over the top! Then, in regard this they do not answer their phone #, ( held on hold for four and a half hours, then got hung up on, As well as not answering my e-mails. Visa told me they cannot do a charge back for the excess amount, as I had to tell the truth that I did receive the service but was charged MORE than was stated and agreed to, even though the airline will not reply to either me, OR VISA!?!
$1000 AUD = $747 USD / 2 Bags. See Patti Price Quote Above. Brittany most likely bought the No Bag Rate / Etihad Hand Luggage Only Rate and hoped her looks and charm would do the rest. A story about being charged $1000 for one piece of luggage (versus 2) is also good for her podcast and remainder of her 15 minutes of fame.
Well, until I read Erik’s post, I felt sympathy for this big star. Usually it’s an entitled twit who thinks s/he’s ‘someone’, but this time I agreed that paying $1K for a bag is definitely an ugly move on the part of the airline. And yeah, it didn’t make sense. Unless she booked the cheapest tix available. Ah hah!
@Erik Etihad does not sell hand bagge only fares to Australia. Those fares are limited to flights in the ME, Asia and Europe. Etihad’s website is a mess, there’s no proper calculator, just a general estimate:
Excess baggage fees per kg:
Excess baggage fees vary depending on where you are flying to and from. If you’re travelling from the Middle East or Indian Subcontinent, this will cost between $25 – $40 per kg, or $35 – $50 per kg from all other countries excluding the US or Canada.
Flying from Australia, she would have been allowed 20 kg by default. If she had another 20 kg bag and was charged the full $50 per kg for that, I can see how it is very possible she might be charged that absurd $1000 price for one bag.