Watch: People online stunned after passenger declines more than $2000 to give up her seat on plane

A passenger has gone viral on social media after she declined a cash offer on an oversold flight. Photo / 123rf

THREE KEY FACTS

• Collins Kaye declined to accept an airline’s offer of cash and an overnight hotel stay in exchange for her seat
• She clarified that she had to be on the flight as it was her last day of annual leave
• The video has gone viral on social media, with hundreds commenting they would have happily taken the offer

A dejected passenger who had to be on a flight to return for work has gone viral on social media after she failed to take up an airline’s tempting offer of US$1500 ($2444) on an oversold flight.

US Army worker Collins Kaye filmed herself seated on the plane ready for take-off when a flight attendant offered passengers the wad of cash and an overnight hotel stay - in exchange for their seat and the option to take a rescheduled flight the next morning.

“Who’s gonna take it? $1500,” the flight attendant is heard asking passengers in the video posted by @collinskaye on TikTok.

It was barely two seconds before the offer was claimed. “All right ... got it,” the flight attendant said.

A gutted Collins wrote in text overlayed on the video clip: “I hate my leave ends today! Cuz I wanted to give up this seat for that $1500″.

@collinskaye

Would you got off? They offered $1500 , a hotel , and a flight back in the morning at 0930. 😣🥺😩 #foryou #fy #foryoupage #miltok

♬ original sound - Collins.Kaye

“Would you got off?” Collins asked her viewers in the caption of the 20-second video, which now has more than 715,000 views and over 800 comments - many of them stating that they would have jumped at the offer.

One comment read: “You better than me. I would’ve already been at hotel checking into my room”.

“I would’ve stood up so fast like Whitney did at that award show,” declared another.

Others cheekily suggested white lies Collins could have told her employers in order to take up the offer.

“Sir my flight got counseled [sic]. I need to extend my leave,” suggested one user.

Another admitted: “I would have given my seat up real quick and would have said my flight was having issues lol”.

According to the website for the US Department of Transportation, bumping or “denied boarding” can happen when there are more passengers scheduled on the flight than there are seats available. The practice is legal.

Bumping is much less common in New Zealand, though it does happen.

In June 2023, two friends said they felt “embarrassed and humiliated” after being told they were being bumped from their Air New Zealand business class seats at the end of a holiday they had planned for years.