Michael Hohl and his bride, Amber Maxwell, were on their way to Costa Rica for the wedding of their dreams.
After a stopover at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, the couple – who were also travelling with friends – were the last to board the flight, operated by United Airlines.
When they arrived at their allocated seats, 24B and 24C, they noticed a man was spread across their row, napping. Not wanting to wake him, the soon-to-be-married pair moved to seats 21B and 21C, which were empty.
It was then, they say, they were removed from the plane by a US Marshall.
"We thought not a big deal, it's not like we are trying to jump up into a first-class seat," Michael Hohl told KHOU News.
"We were simply in an economy row a few rows above our economy seat."
According to United, the rows where the couple had moved to are classified as "economy plus", an upgrade from their economy tickets.
When the engaged pair were told about the difference in seat prices, they asked a flight attendant for an upgrade. They were told they needed to return to their original assigned seats.
Michael said they complied with the request, but that soon afterwards, a US Marshall boarded the plane and told them they had to leave the flight.
"They said that we were being disorderly and a hazard to the rest of the flight, to the safety of the other customers," Michael said.
Top Comments
What rubbish. You never board a plane and try to sit in seats not marked on your boarding pass. Ever! Stupid people with no idea of aviation rules or sly opportunists trying to ride the 'we hate United' storm for 5 seconds of fame. Yawn.
Yeah, sorry, but I don't buy this. "Not wanting to wake him up"?!?! WTF?!? Those are your seats! Why would you not ask for a crew member's help in waking and moving him? If United were so keen to get this couple back to their seats, wouldn't they also have been keen to get this man back to his seat? These aren't just regular economy seats they moved to - they were premium seats that people pay extra money for and according to what I've read, they're clearly marked. It would be difficult to mistake them for regular economy seats.
How does someone end up asleep and sprawled across three seats before the plane has even finished boarding anyway? That seems very unlikely, unless the guy was so drunk that he should have been denied boarding.
The violent removal of David Dao from the United flight was appalling, no question. These people are just taking advantage of the current poor opinion on United in the hopes of currying public favour. It's not working on me.
I completely agree with fightofyourlife. I got on a flight, a very early morning flight to Queensland, to find the other passenger stretched out on the seats. As I was a little concerned about how he would react to me waking him (he being a rather large man, me only a short woman), I notified the cabin staff, who very kindly woke and requested the passenger (who was exceedingly drunk) move on to his own seat. I then took my seat and waited for the plane to take off. No fuss, no mess. He slept off what I later found out was a very boozy boys night, and was most apologetic about his behaviour.
I really think these two were milking the current climate for all it is worth, and just thought they were entitled to an upgrade. What would they have done if the rightful passengers had come along???
Yup, they are after some fame and freebies. I'm not buying this either!