How travel vouchers turned into an Italian staycation for 1 American Airlines passenger
When an American traveler was able to get a travel voucher from an airline to stay in Italy a bit longer, she had no idea it would essentially lead to getting paid to travel.
Susan Berry, who has been documenting her travel delays-turned-delight on TikTok, told "Good Morning America" that her first flight home from Italy was oversold, and when the American Airlines gate agents offered $1,200 travel vouchers to anyone willing to fly out the following day, she took it.
"Yeah, this is awesome. Work hard, money to stay in Italy," Berry said.
The next day's flight was also oversold, as was the day after that too.
"The second day when I found out that there was potentially a two week opportunity to do this. That's when I started being, like, 'cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching,'" she said.
As Berry racked up travel vouchers, she said the Fort Worth-based carrier also set her up with a free hotel, arranged a car service from the airport, and paid for her meals.
"We had a three course meal, all provided by American Airlines," she said in one TikTok video amidst the staycation.
As Berry continually returned to airport, fully intending not to get on her flight, she documented in a subsequent TikTok, "I'm at $3,600 and counting I'm trying to get up to $10,000 and then travel the world."
At one point, Berry shared a video where the airline employees began to recognize her, surprised that she wasn't already gone.
Experts say that because flights are oversold a lot, flexibility can make travelers thousands of dollars -- plus additional perks, especially if you negotiate.
"Airlines have a secret menu as well. This can be things like lounge passes or even a business class seat on your replacement flight," Scott Keyes, Going.com founder and author of "Take More Vacations", told "GMA."
Berry eventually made it back home to Philadelphia as her fourth flight finally had enough seats for her to board.
"I was just getting started, so I was mentally prepared to stay for two weeks," Berry told "GMA."
Keyes reminded others that if you're going to accept a deal, when you talk to the gate agent, specify you want to receive the final offer, not the first offer. If the agents raise the offer to get more people off the plane, you receive the higher amount of money.
