Flying is stressful enough without being denied boarding on a flight you already paid for.
One frequent flyer’s nightmare travel experience has sparked conversations about airline policies, passenger rights, and what happens when things go catastrophically wrong at the gate.
Musician Left Stranded
In a viral video with more than 158,000 views, musician Frankie Zulferino (@fjzulferino) recounted his harrowing experience with United Airlines that left him stranded in San Francisco instead of heading to Australia.
Zulferino’s travel troubles started in Newark. There, his connecting flight to San Francisco was delayed due to maintenance issues. Despite the two-hour delay, he managed to reach his gate in San Francisco despite chest pain from sprinting through the airport. The plane was still there. The door was open. He had his boarding pass ready.
But the gate agent, identified as Tina, wouldn’t let him board.
“She’s like, ‘I don’t have you on the list,'” Zulferino explains in the video. When he showed her his boarding pass on his phone, she told him the plane was “overweight,” and they weren’t letting him on. The flight he’d paid $5,000 for. The flight that was delayed until 12:45am and still sitting at the gate at 11pm.
“Isn’t this illegal?” he asks, staring at the aircraft. “I’m looking at the plane. It’s delayed till 12:45. It’s 11:00. You’re not letting me get on this flight.”
‘Please Help’
Zulferino says he called United’s customer service and waited on hold for an hour while the plane continued sitting at the gate. Other passengers who arrived after him faced the same denial. The agent, according to Zulferino, showed “zero human decency,” texting on her phone while passengers pleaded for help.
“I’m begging her. Please help me. Something. Can you call someone?” Zulferino recalls. “Nope. Nothing.”
When airport staff from San Francisco arrived, he says they offered no solutions, either. The explanation remained the same: The plane was overweight. No one could explain why extra freight couldn’t be removed or how the weight issue had suddenly materialized.
By 2am, Zulferino says he learned there wouldn’t be another flight for 24 hours. He also says that getting his luggage would take another four to six hours. Zulferino says he spent the night in a hotel on his own dime, bought new clothes at Target, and ordered DoorDash—all expenses United didn’t cover. He missed a major event in Australia, making the entire trip potentially pointless.
“I just couldn’t believe how poorly I was treated,” Zulferino says. “It was so disheartening and honestly, like, shocking.”
As a United platinum member who flies with the airline weekly for work, this wasn’t his first experience with the carrier. But it was certainly his worst.
What To Know About Weight Restrictions On Flights
Weight issues on flights happen more often than passengers realize. Flying is an exact science where the force of lift must counteract gravity to keep an aircraft airborne. And multiple variables affect a plane’s weight, according to Fodor’s:
- Passengers
- Crew
- Baggage
- And fuel
Pilots check load sheets before takeoff and make judgment calls about weight and flying conditions. An overloaded aircraft may struggle to take off or maintain balance in the air. Load distribution matters too since planes can’t be nose-heavy or tail-heavy. Flight attendants sometimes ask passengers to change seats to maintain this balance.
Heat makes the situation worse. Extreme temperatures make it harder for planes to achieve lift, especially at high altitudes. As global temperatures rise, this is becoming a bigger problem for air travel.
Best Way To Not Get Booted
Airlines typically ask for volunteers first when a plane exceeds weight limits, offering compensation to passengers willing to take a later flight. But when no one volunteers, airlines can choose who gets bumped—often passengers with late check-ins, last-minute bookings, or low ticket prices.
The best way to avoid being bumped? Book early and show up early. Passengers who’ve already boarded are less likely to be removed—though it can still happen for safety reasons.
Compensation Rights
The U.S. Department of Transportation explains that passengers bumped involuntarily are eligible for denied boarding compensation.
For planes with more than 60 seats, normal denied boarding compensation applies: passengers delayed 1-2 hours domestically (1-4 hours internationally) receive 200% of their one-way fare, up to $1,075. Delays over 2 hours domestically (over 4 hours internationally) qualify for 400% of the fare, up to $2,150.
Commenters React
“As a retired United F/A, I’m advising you to write corporate a letter. She was definitely on a power trip. Even if it was overweight, that’s not how you treat customers. If I was still flying, you would have been on that flight. United lowered their hiring standards,” a top comment read.
“If a plane is overweight then they need to ask for VOLUNTEERS to take another flight, not deny boarding. Don’t let this go,” a person said.
“So, you spent money to get there, you spent money on a hotel room, clothes, uber, and you lost money on a gig? I’d be so mad,” another wrote.
@fjzulferino @United Airlines …. One of the most disheartening and worst experiences I’ve had flying with you guys . #unitedairlines
BroBible reached out to Zulferino for comment via email and Instagram direct message and United Airlines via email.