A United Airlines passenger has described her “nightmare storytime” regarding a recent trip from Texas to Brussels, Belgium.
One thing going wrong during a trip is bad enough. But according to TikTok creator Riss (@riss.net), two major issues happened in the same journey, and she says the responsibility falls directly on the airline.
In her video, which has gotten over 41,600 views, Riss says she first traveled from Houston to Washington to make her connecting flight to Brussels. She had brought only a carry-on to make sure nothing got lost. Yet, according to her, that is exactly what happened.
What Went Awry On The Washington-To-Brussels Flight?
Riss says she made it to Washington and boarded her United Airlines flight to Brussels. Then, as she was getting on the plane, a flight attendant allegedly told her there was no space left in the overhead bins.
“The sassy, attitude-fueled flight attendant tells me that the upper compartments are full, and there’s no room for my carry-on suitcase,” Riss says.
According to the TikToker, the flight attendant took the suitcase from her and said it would have to be checked.
“They didn’t give me any baggage number,” she says. “No information on where my bag was going.”
When she landed in Brussels, the suitcase was not there.
“Lo and behold, surprise to no one, my luggage is not there,” Riss says. “My suitcase was essentially taken off of the airplane in Washington and left, I guess, in Washington.”
Riss says she packed everything in that carry-on. “I lost all of my jewelry,” she says. “Every single piece of nice jewelry, all of my makeup, all of my festival outfits, all of my skincare was in that suitcase.”
She says there was no AirTag in the bag because she had planned to keep it with her. “Why? Because it was a carry-on,” she says.
Then, according to her, staff found something even stranger in the system. Once the suitcase was taken off the plane, someone allegedly registered a bag tag number for it. Six minutes later, she says, the system showed that someone had deleted that bag tag number.
“So now there’s no way to track my bag,” she says.
Riss says she was then told the only way to find the suitcase was by identifying how it looked.
Unfortunately, “it’s a plain black suitcase,” she says.
Her Return Trip Went Wrong, Too
On Monday, she says she left Brussels and flew back to Chicago. That trip also went sideways.
After the nine-hour flight, Riss says storms in Chicago stopped flights from landing and taking off. Her plane circled O’Hare for about an hour before diverting to RFD, or Chicago Rockford International Airport.
Once there, passengers waited on the plane for about two more hours while the aircraft refueled and the storms calmed down, according to her.
Eventually, the flight made it to Chicago. But by then, Riss had missed her connecting flight to Houston.
“All of the flights from Chicago to Houston were delayed, delayed, delayed, cancelled, cancelled, cancelled,” she says.
She says she sat at O’Hare from around 2 p.m. until after midnight, hoping to make the last Houston flight of the day.
At first, it looked like she might finally get home. Then the crew timed out.
“They get on the announcement: ‘Sorry, you guys. The crew has timed out,’” Riss says.
A new crew eventually arrived, but then passengers allegedly learned the plane could not take off within the remaining legal window. So the flight was canceled anyway.
“I’ve just sat on the plane till 1 a.m. in Chicago for nothing,” she says.
She Had To Buy More Flights And A $750 Hotel Room
At that point, Riss says she started checking other flight options. She heard other passengers say there were no flights the next day from Chicago to Houston on any airline, so she booked the last available Southwest flight for Tuesday evening.
She says United’s Tuesday flights were already booked, and its Wednesday flights from Chicago to Houston were priced around $1,200.
Riss ended up buying three additional flights because she did not trust the situation anymore.
“I hope I can get home on Tuesday,” she says. “But after these travel nightmare situations, if I have to go home on Wednesday, I want to at least have a flight booked.”
Because of the storms and cancellations, she says all nearby hotels were booked. She called more than 17 hotels and could not find availability.
“There’s a ton of people sleeping in the airport in Chicago,” she says.
At that point, Riss says she had been traveling for more than 24 hours and had been in the Chicago airport for around 12 hours. She did not feel safe sleeping there, so she booked one room she found at the Hoxton in downtown Chicago.
The price was $750.
“I bit the bullet,” she says. “I just paid the $750 to go sleep at a hotel at 2:30 in the morning.”
According to Riss, United said it would not reimburse hotel costs because the disruption was weather-related. The claim process for her bag, according to her, could take four weeks or more.
“Little to say, I will never be flying United again,” Riss says.
She says Southwest eventually got her home around midnight Tuesday, even though she was supposed to arrive Monday at 5 p.m.
“@United Airlines absolutely insane,” she wrote in the caption. “Never flying with you again!”
Has This Happened To Other United Passengers?
Similar stories do exist online.
In one r/unitedairlines post, a passenger said United forced them to gate-check a carry-on, then later showed the bag had been rerouted through another flight arriving five hours later.
“I specifically paid for a carry-on because I needed to have it with me as soon as I was off the plane,” the passenger wrote.
They said they boarded in Group 3 and were told to gate-check the bag anyway. Then, after landing, the app allegedly updated to show the bag had been placed on another connecting flight.
“I just want to go to my hotel,” the passenger wrote, adding that they needed the bag for work early the next morning.
Another r/unitedairlines user posted a similar warning after voluntarily checking a carry-on at the gate and then realizing it never made the flight.
“I handed it off right at the jet bridge, assuming it would be loaded onto the same plane,” they wrote. “It wasn’t.”
That passenger said the bag arrived on a later flight but then sat at Chicago O’Hare for two days, despite multiple calls.
To make matters worse, they said the bag contained their child’s essentials.
Viewers Shared Advice And Their Own Stories
In the comments, some viewers told Riss to identify the flight attendant who took the bag.
“I would try to get the name of the flight attendant that took your bag & at least report her,” one commenter wrote.
Another viewer claimed United had deleted something from their own travel record after a conflict over a carry-on.
“They have a habit of deleting things in their system,” they wrote. “My husband and I were flying to Puerto Rico on United in 2022. The flight attendant told him there was no space for his carryon and tried to take the bag.”
The commenter said their husband refused because the bag contained her engagement ring, his drone, and other expensive items. According to them, the airline later had no record of his ticket for their connecting flight, even though he had a printed boarding pass.
“She deliberately deleted his ticket,” they claimed.
Someone else suggested checking whether her credit card offered coverage.
“Not sure which cc you used to book the flight but I know amex plat and chase sapphire both have reimbursement policies for lost luggage up to a few thousand dollars so you could get at least some money back,” they wrote.
Because Riss flew internationally, her missing-bag claim would likely fall under the Montreal Convention, which covers lost, delayed, or damaged baggage on most international flights.
United Airlines says the current baggage liability limit under the Montreal Convention is 1,519 Special Drawing Rights, or about $2,175, per passenger.
@riss.net @United Airlines absolutely insane. Never flying with you again! #travel #united #unitedairlines #southwestairlines #ihateunited
BroBible has contacted United Airlines and Riss via email for comment.