TikToker’s Lucrative New Gig: Checking Into Oversold Flights

A TikToker named Susan Berry has stumbled upon an airline hack that has helped her rake in thousands.

“It was a blast, honestly, because I really didn’t want to leave Italy, so I didn’t care,” Berry, who works as a freelance photographer, told the Daily Beast. “Plus, it was nice hotels. I met really fun travelers that I became friends with, so I just had a ball.”

When asked if she’d do it again, Berry said she would “in a heartbeat.” “I would do this forever because I’m not going to turn down anything free ever,” she added.

In a viral video posted to her account this week, Berry explains that her American Airlines flight from Italy to Philadelphia is overbooked until August 15.

“They need someone to volunteer to standby for the flight until then, and every day they get $1200 in travel vouchers, so now I’m up to $2400 because I did it twice,” Berry said in the video. She then asks her audience if she should stay until the 15th and use the potential five figures to travel the world.

Comments under Berry’s post encouraged her to stay and take the vouchers. “Yes you should totally do that. It sounds like a much better story,” one user chimed in. “Yes! If they continue putting you up in a hotel and giving you the vouchers, DO IT!!” another wrote.

A caption on one of her updates clarifies that this is not an infinite arrangement: once room becomes available on a flight, she will be taken off standby and has to return home. That said, there is no limit to the amount of vouchers she can collect.

Follow-up videos show Berry snagging more vouchers. In one video update, she refers to her experience as “camp American Airlines.” She shows viewers her routine of going to the airport, volunteering to be on standby, taking a bus back into Italy, checking into a four-star hotel, and having dinner. In total, Berry scored $3600 worth for the three flights she volunteered to be bumped from.