A lawyer who specializes in finances has gained over 30 million views online with her advice on how to claim back thousands in compensation from an airline.
In two months, Erika Kullberg has gained over 6 million followers on TikTok, where she often advises people on tips and tricks to one-up companies. Kullberg is a lawyer and founded startup Plug and Law, where they draft legal agreements including policies and disclaimers for small companies—meaning she's well-rehearsed with reading the fine print.
It's exactly that skill she used to show her viewers how they could claim back large amounts of money from an airline if they're denied a seat on a flight because of overselling.
In the post, Kullberg role-played the situation, acting as both the passenger and the airline. She explained in the video how passengers could bag themselves four times the cost of their ticket if they're bumped from a flight, causing more than a two hour delay.
"According to the Department of Transportation, since the next flight you can get me on results in over a two-hour delay, I'm entitled to four times the cost of my one-way fare. I paid $250 for the one-way fare, so that will be $1,000," she said.
@erikakullberg What airlines don’t want you to know about getting “bumped” 🤯 #lawyer #travel #money
♬ original sound - Money Lawyer Erika
The video can also be viewed here.
Kullberg is right too. Bumping is officially referred to as involuntary denied boarding and is entirely legal for an airline to do. Often, airlines will oversell flight tickets, expecting that they will receive no-shows. According to the Department of Transportation (DOT), they usually correctly predict no-shows, meaning no seats are actually affected, but when they are, you can claim compensation.
Airlines will first ask if any passengers are willing to voluntarily give up their seat in exchange for compensation, but if no one does, they are able to bump people.
According to the DOT website, if being bumped onto another flight means you are delayed one to two hours after your original arrival time, you're entitled to 200 percent of your ticket cost, with a $775 cap.
If you're delayed for more than two hours, you can receive 400 percent of the fee, capped at $1,550.
Compensation is only required if you were required to give up the seat and had already checked in and arrived at the gate on time.
There are some occasions when no compensation will be offered, including if you were bumped because of an aircraft change, weight or balance restrictions, flights on small aircrafts and flights departing from a foreign country.
Despite this video being Kullberg's most popular by a mile, her videos have achieved incredible success in just a short amount of time. Like this post, they often capture a fictional situation in which the customer pulls out a "gotcha" card at the company.
"They don't know that I know this," she tells the camera each time.
"Erika did, she's a lawyer and reads the fine print, so I don't have to," the customer character replies to being asked how they learnt the handy trick. "That's why I follow her."
The video format became so recognizable that it became a popular meme on the app, with users making parodies of the video with completely in-effective tips and tricks.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
