United Airlines Kicks Woman Off Flying To See Dying Mother

By Sierra Brown

Carrol Amrich was desperate to see her mother after she got a call she was hospitalized Tuesday (Jan. 16). Unfortunately, because a traveling agency canceled her United Airlines ticket minutes before takeoff, she was kicked off the plane, missing the opportunity to say her last goodbye.

New York Daily News reports Amrich’s landlord, Ines Prelas purchased the $585 ticket through Traveler Help Desk and paid another $75 directly through the airline so Amrich could fly standby on an earlier flight upon learning her mother’s conditioned worsened.

After Amrich boarded the plane with ease and took her seat, the gate agent told her that the flight reservation had been canceled and to exit the plane. The New York Times reports the online agency that sold the ticket voided it as a way to protect against fraud because the landlord made the flight changes directly through United instead of through the agency.

Traveler Help Desk argues they tried to contact Amrich “numerous times,” but both Amrich and Prelas said they didn’t hear anything from the agency before she was asked to leave the plane.

Forced to drive 1,000 miles from Pueblo, Colo. to Minnesota without stopping for so much as a bathroom break, Amrich got a call while she was still driving that her mother died, the Daily reports.

United said it refunded her ticket and fees. Amrich told the Times a woman from United’s Chicago headquarters wanted her address so United could send her flowers.

This post United Airlines Kicks Woman Off Flying To See Dying Mother first appeared on Vibe.