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When no one else booked the same flight, two women inadvertently secured a “private jet.”
The duo was travelling to Phoenix, Arizona. (Courtesy: Instagram/natalie.wolfley)
Two college students received VIP treatment on the cheap thanks to a booking error that resulted in them having an entire Southwest flight to themselves. They were able to travel privately for the cost of an economy-class ticket.
In a video that has received over 4.8 million views on TikTok, the duo described their unplanned fly-rolling experience. Since it was posted on Instagram on February 24, the video has received over 4,000 views so far.
“We were just giddy, like so excited. We were like we were VIP. This is our plane,” one member of the fortunate pair, Natalie Wolfley, told Salt Lake City’s Fox 13.
According to ABC4.com, on February 21, she and her closest friend Savannah Sargent experienced the “once in a lifetime experience” while travelling from Utah to Arizona, the duo’s home state, for Sargent’s bridal shower.
A Southwest employee told the students they had a “chartered plane” while they were checking their luggage at the Salt Lake City airport, which they initially thought was a prank.
“We were so confused and we just thought he was kidding because that never happens,” Sargent said as quoted by ABC4. But when the employee flipped the screen and revealed that “there were only two tickets bought versus the 175 seats on the plane,” the travelling companions knew this was the real deal, she recalled.
Sargent and Wolfley said it was unreal to be the only passengers on the flight, but they claimed it allowed them to enjoy a lot more “personal touch” than they would have on a typical commercial flight.
As shown in the video, the mile-high rollers were given special attention during the flight announcements and were even allowed to sit in the cockpit. “I think the coolest part about the experience was just that personal connection that we were able to have with the crew members, with the team, with the pilot,” elated Wolfley told ABC4.
The duo, who attend different schools in Utah but were raised in the Copper State, were also flying home together for the first time. The two allegedly shared a cake from Salt Lake’s Gourmandise Bakery, which Sargent customarily visits each time she departs the airport, to make the occasion more festive.
Most importantly, the VIPs were reportedly free to speak loudly and for as long as they wanted when there were no other passengers on board. “No one’s going to hear us. We’re going to be 10,000 feet in the air, yapping away,” Wolfley excitedly said in the video.
The fact that the college girls effectively got to fly private for a commercial fee reportedly made TikTok users with limited funds jealous.
A user lamented, “It’s tough watching someone else live your dream.”
Another wrote, “This would be my fun fact for the rest of time.”
“What a cool pilot!! I bet this will be a memory you think about forever,” fawned a user on social media.