Actor and former 'SNL' star slams major airline for his seat downgrade: ‘I paid for first class’
Comedian and actor Jim Breuer has come down hard on a major airline after he said the company downgraded him from a first-class seat to row 18.
During a recent episode of his podcast "Jim Breuer's Breuniverse," the star revealed that he and his wife purchased round-trip tickets from Phoenix to Honolulu and selected first-class seats — but wound up downgraded during the return leg.
Breuer said they'd purchased the tickets about a month and a half in advance.
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"These are thousands of dollars," he said. "I splurged to treat me and my wife."
Breuer told Fox News Digital the situation went beyond a simple seat reassignment. "I can handle not getting my way. What I cannot handle is being lied to," he said. "I paid for first class on American Airlines. I was told it was overbooked. Then I found out it was not."
He continued, "That is where it stopped feeling like a mistake and started feeling like something was taken from me."
On the podcast, he said the airline had confirmed the couple's first-class seat assignments, seats 1D and 1F — and he even received a message from the airline asking them to pre-order their in-flight meals.
"We could have steak, and we could have chicken," he said.
As boarding began in Honolulu, Breuer said they were called to the gate counter.
"We looked at each other, and we're like, ‘What, do we get an upgrade to fly the plane?’" the comedian joked.
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Instead, Breuer said a supervisor informed them their seats had been changed.
The flight was overbooked, he recalled the supervisor telling him. "We just downgraded you to row 18," the worker allegedly said, according to Breuer.
"No, you didn't. You have a crew here," Breuer said he responded to the airline employee.
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"Did you put one of your crew members in my seat?" Breuer continued.
The supervisor, according to Breuer, told the couple he was not able to disclose who had taken the seats.
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Breuer said he was not offered an alternative first-class seat and that he declined to take an option to fly the following day in economy plus.
He said he and his wife ultimately took the flight in their reassigned seats and that he did not sleep during the red-eye trip.
Fox News Digital reached out to American Airlines for comment.
Breuer recounted that he later contacted the airline's customer service department and was told the flight had not been overbooked.
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He said he received a $400 refund and was offered a $500 voucher — which he said did not cover the cost of the first-class seats he had purchased.
"We're up to $900 for two people getting booted out of first class," he said.
Breuer said he continued pressing the issue after initial responses did not resolve his complaint.
"I reached out, I filed complaints — and it was not until I contacted the Department of Transportation that I finally heard from someone. That should not be how a paying customer gets attention," he told Fox News Digital.
Breuer said the experience changed his view of the airline.
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"I truly hope leadership looks at this because I used to trust this airline," he added.
In a later episode of his podcast, he touched on the experience again and said he was "thankful for the call" from the airline — but said the whole experience "still rubbed" him "the wrong way."
He also said, "I'm not demanding anything. … I'm not that person."
He said he just wanted a genuine apology and hoped that others were not also experiencing the same issue. He also wanted the "plate of chicken francaise" from first class that the airline took from him and his wife, he said.
Breuer is well known for his time on "Saturday Night Live" and for his role in the film "Half Baked." He continues to tour nationally as a stand-up comedian and to host his popular podcast.