After posting a tweet complaining about sitting in the "tourist" class section of an American Airlines flight, Andie MacDowell has defended herself against a flurry of social media backlash.
On Friday, MacDowell tweeted a photo of herself with other passengers on her flight. She tagged American Airlines' Twitter handle and added the caption, "HELP I paid for first class & they put me in tourist because of my dog that I pre-booked & paid for."
@AmericanAir HELP I paid for first class & they put me in tourist because of my dog that I pre-booked & paid for pic.twitter.com/KmKX4ZTQqj
— Andie MacDowell (@AndieMacDowell3) January 22, 2016Twitter users were quick to criticize MacDowell's choice of words, which suggested that she thought she was better than the people in coach. MacDowell clarified that she wasn't upset because she had to sit in coach, but because she'd paid for a first-class ticket. The actress blamed a "rude" employee for not letting her sit in first class.
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@AmericanAir there was no excuse why the guy would not just let me ask someone to change seats he had a power trip
— Andie MacDowell (@AndieMacDowell3) January 22, 2016@AmericanAir he said take the seat or don't get on my plane I was there early to ask for help and from the moment I met him he was rude
— Andie MacDowell (@AndieMacDowell3) January 22, 2016MacDowell asked American Airlines to reimburse her for the first-class ticket, suggesting that the ticket money be given to charity. And lest you think MacDowell is "elitist," as some Twitter users argued, she also tweeted that she's "happy taking a bus and preferred dirt roads."
In the end, though, it seems the main takeaway MacDowell had from the ordeal was to "never complain on Twitter."
Lessons learned never,complain on Twitter & don't pay for first class on American Airlines, only express gratitude...can we move on now?
— Andie MacDowell (@AndieMacDowell3) January 24, 2016