Influencer Demands Free Upgrade: You Won’t Believe What Happened Next

① Influencer Marketing Active

With the rise of influencer marketing on social media, people are also highlighting the associated issues. Nowadays, many individuals engage in influencer activities centered around social media. When requesting influencer advertisements, many cases involve charging tens of thousands to millions of dollars for a single photo. Influencer marketing is also being carried out in the travel industry, where hotels, resorts, restaurants, and airlines provide influencers with free flights or accommodations in exchange for promotion on social media. The social media posts of influencers have a significant impact. However, some influencers’ actions raise eyebrows.

Hotels, resorts, restaurants, and airlines in the travel industry often provide influencers with free flights or accommodations in exchange for promotion on social media.

The social media posts of influencers have a significant impact. However, some influencers’ actions raise eyebrows.

Jacqueline Ng, an influencer with over 50,000 followers, demanded a free seat upgrade from an airline.
She was scheduled to board a Cathay Pacific passenger plane from Hong Kong to New York. Jacqueline Ng sent an email to the airline and received a positive response.

Cathay Pacific responded, “Jacqueline Ng, thank you for informing us of your plans for the flight from Hong Kong to New York. As a social media influencer, we sincerely welcome you aboard our plane and hope you have a pleasant flight.” They continued, “Due to your social network, we want to upgrade you to Business Class. If there are seats available, we will upgrade your ticket. We kindly request that you document your experience on our flight and use hashtags #MOVEBEYOND and #CATHAYCREATORS.”

Jacqueline Ng showed the email she received from the airline to the check-in counter and requested a seat upgrade before boarding. However, she did not receive the upgrade and ended up boarding the originally booked Premium Economy seat in New York.

② Demand for Flight Seat Upgrade

Jacqueline Ng did not give up easily. When returning from New York to Hong Kong, she presented the same email at the check-in counter. The staff asked her to wait and checked the email.

It turned out that Jacqueline Ng had manipulated the email to receive a seat upgrade. The airline prevented her from boarding the flight and announced a ban on her boarding any Cathay Pacific flights.

Unable to board the airline, Jacqueline Ng had no choice but to take another flight. After returning to Hong Kong, she demanded compensation for the amount she had paid for the reserved ticket from the airline. She repeatedly claimed that the email was not manipulated.

However, the airline determined that the email in Hong Kong and in New York were different. They found the reference numbers were the same, but the employee listed as the recipient had never sent the email. They concluded that the email had been manipulated.

When Jacqueline Ng expressed her unfairness, the airline requested to see the email’s metadata. She refused to disclose the metadata and threatened to sue the airline. She claimed that Cathay Pacific had mistreated her and that the email was not manipulated.

Netizens responded negatively to Jacqueline Ng’s claims. There were demands to disclose the email’s metadata, but Jacqueline refused to provide any information. The outcome of this incident is unknown. With over 50,000 followers, Jacqueline Ng continues engaging as an influencer. Netizens expressed negative opinions about influencers using their social media accounts to make unreasonable demands.

③ Social Media Marketing

According to the influencer statistics site Noks Influencer, there are over 90,000 Instagram influencers in Korea with over 10,000 followers and over 460 influencers with over 1 million followers. Influencer marketing is active in Korea, where the influence of influencers has become a lucrative business. However, influencer marketing has dark sides, such as controversies over undisclosed advertisements, copyright issues, and tax evasion. Additionally, some influencers exhibit unprofessional behavior, such as being unresponsive after receiving advertisements or not adhering to agreed-upon schedules. This can damage the brand’s image and lead to the termination of contracts.

As the era of influencer influence grows, influencers need to take responsibility.

By. Han Mia (miumia___12@mememedia.co.kr)