16-year-old demands refund for $1500 flight after getting stuck at LAX for 22 hours, dad pockets it because he paid: 'She reacted like she was getting all of it'

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Sep 15, 2026 7:45 PM EDT

He paid the price, but she had the bad experience.

Time and again, flying proves itself to be one of the most undignified forms of transport, even if you can occasionally pay your way into business class. At their worst, airports can be stressful like nowhere else, and an increasing number of airlines have an uncanny way of making you feel less like a passenger and more like an unwieldy piece of cargo. On top of that, they get away with it all, as they are the fastest way to get to most places. They are an integral part of our interconnected modern world.

Still, just because the actual flight is fast doesn't mean the process to get you on the plane and off the ground is going to be. Airport delays are a common occurrence, and they can get super bad under the wrong circumstances. Getting stuck at a gate for hours is nobody's idea of paradise, not least when they just want to get where they are going. It is the kind of experience that can put a person off flying for a long time, no matter what the impracticalities of avoiding it may turn out to be.

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  • A young woman holding a phone and wearing a backpack walking across airport tarmac at dawn.
    via iwin

    A young woman holding a phone and wearing a backpack walking across airport tarmac at dawn. Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
     

  • A dad was happy to pay for flights for his teenage daughter so she could attend a summer school in another country on a scholarship. While her experience was good, she ran into travel delays on the way back, which led to her being stuck at the airport for nearly 24 hours.

    Angry at her uncomfortable experience, she spent months contacting the airline in an attempt to get compensation. She eventually got a refund for the flight, which her dad insisted on taking in full. However, he wondered if he had done something wrong when she expected a share of the money.

  • Am I wrong for not giving my daughter compensation for a flight I paid for?

    So I'm a dad. And my daughter, who is 16, got a scholarship to go to another country for a month over the summer. It was a great scholarship, paid for all the housing, food, etc. However the flight had to come out of pocket. I ended up paying for the whole thing which was 1500 dollars.
    via Winter_Database_270
  • Everything went smoothly however on the trip back is where her connecting flight got cancelled and she was stuck in LAX airport for about 22 hours. The whole situation was pretty bad as she wasn't given any of the accommodations she was supposed to. It was a mess.
    via Winter_Database_270
  • Now, months later after sending in lots of emails the airline gave a full refund for the flight. I told my daughter I got the money back and she reacted like she was getting all of it. Which I explained to her that I paid for the flight so I would be keeping the money they refunded.
    via Winter_Database_270

  • She eventually was resigned to her dad's point of view.

    She did argue back and forth with me for a while but she eventually just gave So am AITA?? Because right now it up. I'm on the fence about whether I'm making the right choice. EDIT: The flight was cancelled for weather but because my daughter was very inconvenienced at the airport the airline agreed to refund the entire flight.
    via Winter_Database_270
  • She was the one who sent in the emails to the airline explaining her experience, which resulted in the refund into my account.
    via Winter_Database_270
  • An aerial view of part of LAX airport.
    via David Syphers

    An aerial view of part of LAX airport. Image for illustrative purposes.
     

  • It was his money.

    Educational_Bar_1809 NTA. You paid for the ticket. Why should she get any of the refunded $$$
    via Educational_Bar_1809
  • FatBearCGN Ok, i get both sides of the problem and yes, while YOU payed the money, SHE payed with time, comfort and lets be honest a lot of stress, as a 16yo far more than you, so both of you payed and so i think both of you should be compensated, so make 50/50 with her.
    via FatBearCGN
  • Over all, you lost NOTHING in the end, you would have been out if the money regardless. Edit: i go with YTA because you are the adult and should at least have considered to share. I cut her some slack, she is a teenager, no matter how responsible.
    via FatBearCGN

  • She deserved financial recognition for the inconvenience.

    Tough Fisherman_4604 Was the refund not basically compensation for being stuck in the airport for so long?
    via Tough_Fisherman_4604
  • LdiJ46 Your daughter was the one who suffered the hardship of being stuck in an airport for 22 hours without accommodations. Shouldn't she be the one getting some compensation for her hardship? After all, you didn't suffer any hardship or lose anything.
    via LdiJ46
  • TemporaryOwlet YTA She did all the job to get money back and you just... pocketed everything? Be fair: without her emailing airline there would be no refund. You omitted this information which prompted strangers to see your daughter as ah and call her names. Are you proud?
    via TemporaryOwlet

  • The dad didn't go through the ordeal.

    NotAgain801 YTA, give her a portion for the sh day of travel. You're not the one that suffered and that's what the refund was for.
    via NotAgain801
  • Outrageous-Arm 1945 YTA. Why did you get the refund? How were YOU inconvenienced by the delay? Your daughter earned that refund sat around hungry and thirsty for a day
    via Outrageous-Arm1945
  • Hangerhead1 You paid and happily, but your daughter was the one who went through all the discomfort, delay and 22hrs stuck in another airport. The refund would be for service not received. You were never the intended recipient. So I can see your daughter's pov. On the other hand, as the purchaser, you probably feel some ownership on the money paid.
    via Hangerhead1

  • They both had a stake in the issue.

    Remarkable_Inchworm Well... You bought the ticket for her. And you got a refund because she was horribly inconvenienced.
    via Remarkable_Inchworm
  • It's sort of like... I buy you a phone and give it to you. But the phone doesn't work properly, so the company issues a refund. Do I get that refund because I made the purchase? Or do you get the refund because I gave the phone to you? I'm not saying she should get all that money, but it's not hard to see why she thinks she should.
    via Remarkable_Inchworm
  • Repulsive_Tone_2484 YTA. The compensation was for the inconvenience of being left in an airport for 22 hours without any accommodation. You were not inconvenienced at all, so why do you think you are entitled to the money?
    via Repulsive_Tone_2484
  • nosleeptillwooklyn Sometimes I wonder why you guys become parents in the first place daughter works hard to - get a cool scholarship opportunity and you and anti social children hating idiots who are going to di alone here are just worried about who's money it is. losers
    via nosleeptillwooklyn

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flight raising teens compensation Parenting Fail
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