You’re undoubtedly aware of the FAA temporarily closing off airspace over the Caribbean the past few days, in the wake of the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
What happened (and why flights got cancelled)
In all, 425 flights in and out of the Caribbean were cancelled on Saturday, leaving would-be passengers stranded in Puerto Rico, Aruba, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbados, St. Thomas, etc.
As is the case with any aviation meltdown, regardless of who or what caused it, people missed important life events such as weddings and birthday parties, or even just going back to work on Monday. To say nothing of vacations…in fact, a Virgin Voyages ship sailing out of San Juan on Sunday was supposed to be at capacity, but roughly 25% of the ship’s passengers missed embarkation because their flights into San Juan were cancelled.
Enter TikTok: “Stranded” in St. Barths
Meanwhile, over on TikTok, rich vacationers on St. Barths began complaining they were “stranded” by the invasion of Venezuela and resulting closed airspace.
@parkaveprincesss2 Manifested not leaving a little to hard and now we’re stuck in st BARTHS ugh what a drag #stbarths #stuckinstbarths #airspacealert #airspaceclosed
The video appeared to be done tongue-in-cheek, but the amount of sympathy from average TikTokers who saw it was, well, not much.
- “there’s people stuck in st. bart’s…and there’s people who can’t afford insulin…” — Michelle B
- “The top 1% complaining of being stuck on vacation is hilarious” — Alek Kornwebel
- “God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers 😪😪😪” — silly sacks #1 fan AKA farah
- “If ‘out of touch’ was a TikTok post” — Tonya Marie
Then the response videos rolled in
Travelwithlivii sent their own video in return. It shows a travel agent pacing in her high-end suite, explaining to what was undoubtedly an overwhelmed airline worker about why her clients need to fly back home.
“I understand where you’re coming from,” she claimed on the phone, “but I have terrified clients, I have kids that need to be back in school by Monday, so we need a solution.”
@travelwithlivii
And then a TikTokker WENT OFF on travelwithlivii, with a real-life reminder of what many non-billionaire Americans were dealing with:
@mrwilliamsprek I hope these billionaires will be okay. 😔 #vacation #parentsoftiktok #momtok #billionaires
Again, the original video appeared to be done tongue-in-cheek and at least some of the TikTokkers appeared to realize that:
- “I’m not bagging on the rich people who know it’s silly to complain about being stuck on their vacation so yes this is actually funny. enjoy your extended vacay self aware bbys” — Claire
- “I have a feeling this was a joke you guys” — Kate.lee<3
Airspace was reopened on Sunday, but because flights were now backed up, it took some time for @parkaveprincesss2 to finally get “sprung” from St. Barths.
@parkaveprincesss2 I MADE IT OUT AHHHHHH #stbarths #venezuela #imfree
And all was right in the world. Well, in the world of billionaires.
What about the rest of us?
Of course, those of us who are not 1%ers are also having trouble getting back home. The Wall Street Journal ran a piece yesterday about several, shall we say, “not wealthy” people who are trying to get back from their respective trips to Puerto Rico. They’re people who are taking unpaid leave until they can get a flight back home – during a time when so many families are living paycheck to paycheck. One person they interviewed said they can’t get on a flight until this coming Saturday – a full week after their original flight was scheduled to depart.
Of course, their friends are teasing them – according to the WSJ, a stranded vacationer named Synda Clemnts told them that, “some of her friends back home aren’t too sympathetic. She’s getting messages along the lines of “Boo hoo, you’re stuck on an island.”
But San Juan isn’t St. Barths. And someone who scrimps and saves to go on a one-week vacation once a year, and is then stuck with the expenses of two weeks’ worth of hotel and food, isn’t the same as someone who’s now spending a few extra days at Le Barthélemy Hotel & Spa. Especially when travel insurance may or may not reimburse because no one’s quite yet sure if this whole mess was considered to be due to an “act of war” or not.
Good times.
But for the billionaires? The world is apparently saying, “Boo hoo,” with a side(eye) of “My lobster’s too buttery, my steak is too juicy.”
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