• A 15-member bachelorette party intended to fly from Sacramento to Cabo San Lucas to celebrate, but they got stranded during a stopover in Phoenix.
  • According to the bride, her mother hadn’t flown in 20 years and was nervous, so she had some alcohol before the first flight and became nauseous upon landing.
  • She said an American Airlines staff member called the bride’s mom unfit to fly the second leg of the journey – and then banned the group after someone else questioned that decision.
  • The bachelorette party drove to Tucson and completed their trip to Cabo the next day – and American Airlines issued both a partial refund and an official statement.

A group of 15 women intended to fly from Sacramento to Cabo San Lucas for a bachelorette party, but wound up stranded in Phoenix after they were banned from boarding the second leg of their flight.

Bride Alyssa Zayas told ABC 15 that her mom hadn’t flown in over 20 years, so she had a few drinks before the first leg of the American Airlines flight from Sacramento to Phoenix to calm her nerves.

As the first flight landed, Zayas’ mom felt nauseous and used an air sickness bag, Zayas said. After the group got off the plane, Zayas said that an American Airlines staffer said that her mom could not board the next flight due to “visible signs of intoxication.”

Someone else in the group apparently questioned that decision, which resulted in the whole group being banned and deemed “unruly,” according to Zayas.

One of the bridesmaids, Amber Granlund, told Fox 40 news, “The bride’s mom doesn’t do the greatest with traveling. She’s in her 50s, almost 60s.”

Granlund recounted her tale in a Facebook post, writing, “This flying bride tribe just got grounded…….. we are banned from flying and currently stuck in Arizona with no way to get home or to Cabo to try and rectify this bachelorette weekend ……. we had a tribe member feel sick and used her air sickness bag to help ease her anxiety while landing and that dubbed her ” intoxicated ” and unable to fly ….. then when the remaining 14 of us girls were dumbfounded as she was perfectly fine and we questioned the AA customer service manager why she couldn’t fly she threatened to ban us all and then proceeded to tell us (including those that were not even around) we no longer were allowed to fly.”

American Airlines said in a statement to INSIDER:

“A passenger was traveling on American Airlines from Sacramento to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, was denied travel on their connecting flight in Phoenix due to visible intoxication at the gate. FAA regulations prohibit U.S. carriers from boarding an intoxicated passenger. After this decision was made, several other members of their group became irate and posed a safety risk to crew members and other passengers. These passengers were subsequently denied travel on this flight. Our Phoenix team advised the group they will be rebooked on another flight, provided they no longer pose a safety issue for our crew members and passengers.”

Bridesmaid Amber Granlund called the statement “ridiculous” in a Facebook post.

Speaking to ABC 15, the bridal party said that neither the airline’s staff nor Phoenix policewho were called to the scene asked about Zayas’ mother’s alcohol consumption or administered a breathalyzer test.

According to Fox 40, the trip for all 15 women cost a combined total of $30,000.

Granlund wrote on Facebook that the trips were purchased through Costco, and said that the company did not help them or refund their money when she called while they were stranded in Phoenix. She also wrote that it would cost an additional $15,000 for the group to have a single day’s delay in arriving at their destination.

Costco did not immediately respond to INSIDER’s request for comment.

Seven hours later, Granlund wrote that some AA managers decided to refund their future flights but would not allow them to complete their current trip.

After a night spent sleeping in the Phoenix airport, Granlund wrote that the group planned to drive to Tucson to fly out to Cabo the next day.