'Put Him On No Fly List': Influencer Sarthak Sachdeva Faces Backlash For Using Fake Injury To Get Business Class Upgrade On Air India

Instagram influencer Sarthak Sachdeva, who has over 1.7 million followers on the platform, is facing backlash online for allegedly faking an injury to get a business class upgrade on an Air India flight.

A clip that has gone viral on X and Instagram shows Sachdeva wearing a neck brace and an arm sling before arriving at the Air India counter and asking a representative to upgrade his ticket to business class. After checking with her seniors, the woman at the counter upgraded his ticket. Following the upgrade, he received luxury seating and claimed to have got unlimited free food.

At the end of the clip, he described it as a social experiment.

However, the stunt did not go down well with a section of social media users, who called it fraud and demanded action against the influencer.

X user Nalini Unagar wrote, “This is Sarthak Sachdeva. He allegedly faked a hand injury, went to the Air India counter and asked if he could get a free upgrade to first class because of the injury. Air India upgraded him all the way to business class. Premium seat, complimentary food. Now he is saying it was a social experiment. But fraud is fraud. If people start doing this and still get rewarded, many others will copy it. Airline staff may stop trusting real passengers who actually need help. Air India should charge him for the upgrade and make it clear this is not okay.”

“From road transport to trains and now flights. He is Sarthak Sachdeva, and because of his content, look how he is exploiting the system. Shameful,” another user wrote.

A third user wrote, “Bro, that’s not an experiment, that’s straight-up fraud. Air India should bill him for the difference and make an example out of this. If airlines start rewarding these stunts, genuine passengers with real injuries will suffer. Stop glorifying deception for views.”

“Please put Sarthak Sachdeva on a no-fly list for good,” another user commented.