Hu Dongcheng, 19, a student at Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, had booked a Hainan Airlines flight from Shenzhen to Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia, scheduled to depart at 7:40 a.m. on April 3, Chinese news site Sixth Tone reported.
About a week before departure, the airline informed him that the flight would instead leave at 7:30 a.m. due to operational reasons.
Hu said the earlier departure also brought forward the check-in and boarding deadlines, forcing him to book a hotel near Shenzhen Airport the night before to avoid missing the flight.
The hotel cost him 100 yuan (US$15), he wrote on lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote.
"I asked for a refund, a free ticket change, or reimbursement for my hotel and taxi expenses, but the airline refused," Hu said in an interview on June 25.
