# If Your Flight Is Overbooked, Don't Volunteer to Get Bumped



## NWTRVLRS (Aug 4, 2015)

Thought you might find this interesting 

http://lifehacker.com/if-your-flight-is-overbooked-dont-volunteer-to-get-bum-1722036179


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## VegasBella (Aug 4, 2015)

Wow, I never knew any of this. Thank you for sharing.


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## tschwa2 (Aug 4, 2015)

Problem is usually someone is willing to volunteer and if you want the compensation it isn't very likely that no one will volunteer and you will be the one chosen.


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## b2bailey (Aug 4, 2015)

_Instead, be one of those passengers involuntarily denied boarding and receive much more in compensation._

I am thinking it would be difficult to be one of this group. First, I'd have to give up my assigned seat with the 'hope' that I was going to be one of those bumped. If not bumped, I'd end up in a middle seat for sure. I have volunteered to be 'bumped' several times and I am content with a free round-trip ticket for another time.


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## Weimaraner (Aug 4, 2015)

A couple years ago we were on a Delta flight during spring break to get home to Detroit. They kept upping the $$ and no volunteers. Finally it reached $1200, a flight to Chicago (no flights left to DTW), a hotel room and flight home next day. Never heard of such a generous offer. My DH wanted us to take it but we had work and school commitments. We were a little jealous of the people who took it and it was voluntary.


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## dioxide45 (Aug 4, 2015)

If you don't volunteer, what are the chances you will be the one picked to be involuntarily denied boarding. Volunteer and have a 100% chance of getting compensation or chance it and have a 1 in 200 chance. I will take the better odds.


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 4, 2015)

I book my flights months in advance. And I always ask when I get to the gate ... if the flight is overbooked. I am real good at getting "bump" and compensated. 

My nephew and I volunteered on the way to Orlando Saturday of MLK weekend. My flight was $105 and nephew's was a FF ticket. He walked away with $400 flight voucher and I got $405. We caught the next nonstop down 2.5 hours later. 

For this flight, I asked at the gate right after we walked up and the gate agent told me, "flight is NOT overbooked" and I politely asked to please check. She resisted and I asked again; the look on her face was priceless as she said it was OVERBOOKED by 7 people.


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## falmouth3 (Aug 4, 2015)

A ticket agent in Manchester, NH once told me that some people book the earliest flight out of MHT for the first Saturday of Winter break, then volunteer for bumped multiple times during the day. They get cash compensation or free flights over and over again.  Finally they catch a flight to their destination.  Sounds like a plan if you're willing to do it.  

I do rarely volunteer for a bump if the compensation is worth it but not when I'm traveling with someone.


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## NWTRVLRS (Aug 4, 2015)

falmouth3 said:


> A ticket agent in Manchester, NH once told me that some people book the earliest flight out of MHT for the first Saturday of Winter break, then volunteer for bumped multiple times during the day. They get cash compensation or free flights over and over again.  Finally they catch a flight to their destination.  Sounds like a plan if you're willing to do it.
> 
> I do rarely volunteer for a bump if the compensation is worth it but not when I'm traveling with someone.




At one time (i.e. much younger), this would have been fun... but now... not so much - LOL!


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## Monykalyn (Aug 4, 2015)

The only time I volunteered to be bumped from a flight I was with friends-3 of the 4 of us volunteered-as it turned out we got on the same flight-but in first class! Great flight home


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## NWTRVLRS (Aug 4, 2015)

Monykalyn said:


> The only time I volunteered to be bumped from a flight I was with friends-3 of the 4 of us volunteered-as it turned out we got on the same flight-but in first class! Great flight home



Wow!  That is pretty incredible!


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## Rumpled (Aug 5, 2015)

I've gone for the voluntary bump a number of times. Usually SFO-SNA. I usually don't go for it on my way to my destination; but almost always on my way home. Sometimes I get to the same place only an hour is so later, with my trip paid for by the airline. Once I got bumped off the last flight leaving SFO-SNA on a Sunday night. Was given a room, dinner, breakfast, $400 credit and Business Class on the first flight Monday morning. 
Made it to work on time, trip paid for and a few free meals - not a bad deal.


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## Talent312 (Aug 5, 2015)

Once, we were flying into Asheville and volunteered to be bumped.
They flew us to Tri-Cities (NE Tennessee) instead and gave us the usual free R/T.
They then hired transport to drive us a few hours thru the mountains to Asheville.
_... Free sightseeing tour._


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## pedro47 (Aug 5, 2015)

NWTRVLRS said:


> Thought you might find this interesting
> 
> http://lifehacker.com/if-your-flight-is-overbooked-dont-volunteer-to-get-bum-1722036179



Thanks for sharing this information.


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## Dori (Aug 5, 2015)

When we fly, I always ask at the gate if they are overbooked. We have received numerous free flights and cash in the past. Once, we even received 2 free flights each, when a planeload of people catching a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale needed seats. That was great!

Dori


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## Timeshare Von (Aug 5, 2015)

Back when I was a frequent business traveler, I often took the bump.

Me and three other people did the multiple bump from Detroit to Milwaukee on a Sunday, starting with an 11a flight, and getting 2 or 3 more . . . and still got into Milwaukee by midnight.  The total rake per person was $1,100.  That was on Northwest back in 1995, and I used my vouchers for a trip to Germany the following spring.  The airlines are better at not booking volunteers on "the next flight" which may also be oversold.  It has never happened for me since.

A word of caution about checking in online and being asked if you are willing to accept "denied boarding compensation" because your flight is oversold.  I did that last summer flying out of Jackson, MS on Delta.  They ask how much you are willing to accept, and as long as it is at least no more than what they will initially offer at the gate, they will accept "your price" and you will get the bump.  The downside is that if they end up going over your price, that is still all you will receive.

It used to be that if you volunteered at the airport when they offered let's say $300, but they eventually had to go to $500 . . . EVERYONE got the $500.  But that doesn't apply with the check-in process and setting your price.  In Jackson, I said I'd take the bump for $300, they did get to $500, and I was out of luck.  Even worse, the gate agent at Jackson really botched my rebooking process but that is another story for another day.

For the most part, taking the voluntary bump can be very dicey.  Because they can tell you one thing at the gate about when they can get you to your final destination, but in the time it takes for them to board the flight and do the paperwork, the rebooking could be delayed enough to cost you the ability to get the new flights you were initially told you'd get.  I had one set of flights that had me getting home around 4pm.  The rebooking was going to have me in at 8pm, so no worries.  But by the time they got to actually rebooking me, that set of flights were gone and that particular airline would not use others to get their passengers tot heir final destination . . . I was stuck until the next morning!  NO BUENO!

Last story . . .  if an airline KNOWS that their flight in a connecting hub is oversold, they will intentionally delay passengers coming in so that they can deny and not compensate based on the 15 minute boarding rules.  It happened to me and a business travel companion, flying from Milwaukee through Memphis and on to Kansas City.

We left Milwaukee EARLY . . . and arrived at Memphis 30 minutes late.  With a 45 minute connection and only having to walk down two gates on the same concourse, we walked up to the gate 10 minutes before the posted departure time.  They had already buttoned up the flight, door was closed.

When we asked about our connection and the time, the gate agent said the flight was oversold, we were not there 15 minutes before the scheduled departure and our seats were given to the next ticketed passengers w/o assigned seats.  Told we would not receive compensation, we were further told the earliest they could get us into KC was like 7pm that evening.  (Our original schedule had us there by noon for meetings scheduled to start at 2pm.)

Totally not acceptable but they were unwilling to do ANYthing more to help us out.  I ended up figuring out a way to get to Wichita, KS . . . rent a car and get to KC around 5pm . . . including the drive from Wichita to KC.  We totally missed that day's meeting, but made the dinner event.

It was a colossal hassle and Delta was useless in trying to help us out.  Worse for my travel companion, his luggage was lost in all of the hub-bub and he had to buy clothes for the meeting the next day.  He finally got his stuff on the day we were scheduled to depart KC.


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## hhoope01 (Aug 5, 2015)

The article, while it has some interesting info around how NOT to get bumped, never mentions how one would position themselves to get an involuntary bump.    I know for American, if you have a seat assignment, you are pretty much safe from one.  I would suspect most other airlines are similar as they all will overbook and those "overbooked" persons are the ones most likely to be involuntarily left behind.  Also, you would not want to give the airline your FF #, especially if you are an elite with them as they will most likely want to leave behind someone who doesn't travel with them very often.

But as most here have noted, voluntary bumping is much more common (though even that is less common than it used to be as airlines have much more sophisticated seat ticketing algorithms to estimate how many no-shows will occur for a flight.)    

But it still happens.  I took my daughter to Orlando last Halloween.  We had tickets back home on Saturday, Nov. 1st on an early morning flight, but it was over booked.  We both received $300 credit vouchers to take the next flight out.  It turned out to be even more overbooked and we each received another $500 credit voucher to take the next flight out which also was over booked.  We received $300 credit vouchers for another flight after that as well.  All told we finally got home that evening with $1400 in credit vouchers each.  I still haven't used up all those vouchers, but it they have funded a couple of family trips to Colorado, Florida and even to Nashville to visit relatives.


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## MichaelColey (Aug 5, 2015)

Like pretty much everyone responding here, I disagree with the article.

If I don't want bumped, I don't want bumped for ANY price.  (Or at least not any price they would offer.)

If I DO want bumped, I want the highest chance of being bumped.  Waiting for an involuntary bump is VERY low odds.  As the charts in the article indicate, the airline with the highest IDB rate is Delta, but it's 0.151%.  Basically one chance in 600.  I'd rather VOLUNTEER (or step up when they start asking and get to the price I'm willing to take) and have a far higher chance of getting bumped.

Plus, we usually book cheap flights.  One flight where we volunteered to be bumped, we had only paid about $100 for the tickets.  Depending on the delay, we would have received $200 or $400 for IDB, but I think we got more than that.

If we would consider a bump, we decide in advance an amount we would be willing to take.  If they look for volunteers and offer at least that much, we jump on it.  Usually, we're much more willing to accept a bump COMING BACK from vacation than going to it.


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## Pat H (Aug 5, 2015)

And as savvy Tuggers know, it's always good to know your options ahead of time. A couple of yrs ago, I was scheduled to fly SAV-IAD-ABE in Dec on a Friday. Previous experience of being on the last IAD-ABE flight of the day suggested a good chance that flight would be cancelled. In addition a huge snowstorm was expected in the DC area on Sat. 

Checked what other flights were available and tried to change thru ORD (no weather problems there) instead but UA wouldn't do it for free. When I got to the gate SAV-IAD was full and then they needed to get a crew of 3 to DC. No one would volunteer. The ORD flight had been delayed and was still there. Went to GA and told him I would take a bump IF they would give me vouchers and could get me on the ORD flight. Got $400, the ORD flight, room, and meals in ORD. Was home by 11:00 AM the next day.

The IAD-ABE flight was cancelled and due to the snowstorm, I would not have been able to get home until Monday. Hotels and meals would have been on my own dime so I ended up ahead at least $800.

I watched as several other people refused to take the bump because they wouldn't be able to get home the same day. None of them even asked about going thru ORD.


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## K2Quick (Aug 5, 2015)

Airlines almost never pay the legally required involuntary DBC because they almost always can find enough people to take the voluntary compensation.  The advice in the article is really bad.  If I don't absolutely have to be on the flight and the airline can get me to my destination in an acceptable timeframe, I'm all over their voluntary offer.

The last time we volunteered, our family of four got $400 each in vouchers, an overnight in a marginal hotel close to the airport, and first class flights the next morning.  It was kind of fun figuring out what to do with an extra night in Southern California we weren't planning on and got us free flights to Orlando a few months later.


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## stmartinfan (Aug 5, 2015)

We have found that if they are looking for volunteers early at baggage check, you can often do a little negotiating.  Three of us were on a nonstop out of Toyko, and we were able to get $1000 each and our choice of the possible connecting flights home.  They first offered less and the connecting flight via Seattle but we ended up with more $$$ and a shorter connection via LA.  We didn't give up our seats until the new flight was confirmed, and the end result was a nice payback for arriving home only about 2 hours later.

We've also been able to get rebooked on a later flight but in first class as part of our negotiating.


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## vacationhopeful (Aug 5, 2015)

stmartinfan said:


> We have found that if they are looking for volunteers early at baggage check, you can often do a little negotiating.  Three of us were on a nonstop out of Toyko, and we were able to get $1000 each and our choice of the possible connecting flights home.  They first offered less and the connecting flight via Seattle but we ended up with more $$$ and a shorter connection via LA.  We didn't give up our seats until the new flight was confirmed, and the end result was a nice payback for arriving home only about 2 hours later.
> 
> We've also been able to get rebooked on a later flight but in first class as part of our negotiating.



In my review of offers accepted for a voluntary bump ... YOU got a great deal! 12+ flight upgraded to 1st Class plus a $1000 each voucher for a 2 hour delay. 

WINNER!!!! WINNER!!!! And for 3 people!


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Aug 12, 2015)

Also note that with some airlines, volunteers with elite status have higher priority for receiving the voucher than non-elites.

Similarly, if you are an elite, your chance of getting a bump is pretty much zero if you don't volunteer. The airlines will always bump a non-elite in order to seat an elite. 

*******

My best bumping story was one year when I was traveling to Las Vegas the day after Christmas. I had to be there for work the next day, but had booked an early flight. 

I arrived at the airport and took a bump to the next flight.  As it turned out that flight was also overbooked and they were asking for volunteers.  So I bumped again and got a second voucher.  Finally got out on an afternoon flight, with no problems for my work the next day.

This was at a time when Alaska Airlines bump vouchers were good for a free round trip ticket anywhere in the Alaska Airlines system.  Before I got on the flight to Las Vegas I had booked flights to Cancun for my wife and daughter, as well as a room at the Grand Mayan using a $59 RCI bonus week that I had in my account.  Two people. One week in Cancun, room and transportation, for $59.


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## NWTRVLRS (Aug 12, 2015)

Amazing!!!


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