If we volunteer to get bumped on our Flight

[JoeCathyAngelina]

What kind of compensation should we ask for or expect from Delta?

We're flying Delta from Boston to Orlando this Saturday.
When I check the flight status and the available seats left on the flight, it looks like the flight is overbooked, it's going be crowded to the max.

We are just wondering, If we volunteer to get bumped from our Flight, What kind of compensation we should ask for or expect from Delta?
Thanks,
Good Luck All,
Joe

 

[debster812]

I would be very careful taking a voluntary bump on Saturday. It's the 1st weekend of April Vacation, and the flights from BOS to MCO are likely to be very crowded, and it may be a day or two before you can get out.

If you don't mind the delay, I suspect that the incentives might be pretty good, but just pay close attention to what they're actually offering.

 

[JennSaint]

Personally I never want to get bumped on our flight to Orlando but coming home is another story! If I were you I'd be checking seat availability on other flights just to see if most flights on Saturday are booked. Delta mostly offers a free future flight when they are looking for volunteers to give up their seats.

 

[twinklebug]

With this economy, many folk would be excited if they offer a seat on the wing for a future flight and 15% off drinks.

... which is to say - if you want to be bumped for a rebook plus future flight you're going to have to be FAST to volunteer.

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

Personally I never want to get bumped on our flight to Orlando but coming home is another story! If I were you I'd be checking seat availability on other flights just to see if most flights on Saturday are booked. Delta mostly offers a free future flight when they are looking for volunteers to give up their seats.

Our flight is 11 am, there are lots of other Delta flights the same day that are less than 1/2 full.
We were just wondering if anyone got bumped recently and what they got for compensation.
Thanks,
joe

 

[CarolA]

Delta tends to start in the $100 to $200 range. My going rate is at least $100 an hour, but folks will bump for $50 so....

Pay attention. If they go UP then you should expect the same compensation as later "bumps" (I once said yes to $300 and they had to go to $500 to get everyone they needed so they gave me $500)

The other thing to realize. You get whatever seats are LEFT on the later flights. Not the seats of your choice. YOu could be all over the plane.

And if you are going by the seat map for "full" or "half full" it's often wrong!

 

[bicker]

Just to clarify, though: It is my understanding that airlines offer, and pax volunteer to accept the offer made (with the proviso that if a better is offered to other pax on that flight later, then you get the benefits of the best offer made, as Carol pointed out). There is no "asking" on the part of the pax; the airlines won't negotiate with pax after they volunteer, or to get any specific pax to volunteer. So you don't have to worry about beefing up your negotiating skills, for this aspect of your trip. (Small consolation, I know.)

 

[Hoopfamily]

Tell them that you want whatever you want for compensation. I would ask for 2 roundtrip tix anywhere in the US per member of my party. Also guarunteed tix on a later flight .

 

[CarolA]

Tell them that you want whatever you want for compensation. I would ask for 2 roundtrip tix anywhere in the US per member of my party. Also guarunteed tix on a later flight .

1. That's not the way it works unless they are REALLY desperate. (rarely happens). If your price is too high (i.e., two tickets for one of yours) then they just do the "involuntary bump" which is cheaper.

2. You may not want "round trip tickets". Those are often next to impossible to use with the conditions they put on them. You want money. Delta gives you vouchers that can be used to buy ANY ticket. (including tickets to Europe, a much better deal then US. I read all the time posts on various boards from irrate flyers who can't use those tickets because of the "conditions" I only bump for cash or cash equivlants!


3. You should not bump without a guranteed seat on a flight of your liking. I volunteered to bump in Kansas City a few years ago. All they could give me was the next day. I withdrew my "volunteer" (the agent understood LOL!)

 

[mkmommy]

A couple of weeks ago we were flying home MCO to ATL to BUF. The ATL-BUF flight was overbooked and they were offering $400 per person, hotel, breakfast, lunch and dinner vouchers, and would not guaranatee that you would get a flight out until the next afternoon. This was a Sunday afternoon flight and they were looking for 6 people.

I kick myself now for not taking it, but I had 2 tired kids and I was worried about getting seats together on the next flight.

 

[CarolA]

The offers do tend to be more generous if they are looking at a day delay. Those I rarely take. (See my $100 per hour rule LOL!)

 

[Lewisc]

You have to listen very carefully. Make sure you know exactly what you're getting. SW will sometimes offer "priority standby" on the next flight. That means you'll be near the top of the standby list, but the flight is currently overbooked. There is a good chance at least part of your group won't make that flight. You want to know what flight you'll get a confirmed reservation. Other compensation is in the form of a voucher, but sometimes it sounds like you're getting cash. We're offering $200 in the form of travel vouchers.

Carol is right, any free ticket is likely to be subject to capacity controls and may be difficult to book. At least one airline was trying to apply capacity controls on vouchers.

 

[blissventure]

Tell them that you want whatever you want for compensation. I would ask for 2 roundtrip tix anywhere in the US per member of my party. Also guarunteed tix on a later flight .

They would probably say, "Thanks for your offer. We'll get back to you. May I help the next person in line?"

The best offer I've received was a Delta $400.00 voucher, coupons/vouchers for lunch and dinner, and a confirmed seat on another flight 6 hours later.
It was worth it to me at the time. It's OK to ask questions, but IMO the more reasonable you are, they are more likely to be extra helpful. (And more generous.)

I fly frequently. I actually don't hear (at least Delta) making these offers of compensation for bumps anywhere near as often as they used to. I'm not sure why, could be many reasons.

Finally, the Delta voucher was a great help. At the time (maybe they still are) it was transferable. It allowed me to gift a relative with a ticket so he could attend a graduation.

 

[DebbieB]

I had a flight about 10 days ago - Pittsburgh to Minneapolis on Northwest. I was sitting near the desk and they called up a woman. They told her the flight was overbooked and would she consider connecting through Atlanta instead of Minnneapolis to Kansas City. They offered her a $300 travel voucher and a first class ticket on a flight that would get her into Kansas City about an hour later than she was scheduled. She accepted. In this case, they picked her, they did not ask for volunteers. If she would have declined, I guess they would have made a volunteer announcement. It was only a 50 seat plane and I guess they looked at the list of people connecting and who they could reaccomodate the easiest, plus they only needed 1 person.

 

[Hoopfamily]

I agree with what you all are saying, but if you do as I did and shmooze up a little to the counter person, the offer I said before could be your. It was for us in October. By shmooze I mean just be nice. I will say I have an unfair advantage in shmoozing as I am a Salesman by trade and have a knack for disarming people with chatter. My wife calls it flirting, but I call it shmoozing.

 

[safetymom]

Just realize when they give you a free ticket the inventory comes out of the frequent flyer seats. You may have a hard time redeeming them for popular destinations.

 

[wdhinn89]

1. That's not the way it works unless they are REALLY desperate. (rarely happens). If your price is too high (i.e., two tickets for one of yours) then they just do the "involuntary bump" which is cheaper.

2. You may not want "round trip tickets". Those are often next to impossible to use with the conditions they put on them. You want money. Delta gives you vouchers that can be used to buy ANY ticket. (including tickets to Europe, a much better deal then US. I read all the time posts on various boards from irrate flyers who can't use those tickets because of the "conditions" I only bump for cash or cash equivlants!


3. You should not bump without a guranteed seat on a flight of your liking. I volunteered to bump in Kansas City a few years ago. All they could give me was the next day. I withdrew my "volunteer" (the agent understood LOL!)

Do they give you a check?

What is a cash equivlant?

 

[DebbieB]

Do they give you a check?

What is a cash equivlant?

A credit to use on a future flight.

 

[CarolA]

If an airline gives you cash then it's a check. This is VERY rare. I have had it done for damaged luggage and maybe one involuntary bump.

The cash equivilant is "electronic" "Delta" dollars or whatever the airline calls them (I would assume that on AA for example they are NOT Delta dollars LOL!) These can be used to purchase ANY ticket at ANY time, no blackout dates, ticket restrictions etc.....

 

[JPTexan82]

AA does it the best with dollar vochers. US Air use to do roundtrip in the US those are so hard to use because of the dates. I will tell you this the there is not enough voucher dollars in the world that worth delaying the start of my vaction. But going home I have stayed over night at hotels and $250 all the time.