Would you give up your flight home for a voucher

[Tigger2ntinkerbell]

Update:
Arrived at the airport yesterday, asked umm did I get bumped - answer, no. According to the person at the podium, they do that sometimes when they over book, but our flight wasn't overbooked according to her.
What??
Anyway I'm home.
Thanks everyone.

 

[Judique]

Yes.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I took it when I was already in my seat with my seatbelt fastened. What was especially good was they needed 4 people and I was the second-I took the offer for $300. The last two people held out for $450. But what I didn't know was that whatever their highest offer is, everyone gets. So I found out about a minute or two later that I wasn't getting $300, but $450. Nice pay for an additional 7 hours (they also gave me a voucher for dinner).

 

[keishashadow]

Spirit seems to send these every flight, and I haven't ever seen them use it. Maybe AA actually means it.

Before the emails started to go out from spirit inquiring, did come across this multiple times at the boarding gate with them.

Issues for us...

they tend to only have one flight per day to MCO from my two airports &

they only would need 1 spot, balked at issuing one for the (usual) 2 of us on the reservation.

no thank you

 

[yeahdisney]

YES

 

[Evita_W]

I would, buy if I had to stay an extra night, I would want a hotel voucher as well.

 

[howardlee2]

yes IF I still had a place to stay. FYI, had a hard time using flight credit from AA from last March. had to put the reservation on hold and call them with a 2 hour wait for call back...

 

[heynowirv]

Being retired and hardly ever on a schedule,I would do it without any hesitation.I have only heard it being offered after boarding a plane and them realizing that they were overbooked and then asking for volunteers.

 

[gharter]

It depends on if I have extra time or not.
Most of the time when I have time, they don't need my seat. But when my time is limited, they are offering vouchers.
If it only delays me an hour or 2, I'll take it. If its a day, then no.

 

[Disneypapa]

Interesting read. Was not sure how this overbooked flight offers worked. Thanks

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

Usually airlines will lowball in the app. Depending on how many seats they need the offer COULD go up. If they need 1 seat the odds are the airlines will get 1 out of 150 people to take a $300 voucher. If they need 10 seats that number will likely go up.

One thing to remember is with the big airlines everyone who volunteers should receive the same value voucher....regardless of what you clicked on the app. So if you click $300 in the app but they need 10 volunteers and the last 5 agree to $800....then all 10 should receive $800. Occasionally a rouge agent will try and be a hero and save the airline some money....but that is when I've seen people say forget it and take their original seat....leaving the agent to find more volunteers.

 

[gharter]

Usually airlines will lowball

Very true. Its been interesting to see them start low, even live and then increase what they offer until they get the number they need.
I think I would be a little unhappy having taken less than others received. But, you also had the option to wait.

 

[twocat]

I would absolutely do it. I actually keep overnight necessities in my carryon/purse in case of an overnight. Things like meds, hair brush and my laptop. If they put you up in a hotel, you can usually get a toothbrush at the front desk.
The one time I did an overnight, I didn't have my contact lens case or cleaning solution so I had to get creative with that one!

 

[sam_gordon]

I would absolutely do it. I actually keep overnight necessities in my carryon/purse in case of an overnight. Things like meds, hair brush and my laptop. If they put you up in a hotel, you can usually get a toothbrush at the front desk.
The one time I did an overnight, I didn't have my contact lens case or cleaning solution so I had to get creative with that one!

Always, always, always, always keep ANYTHING you must have for an overnight (or valuable... meds, electronics, etc) with you. This has nothing to do with going to Disney, nothing to do with what airline, nothing to do with what time you fly, and nothing to do with possibly getting bumped (voluntarily or involuntarily). Your checked bags can get misrouted, miss a connection, or even not get put on the original flight. And there's no guarantee they show up on the next flight, or even the next day.

 

[Lewisc]

Make sure they give you a confirmed reservation on a flight that works for you. Terms like priority stand by don't mean anything. Priority standby from Spirit or Frontier could mean no flight for days

 

[EACarlson]

Also, if they bump you, they have to put you on the next available flight, cover any meals, and put you up in a hotel if you have to stay overnight.

I've accepted a voucher when my schedule allows, but I've never been forced. Being "involuntarily denied boarding" comes with cash, not vouchers, and is rarely, if ever, done these days.

The requirement that they put on the next flight , cover meals and put you up in hotel is only in case of Involuntary Denied Boarding, or IDB. That happens when they can't find anyone to give up their seats and is very costly for the airlines. When you take a Voluntary Denied Boarding or VDB offer which is what is being discussed here, you get whatever you negotiate with the airline.

 

[_19disnA]

Occasionally when I am flying I have seen them make a gate announcement looking for volunteers to be bumped and usually offer some sort of $ voucher for a future flight. IF there were other flights later that day and they can guarantee you a seat, could be an opportunity to save money on your next trip. Have to use common sense if the airline only flies infrequently to your destination or if flights later that day are already sold out due to a high volume of travel such as around a holiday.

I would not choose to do this if it involved staying overnight, just too much of a hassle.

 

[paults]

Only if it's worth my time.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We did this last fall, but we left a day early and made $300 each for the 4 of us.
The funny part is it's the flight we orginally wanted but it was $100 higher so we decided to leave the next day on the red eye.
We fly a lot and get those emails almost every time from AA ... but they never need/ choose us.