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AA Bump Rates; compensation for VDB / Voluntary Denied Boarding (master thread)

Old Mar 31, 2016, 5:15 pm
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AA Bump Rates: Volunteer Compensation / Voluntary Denied Boarding

Passengers involuntarily denied boarding on AA are denied usually after calls for volunteers to accept vouchers (and occasionally variable other benefits), usually beginning at $200 or $300 but possibly going significantly higher, depending on passenger response. See more below, including AA Conditions of Carriage.

See IDB / Involuntarily Denied Boarding on AA & Compensation (master thread) for INVOLUNTARILY denied boarding.

Link to US Dept. of Transportation Aviation Consumer Protection Division's "Fly-Rights - A Consumer Guide to Air Travel" section on Overbooking

"IDB" (involuntarily denied boarding) compensation is governed in the USA by "14 CFR 250.5 - Amount of denied boarding compensation for passengers denied boarding involuntarily".

Link to CFR 250.5; as well:

14 CFR 250.2b Carriers to request volunteers for denied boarding.
(a) In the event of an oversold flight, every carrier shall request volunteers for denied boarding before using any other boarding priority. A volunteer is a person who responds to the carrier's request for volunteers and who willingly accepts the carriers' offer of compensation, in any amount, in exchange for relinquishing the confirmed reserved space. Any other passenger denied boarding is considered for purposes of this part to have been denied boarding involuntarily, even if that passenger accepts the denied boarding compensation.

(b) Every carrier shall advise each passenger solicited to volunteer for denied boarding, no later than the time the carrier solicits that passenger to volunteer, whether he or she is in danger of being involuntarily denied boarding and, if so, the compensation the carrier is obligated to pay if the passenger is involuntarily denied boarding. If an insufficient number of volunteers come forward, the carrier may deny boarding to other passengers in accordance with its boarding priority rules.

14 CFR 250.9 Written explanation of denied boarding compensation and boarding priorities, and verbal notification of denied boarding compensation.
(a) Every carrier shall furnish passengers who are denied boarding involuntarily from flights on which they hold confirmed reserved space immediately after the denied boarding occurs, a written statement explaining the terms, conditions, and limitations of denied boarding compensation, and describing the carriers' boarding priority rules and criteria. The carrier shall also furnish the statement to any person upon request at all airport ticket selling positions which are in the charge of a person employed exclusively by the carrier, or by it jointly with another person or persons, and at all boarding locations being used by the carrier.

Link to AA Conditions of Carriage, "Oversales"

In the European Union, EC261/2004 governs denied boarding compensation.

Link to EC261 / EC 261/2004 complaints and AA (master thread)

On American Airlines, you are sometimes ineligible for IDB as allowed by the USDOT:
If a flight is oversold (more passengers hold confirmed reservations than there are seats available), no one may be denied boarding against his or her will until airline personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservation willingly, in exchange for compensation of the airlines choosing. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with the following boarding priority of American. In such events, American will usually deny boarding based upon check-in time, but we may also consider factors such as severe hardships, fare paid, and status within the AAdvantage program.

If you are denied boarding involuntarily, you are entitled to a payment of
denied boarding compensation from the airline unless:

- You have not fully complied with the airlines ticketing, check-in and reconfirmation requirements, or you are not acceptable for transportation under the airlines usual rules and practices; or

- You are denied boarding because the flight is canceled; or

You are denied boarding because a smaller capacity aircraft was substituted for safety or operational reasons; or

- On a flight operated with an aircraft having 60 or fewer seats, you are denied boarding due to safety-related weight/balance restrictions that limit payload; or

- You are offered accommodations in a section of the aircraft other than specified in your ticket, at no extra charge (a passenger seated in a section for which a lower fare is charged must be given an appropriate refund); or

- The airline is able to place you on another flight or flights that are planned to reach your next stopover or final destination within one hour of the planned arrival time of your original flight.[/code]

The previous thread is http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
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AA Bump Rates; compensation for VDB / Voluntary Denied Boarding (master thread)

Old Oct 25, 2009, 6:20 pm
  #1  
used to be 'Flyfarfar'
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AA Bump Rates; compensation for VDB / Voluntary Denied Boarding (master thread)

I'm a Delta refugee trying out AA this week.

Tonight my flight from MIA is oversold and they will need volunteers.

My question is: What is the typical AA bump offer for an overnight stay of around 10 hours?
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Old Oct 25, 2009, 6:29 pm
  #2  
HNL
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Originally Posted by flyfarfar
I'm a Delta refugee trying out AA this week.

Tonight my flight from MIA is oversold and they will need volunteers.

My question is: What is the typical AA bump offer for an overnight stay of around 10 hours?
$$ amount varies on how bad they want volunteer(s). If it's over night then it will include hotel and vouchers to cover the minimal cost of meals at the hotel. Voucher will be good for 12 months.
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Old Oct 25, 2009, 6:37 pm
  #3  
used to be 'Flyfarfar'
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They are offering 300 for a flight that will get me in 12 hours later.

Is that fair value?
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Old Oct 25, 2009, 6:41 pm
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Originally Posted by flyfarfar
They are offering 300 for a flight that will get me in 12 hours later.

Is that fair value?
Fair if they're also providing you with a hotel and meal voucher.
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Old Oct 25, 2009, 6:44 pm
  #5  
HNL
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Originally Posted by flyfarfar
They are offering 300 for a flight that will get me in 12 hours later.

Is that fair value?
how much is your time worth? Only you can answer that question.
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Old Oct 26, 2009, 3:14 am
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Looks like 5 passengers aboard AA61 DFW-NRT were bumped in the air this afternoon.
I do not know what compensation is standard for that kind of bump...
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Old Oct 26, 2009, 4:16 am
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Not an exact equivalent but they were offering $800 for LHR-JFK bumps on Saturday which we took, swapping an 8.30am flight for the 4.45pm one...

T
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Old Oct 26, 2009, 4:56 am
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Originally Posted by flyfarfar
They are offering 300 for a flight that will get me in 12 hours later.

Is that fair value?
Fair value is a judgment call you will have to make. I will say that $300 seems to be in the common range for AA, for a bump like this. I believe they highest I've ever seen is $350. (but I don't see bumps often)
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Old Oct 26, 2009, 10:43 am
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Originally Posted by ty97
Fair value is a judgment call you will have to make. I will say that $300 seems to be in the common range for AA, for a bump like this. I believe they highest I've ever seen is $350. (but I don't see bumps often)
I got $500 for a voluntary bump a few days before Christmas 2007. So, it all depends on how badly they need volunteers -- i.e., how many seats they need to free up.

Btw, my understanding is that they have to give the same amount to all bumped pax on the same flight, so you should always be sure to ask if a higher value was given out to someone else when they are preparing your voucher.
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Old Oct 26, 2009, 10:48 am
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Originally Posted by flyfarfar
They are offering 300 for a flight that will get me in 12 hours later.

Is that fair value?
That's a subjective question you need to ask and decide for yourself. $300/12 hours=$25/hour

While it may certainly be worthwhile to John Smith, it may not be worthwhile to Jon Smith.
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Old Oct 26, 2009, 11:28 am
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$300 for a mainland bump are fairly standard now days. An overnight bump about 10 years ago would be $500 + hotel and food. I do not think you can go that high anymore.
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Old Oct 26, 2009, 2:24 pm
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Originally Posted by Alex_I
$300 for a mainland bump are fairly standard now days. An overnight bump about 10 years ago would be $500 + hotel and food. I do not think you can go that high anymore.
I got it this year in May at mainland route.
ORD-SFO, $500 'DV' + hotel. No food stamps were offered though, but I haven't required them.
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Old Oct 26, 2009, 4:30 pm
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Originally Posted by Alex_I
$300 for a mainland bump are fairly standard now days. An overnight bump about 10 years ago would be $500 + hotel and food. I do not think you can go that high anymore.
I'd say that AA (and probably other airlines) have anomalies when it comes to this. Example: I was in LGA headed to I forget where, and there was a nearby flight to ORD that was oversold and they were offering a $300 voucher to take the next flight which would depart in less than an hour after the oversold one. Recently, I was in ORD at the Eagle concourse and a nearby ORD-ICT flight was oversold. They were offering a $200 voucher for a flight that would depart over 5 hours later. Where's the logic there? I suspect it has something to do with the first case being AA versus the second case being AE, but still. There's no balance in supply and demand there. In the LGA-ORD case, I'd think that there were plenty people volunteering for this but in the ORD-ICT case, they'd probably be hard pressed to find someone.
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Old Oct 26, 2009, 8:09 pm
  #14  
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Originally Posted by flyfarfar
They are offering 300 for a flight that will get me in 12 hours later.

Is that fair value?
17 minutes later and they are still asking?
Maybe they might up it
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Old Oct 27, 2009, 4:28 am
  #15  
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Smile

On a previous connecting flight AA offered $500 for volunteers. When I approached the counter I wouldve been #12 on the volunteer list. I asked the agent if I volunteer for $400 instead of the $500 could he put me as #1? He said YES, of course. They needed 6 passengers and I received my $400 voucher and was rebooked on CO, 6 hrs later.

Last edited by TigerWould; Oct 27, 2009 at 4:46 am
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