Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - Oversold volunteer gets $300 cash?

So I am at the airport right now, waiting for my AS/QX flight and they announced that the flight is oversold and if someone volunteers to give up their fight they get $300 CASH and they get on the next available flight (which is unfortunate because at this small airport there isn't another flight until tomorrow, unless they want to drive or take the shuttle to one of the nearby (~ 1 hour) major airports.

My question is, do they normally offer $300 cash? I thought it was usually a voucher or something.

Depends how desperate they are.

Based on what I've seen, voluntary denied boarding compensation is generally $400 in the form of a bonus travel certificate. The last one I received had checkboxes for 200 and 400, but 400 is all I've seen offered since the days of the BTTs.

If they don't get enough volunteers at that price, they might change the offer or involuntarily offload passengers. The compensation is then either 400 useable at AS.com or twice what the passenger paid, in real money.

I saw a passenger denied boarding in ANC on an $810 ticket. AS printed him a check or money order for $1620 and apologized. He then showed his pilot's license and they let him ride in the cockpit on the flight they'd just removed him from.

This was about a year ago and the rules have become more strict but I think they only offer real USD as involuntary denied boarding compensation.

I saw a passenger denied boarding in ANC on an $810 ticket. AS printed him a check or money order for $1620 and apologized. He then showed his pilot's license and they let him ride in the cockpit on the flight they'd just removed him from.

:D That's the greatest IDB story I've ever seen. Sheer awesomeness.

Two weeks ago at PDX they were offering $300 vouchers for future travel for giving up your seat on a PDX-SEA flight. Would love to have taken them up on it but couldn't afford to wait the 4 hours for the next available flight.

I've seen airlines offer cash for VDBs when they are very oversold.

:D That's the greatest IDB story I've ever seen. Sheer awesomeness.

+1! Having that pilot's license pays off I suppose!

I heard another offer for a $300 voucher on Tuesday. I keep listening for cash offers...

I've seen airlines offer cash for VDBs when they are very oversold.

Two days before Christmas flying DCA-MSP-SEA on NW a few years ago, they offered me $600 cash, cab fare to BWI, and a UG to F on BWI-MSP-SEA.

I couldn't take it, unfortunately.

On a United flight from SEA to AMS they way over sold and started with an offer of $400, which 3 people took. They needed 6. They eventually enticed the last person with $800 and UPG on next flight. I would have taken it, but had to be in CPH for a conference.

last year when i was flying to india with my wife in high rush dec, emirates agent at the check-in said the flight was oversold and they will give us two free round trip tickets to india if we agreed to take the next flight in 24 hours, unfortunately my vacation was all planned out and purchases were made prior to our trip, so we had to decline. It could have been worth $3000 easily :(

$300 seems to be the norm on QX flights. I've seen it myself, but never took up the offer.