Spring Break: The Season of IDBs

 
Old Mar 18, 2008, 7:11 pm
  #31  
 
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Good weekend for me last weekend. $1600.00 in VDB. Got to love it!
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Old Mar 18, 2008, 7:25 pm
  #32  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Eugene, Oregon
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Hoping for some bump

Originally Posted by chrisw
The agent was happy to do travel credits in lieu of the DBCFREE ticket, and he gave me $600(!) for the overnight bump. ...

The next day the 767 SFO-IAD was swapped to a 757 (another thread on that), producing another VDB for $300 in travel credits. In the end I got to BWI 23 hours late, with $900 in travel credits, 3600 extra EQMs, and a chance to have dinner and lunch with my friend in SFO. Not bad, if you ask me.
Not bad at all. But help me remember what to say if the GA only offers the free ticket. Isn't there a computer code for instructions that state we have the right to travel credits instead? And what's the schedule of credit vis a vis time delayed? I've got a ticket EUG-Los Angeles area-EUG on Mar 28/30, and the flights are all zeroed, so I'm hoping for some bump.
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Old Mar 19, 2008, 10:16 am
  #33  
 
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I don't know the profile code. I just said, "Can you do travel credits?" For domestic flights, my understanding is that it's supposed to be a flat $200 in travel credits in lieu of the free ticket. (My experieince, of course, contradicts this.) Internationally, the $$ does go up depending on the time.

This thread has a lot of info (some new, some old) on VDB compensataion.
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Old Mar 19, 2008, 10:26 am
  #34  
 
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Both of my flights this weekend, LAS-DEN 3/20 and DEN-LAS 3/23 are sold out. Hopefully there will be some nice bumpage to report.
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Old Mar 19, 2008, 4:52 pm
  #35  
 
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Originally Posted by chrisw
I don't know the profile code. I just said, "Can you do travel credits?" For domestic flights, my understanding is that it's supposed to be a flat $200 in travel credits in lieu of the free ticket.
The profile code is S*UAL/DENIED-VDB, and the (hopefully still current) text of the profile is on the FlyerGuide wiki. Your understanding of the compensation is not quite right; it depends on the length of the eventual delay and the policy allows up to $600 (although a desperate agent may offer even more, and obviously some will offer less).

Last edited by cepheid; Mar 19, 2008 at 6:31 pm Reason: Fixed link
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Old Mar 19, 2008, 5:11 pm
  #36  
 
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VDB is always a bit of an auction. It's up to the GA to offer whatever will get people off the plane, though I've never heard of more than $600 in any situation. It is supposed to depend on how badly you are delayed, and if they have more volunteers than they need, they will often take those who are easy to rebook with minimal delays over those who have complex itins and will require an overnight.

If the GA has enough volunteers that will take DBCFREE tickets, then that is the path of least resistance for them and they will often turn down folks insisting on vouchers.

I've gotten everything from DBCFREE with a reroute on another airline, where the new non-stop actually beat my UA itin home (due to connections on UA) to $500+SWU for taking a bump on an international nonstop that involved adding a connection and about a 6 hour delay.

This is one area where the GAs do have a lot of leeway and where "the speech" can work for you.
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Old Mar 19, 2008, 5:17 pm
  #37  
 
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Thanks for the link to the promo. The link gotta a little garbled.

Correct link is http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/S%2AUAL/DENIED-VDB
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Old Apr 4, 2012, 6:02 am
  #38  
168
 
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Are you still getting VDB from your Spring Break trip?

End of Spring Break used to be golden for our family and one could count on GAs asking for VDBs on Sunday afternoon flights from various gates. It seems CO's yield management system is doing a better job than the old UA and flights are put on "do not oversell" list. (Tried to stand by for an earlier CO flight last year as 1K and GA used this term.)

We strike out this year, "flight booked to capacity". Hope your golden VDB route(s) are stilll bringing you much $uce$$!
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Old Apr 4, 2012, 7:07 am
  #39  
 
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Originally Posted by Benny8444
I cant believe UA would oversell a 737 or A320 by 28 or 20 people.

Do they actually think they will have 28 no shows over spring break???

I understand you need to oversell to make money but by 28 on a 737, that is a little much.
Have seen this more times I can count! Expect this to happen a lot more with the domestic capacity reduction.
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Old Apr 4, 2012, 2:26 pm
  #40  
 
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Originally Posted by UAL4life
Have seen this more times I can count! Expect this to happen a lot more with the domestic capacity reduction.
With those sorts of numbers its usually because of a 320 to 319 switch.
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Old Apr 4, 2012, 7:07 pm
  #41  
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My flight on Friday is zeroed out, but I have to doubt I'll get a bump. First is only booked 10/24 though proactively zeroed. Hopefully I'll get the upgrade and it won't go to some $69 bidder. Better yet, a bump would be great.
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