I flew EWR-SFO yesterday afternoon and two elderly women (75+) were seated next to me.

They had been denied boarding the day before, on a connecting flight from Quebec. The flight had been overbooked, and apparently CO had not been able to locate volunteers.

CO had denied them boarding against their will, but had only offered them a hotel and a couple of cheap meal vouchers as compensation. (Small amounts, such as $7 for breakfast).
I asked if they were not given a travel vouchers, such as $200-$400 for future travel. They answered no.

They were denied boarding against their will, but the CO agent had told them to sign documents that stated they had volunteered (so they could get a hotel).

The story stinks, because it leaves an impression that CO picked the elderly women because they would put up the least resistance. Then did not offer them the compensation they deserved.

If a CO representative wants to follow up on this, I am happy to provide you with their seat assignments. Just PM me.

As they were sharing their $5 snack box, they told me that they had never had a problem with their preferred airline - UA. They did not know the details of the merger, because they told me that UA probably was taking over CO in order to fix this terrible airline.