Originally Posted by
jfhscott
I have an upcoming flight on an E190, DCA-MCI (Monday 10:30 a.m. departure). Approximately 60 colleagues will be on that flight, all on fully refundable government fares. All of these colleagues are essentially required to be on the flight, as the optics of arriving on the afternoon flight, and arriving late are quite bad. I predict that Frontier's yield management algorithms have no idea of the circumstances of 60% of the passengers, and there will be a very significant oversell.
A couple of questions:
(1) What sort of voluntarily denied boarding compensation does F9 typically offer?
(2) I (and colleagues similarly situated) absolutely cannot be seen at the gate taking voluntarily denied boarding compensation, and taking the later flight, which arrives after important events start (it is legal, but in the circumstances, professionally very ill advised) - and there is no way I will do it. If I "volunteer" for an EARLIER (8:50 a.m.) DCA-DEN-MCI routing, I can get in on time - does Frontier ever offer compensation when an oversell is plainly obvious, even if the oversold flight is a couple hours in the future?
I'd appreciate hearing about experineces.
In my station every flight, every day is overbooked. Overbooking is based on historical no show factors. If you are traveling on a fully refundable government fare more than likely you are considered a Classic Plus or Classic ticket in our reservation system. If that is the case, you may standby on an earlier flight at no charge but there is no guarantee of getting a seat. Classic Plus may be confirmed at no charge if a seat is available earlier or later on all segments of the itinerary while with a Classic ticket you would be charged $25 to confirm a seat if available on all segments of the itinerary.
Depending on how much the flight is overbooked, an agent may waive fees if you show up at the ATO and check-in early for your flight and offer to go on an earlier flight if yours is overbooked. However, this is not policy and is up to the lead agent or supervisor. There is no compensation as you would arrive earlier than scheduled if you get a seat on an earlier flight. The DOT rules kick in if everyone shows up for their scheduled flight and the flight is truly overbooked. We are then required to solicit for volunteers and offer compensation based on the length of time it will take to get you to your final destination. Your flight is currently not overbooked, so you shouldn't have any problems. If you don't have a pre-assigned seat, I would suggest checking in on-line 24 hours prior to departure to get the best seat even if you can't print a boarding pass from home. You can always reprint a boarding pass at any ATO kiosk or with an agent. Enjoy your trip!