Originally Posted by
mherdeg
Sounds like a question for the Times's Ethicist (
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/featur...ist/index.html).
Unless something has changed very recently, UA's new policy is to try to offer the lowest applicable fare in the market, rounded up to the nearest $50 increment; I have heard offers as low as $150 and frequently hear $250 offered to take an overnight delay on a transcontinental flight. They bid upward if they get no takers.
An offer of $400 is unusually high and suggests that the gate agent thought "ooops, I forgot to say what the offer was before I took the volunteer, I had better pick a number really high so they don't complain", or that the market was really expensive, or that the gate agent was quietly rebelling against the CO policy of VDB compensation which is generally lower than $400 but is negotiable if necessary.
On Saturday's ORD-MUC (UA906) overbooked flight I was offered $300 for VDB at the check-in kiosk. That seemed ridiculously low for a $1,600 RT TATL flight, especially since they couldn't get me out until the next day. I believe the lowest fare in that market is about $900 (~$450 o/w) on the one day of the month when the moon and stars line up properly. Does anyone know if the policy is different for international vs. domestic, or is it strictly fare-based?