Originally Posted by guera

Tuesday June 16 was my first experience in VDB, and I had beginners luck. Bought an award ticket for 32,500 miles for a one way ATL-SLC the night before.

When I went to OLCI, the volunteer pop-up screen appeared, and I bid $800 to be bumped. Shortly after I got to the gate they were offering $600 to volunteers. I sweated it out and finally got my $800 voucher. I was reticketed ATL-CVG-SLC that would arrive in the evening, six hours after my original flight.

When I got to the gate for the CVG-SLC flight, I asked if they needed anyone. They said they might and just to wait a few minutes while they checked a few things. About 10 minutes later they said that they could offer me $400 and a hotel night if I would take the same flight at 8:30 in the morning. This amount was nonnegotiable. I agreed and received my $400 voucher and a night at the Microtel (one step up from Motel 6).

I requested meal vouchers, but they said they stopped giving them out about a 1 to 1 1/2 years ago. I did get an overnight kit, which is similar to a first-class amenity kit with the inclusion of a T-shirt to sleep in!

All said and done I arrived at my destination 18 hours later than originally planned. I was traveling by myself on no fixed schedule, so it was worth it to me to receive the $1200 in travel vouchers.