I couldn't see the sense on starting a new thread and decided to tag onto this one under its Title.

More and more I am forced to make decisions while checking in on the Delta web site

e.g.

upgrades paid or requested ?

Paid Mileage bonuses ?

Trip intreruption insurance?

and now

Do I want to volunteer to give up my seat for $100, 200, 300, 400 500 ?



The last one got my attention. Why should I decide 24 hours early? At that point I'm just looking forward to getting to the airport and to the gate and then finally to my destination. I'm not interested in a bidding war based on my level of hurt a day later.

My body has been programmed to weigh all pros and cons after the facts are fully available and I don't care if somebody else has committed their decision before me.

So when i arrive at the gate and only then do I ask if they need volunteers and the answer i got this week was yes!!. After they reviewed my record and my companions, they made an offer way more then what was selectable during check-in 24 hours earlier.

I took the offer which was 8 times more than what I paid for my ticket

As I left the gate area to cash in the meal voucher they gave me I heard the PA ask for even more volunteers at 1/2 the price they offered me but still way more than was listed on the check-in site.

OK I'm happy but still curious

What factors does delta weigh in making ad-hoc offers at the gate?

In my case

I had MM status

Our two seats were in paid first class (domestic)

The flight was connecting at a gateway (international) to another full flight

Presumably some of the passengers on the flight we volunteered were high paying international passengers.

My guess is that we made 4 other people very happy (two that got upgrades and two that got on the plane at the last minute). What we paid for our tickets was not a factor as we got to our destination to our satisfaction. That the major factor were the benefits to the other passengers we saved and the lack of IROP problems flowing down wind in the Delta system.

If I'm right than I will continue to waivie my check-in decisions until I'm actually at the gate.

waiting to hear from others experience