Originally Posted by
diburning
I agree. I'd rather take a $500 voucher for a bump at T-24 over the phone than to participate in the free-for-all stampede to the podium where they might have more volunteers than needed.
Of course, if you're used to the podium stampede, a la the boarding process in some parts of the world, it might not be so bad.
There's never a need to be part of a stampede though if you present yourself when the GA shows up and make your intentions known.
I just usually say "hey, i saw the flight was pretty full, I wanted to ask if it was looking like you're oversold currently." They either say, "no, we're good/even, or "ummm....we might be" and they take down my info and say to check back later.