FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Compensation: “Bumps” — Voluntary and Involuntary Denied Boarding [2000-2019]
Old Nov 15, 2018, 7:49 pm
  #1695  
lexi
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Programs: HH Gold and lowly DL FO
Posts: 250
I was trying to fly out of DCA today. Lots of flight delays and cancellations due to the weather. I kept an eye on my flight (scheduled to depart in the evening), but it kept saying "on time." Early afternoon, I received a notice from Delta informing me my flight was cancelled. I immediately logged into Delta's website and picked flights where I could get non-middle seats (knowing the planes would fill up fast). Lucked out and got an aisle in the Main Cabin on the first leg and window Comfort + on the second leg (original flight was a direct flight and I'm a lowly Silver, so I'd count the new flights as a win).

When I checked in at the kiosk when I arrived at the airport, it indicated they were soliciting volunteers. I clicked "yes" to volunteer and selected $500, then printed my new boarding passes.

When I got to the gate I parked myself as close to the desk as possible. About 75 minutes prior to the flight I overheard the gate agents talking about my flight. The red coat asked the gate agent what she was doing and she said she was rebooking passengers on new flights (presumably standbys that weren't going to get seats). The red coat asked, "aren't you going to ask for volunteers first?" I stepped up and confirmed they were discussing my flight to ATL and the red coat said yes. I said I wanted to volunteer. She said, "great!" I said, "I'll stand right over here until you need me."

About twenty minutes later the gate agent called me up to the desk, confirmed my final destination, and started looking for new flights for me. No other flights would get me home tonight, so volunteering would require an overnight stay. I said I'd take the bump if they provided overnight lodging and as long as I received the same amount as the highest bid when they announced the need for volunteers. She agreed.

I felt like I was taking a gamble since we discussed no dollar amounts, but I decided to see how it played out.

Just after she finished protecting me on new flights, the flight changed to a new gate. I asked the gate agent if I should stay here with her to finish the voucher process or go to the new gate. She escorted me to the new gate where the red coat was now stationed. The red coat then proceeded to process my VDB.

She asked me how much we had agreed to. I said we didn't agree to any amount. She said how much did you bid at the kiosk. I avoided the question. She then said how much do you want? About that time, the new gate agent was starting to look up my bid in the system. I told the red coat, "How about a thousand bucks?" She said ok. The gate agent protested as she saw I had only bid $500. The red coat dismissed her and said, "it'll take a thousand to get all the volunteers we need anyway."

She started to process my voucher and I insisted that I wanted to be sure I got the same amount as the highest bid in case they didn't get enough volunteers. I said, I can wait until you close out the flight. She agreed. They then announced that they were offering $1,000 vouchers and they needed seven more volunteers. People couldn't run to the desk fast enough.

Needless to say they got all the volunteers they needed. I still got my $1,000 voucher, $45 in meal vouchers, and a hotel voucher.
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