Originally Posted by
Stocktc1
for Ana I was asked at the counter one time.
i was already assigned a seat. Do people just walk up to the gate people ? I have no other reason to talk to them. Do others just go up to them and ask ?
I see. I can't speak to ANA, but I've never been asked at the ticket counter by DL.
You wouldn't believe how many people go up and talk to the gate agent without any real reason to talk! If you get asked at the kiosk, you can certainly go up and ask whether they'll be needing to look for volunteers, but I've found that about 80% of the time, the kiosk is being conservative and the flight doesn't actually need volunteers. Around the 45-minute mark before the doors close, at or just before the beginning of boarding, you'll hear the DL gate agents announce that they're looking for volunteers with a certain price tag attached. You can volunteer immediately or wait for the price to go up. (If the flight needs multiple volunteers and the first offer doesn't solve the overboarding issue, I believe all volunteers get paid whatever the maximum eventual offer is, although I know that's changed elsewhere and it might have changed on DL.)