This is my first time posting to this board. I found this site about a week ago, and have visited this site several times in the last week. You guys post very informative stuff.
About me: I am a web designer/developer in Alexandria, VA. I fly mainly on US out of DCA.
My bumped story goes as follows:
Last Memorial Day weekend, I was going to MCO from DCA via CLT. (A route I take several times a year to visit family in MCO.) It was the Thursday before Memorial Day and it was a three o'clock flight. I got on the plane, only to find out I had the worst seat in the plane: the very back row (no reclining seat)in the middle seat. It was a very full flight. A few minutes after I and nearly eveyone else sat down, the FA comes on and says, "We're going to play 'Let's Make a Deal' this afternoon. I need 4 people to give up their seat in exchange for a round trip ticket voucher." Needless to say, I jumped out of my horrible seat to take the offer.
They then booked me FC on a 6 pm flight to CLT with a connection at around 8 - 8:30 to MCO, and gave me a meal ticket.
A little while later I looked at the monitor to see that the 6 pm flight to CLT would be delayed by two hours or so -- I'd never make my connection. So back I went to the US special services counter. The agent searched for another way for me to get to MCO that night. She found one seat available on a US Express flight to PHL at 8:00 pm in order to make a 9:30 PHL - MCO route. No FC on US Express, but she did book me FC for PHL - MCO route.
I get to PHL and look at the monitor: the 9:30 flight to MCO was on time. A few minutes later they pushed the departure time back to 10, then 10:30. Then the gate agent makes an announcement: the flight won't be leaving till midnight, as there was a mechanical problem with the plane and they needed to wait for another one to come into PHL to take us to MCO. Midnight FINALLY comes around. I board the place half asleep, sit in my FC seat, but the plane never took off till about 1 am. Time of arrival in MCO: 3:30 am -- 12.5 hours from when my journey began.
Would I give up my seat after this experience for another free ticket? Sure, I even did so when they needed volunteers for a MCO to DCA flight coming back the 3rd of January.