They approached the counter to VDB but were then IDB'd? You need to have a confirmed seat on the plane in order to VDB. If they IDB'd someone who VDB'd, then they should have accepted the VDB of the IDB'd pax in the first place!

I am sitting here tonight very jealous of my friend marke190...

He was kind enough to send me a picture of the $600 cheque he received from AC for VDBing last week on a flight from YYZ-YYT.

Not too shabby, Mark ^

It was a Rouge flight to YYT... I should have been the one paying to not take it! :D

AC1798 YYZ-YQB apparently oversold by 2. As I was boarding I overheard that the offer was $1,200 (no idea if it was credit or cheque) plus hotel and meal vouchers.

AC8898 Nov. 29th

GA's were offering $2400 compensation plus hotel and meal vouchers to take the flight leaving the next day instead. Two pax came forward for it and they were VDB'd.

Funny enough, I still managed to get on the plane via SBY after boarding completed and a seat was somehow available.

I would have taken the $2400 without thinking twice. I haven't been offered such an opportunity yet.

Yeah, if I have my work laptop with me (and I usually do) that's a no brainier.

Please delete - double post.

My apologies for my ignorance, but:

1) how can you tell that a certain is flight is "bad" and most likely "overbooked"?

2) what's the proper protocol to make sure you get the VDB? Should I present myself at the gate and volunteer myself before they make the announcement? And how many minutes before departure should I present myself at the gate? Any other tips/tricks?

1. Depends the level of access you have to AC systems. For example, employees can tell exactly how overbooked a flight is. Prior to T-24, you can use EF to see information. J0 Y0 generally means it's overbooked. However, I've seen K9 on overbooked flights, and I've seen J0 Y0 on "full" (but not over) flights. After check-in, you can see on the standby list if Y is full. Full means "at least full". If it's "available", it's not over. If it's "full", it might be.

2. The earlier, the better. As soon as the GA goes up, tell them you're willing to volunteer if they're overbooked, and you have no checked bags. They'll often take your boarding pass at this point and put it aside.

Likewise! I could not take it though because when they were offering it, I still did not have a confirmed seat on the flight.

574 this morning was looking awesome. GAs were going to process us. Then we were hit with a 3:20 delay.

Luckily there are no better options for most people, so I hope the overbooking remains in a couple hours.

First, Good Luck!

Second, what's the reason for the delay? 'Safety' issues?

SFO GDP - really strong winds.

Got it. Thought it might be fog at YVR.

At my place I can't see more than 100m so figured it would be worse on Sea Island.

But SFO slows down if there's a bug on the runway, let alone strong winds.