Question: feel free to move if in the wrong thread.

I have a flight to Houston, but really I want to go to Austin. If my flight is offering VDB, can I say "I will VDB if you fly me to Austin today instead" and have air Canada deliver on that? Can I also get cahs/voucher if I make that request.

This is a good move.

$9,950 for each of the 4 people bumped from that UA flight would have saved them more than that in the costs from the fall-out.

You can make any request you want. It's all a negotiation. But I'd phrase it differently.

"I was going to visit a friend/client in IAH, then drive to AUS tomorrow morning. I'm willing to volunteer for $400, but then I'd need to fly to AUS instead."

Make it seem like you're really trying to do them a favor.

I bet $1500 would have done the same.

Isn't Canada about to release a Passenger Bill of Rights?

Good way to explain it, I have never had it happen but have had a few "if I am bumped I would misconnect on a flight the next morning" scenarios.

Yep, the guy offered 1600. I bet UA is wishing like HELL they took upon that offer

I find AC's system to be pretty effective as-is. Running an auction during an oversold boarding is adding a lot of chaos to an already high workload.

As a passenger, knowing exactly what I'm going to get if I volunteer eases my decision making.

Flying SFO-YVR booked in J on Apr-11 and there was an equip change from 320 to 319 due to mechanical. The flight became oversold because of this.

At the gate T-40ish they make a call for volunteers. I asked about the compensation and they said they could get me on a flight in 6 hours for US$650 voucher. I asked about getting on a UA flight (AC codeshare) that left in 2 hours, they said they could rebook me in Y (as J was sold out) but the compensation would only be US$300.

I said no thanks, but if they wanted to give me $650 and the UA flight that left in 2 hours I would do that. They called again for volunteers, no one. They called up the person who didn't have a seat and told him unless someone no showed he would get IVD for $650.

They called me up and asked me again if I'd take the AC flight in 6 hours in J for $650. I said no, but I would take $650 and UA flight. They declined. I don't get it, they will offer someone else $650 but they won't give it to me because it gets me in sooner? Makes no sense. When they make a offer it should be the same to everyone even if they can get me via a different airline (I assume because I'm SE they could book me onto UA, but maybe not for everyone else).

Anyways, this is frustrating because I wanted the VDB and the guy was obviously very upset about getting bumped.

Reminds me of a YVR-YEG-YYC where YVR-YEG was overbooked, and they refused to give me any compensation (since YVR-YYC "got in sooner"), so I refused to volunteer. I would have taken $50 (literally), but instead they had to pay $200-$400 to someone who really wanted to take the flight.

What is AC's current max offers for VDB? I recall at one point it was $800, but not sure if that's changed?

If they are good enough at managing VDB and offer enough to compensate people for the delay, they shouldn't be able to effectively eliminate IDB's and all the bad press that goes with them.

I've volunteered twice on YYC-YVR in the last year. Offer started at $400 each time, which I accepted, and I was rebooked for a couple of hours later. Each of my original tickets were ~$150 so it was a nice bonus for me.

You can't VDB as you are in J??
 

Party of 2 (including me) VDB on a flight from ATL - YYZ. I was first to volunteer for $650 each, only to be told a few mins later that we were ineligible due to being seated in Business, and also b/c the alternate connecting flight was oversold in Y so they were holding the open J seats to cover that. Yet, when I checked AC.com the connecting flight was still for sale in J.

I was disappointed but didn't quite buy the reasoning. Am I missing something?

At the airport, they're looking at actual loads, not what's for sale, so I accept that they wouldn't move you on to the connecting flight.

Being in J shouldn't matter, but because of the issue with your connection, I don't even know if I'd trust that. They might have just said it to make you go away.

That being said, if they IDB someone after denying a volunteer, they're probably in violation of the tariffs.

Thanks for your reply. When I went back to ask what was happening, they said they now had everyone they needed and the manager had advised her to leave us as is. I'm still somewhat ticked off.

Now this is plain silly. I have had AA pay me USD $500 and put me on a AC direct flight instead of one connection and the direct got me there 2 hrs earlier than my original flight. Probably has something to do with ACs SOP for GA and getting there sooner must be a no-no.