Any chance of getting "pre bumped"? [preremoval]
Mar 5, 2012, 11:43 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SHV
Programs: Nada :(
Posts: 109
Any chance of getting "pre bumped"? [preremoval]
So every flight just about from wed-on from dfw -aus is sold out on AA due to the SXSW festival there.
I have some award tickets from lax-aus wednesday night connecting through dfw. I am not really too concerned with time and I could fly tuesday night or wed morning where there are lots of open seats if they paid me for my inconvenience/upgraded me and put me on the direct flight. Do they ever do that? Is it worth walking over to the domestic terminal when we arrive there tuesday~noon and asking someone?
Thanks
I have some award tickets from lax-aus wednesday night connecting through dfw. I am not really too concerned with time and I could fly tuesday night or wed morning where there are lots of open seats if they paid me for my inconvenience/upgraded me and put me on the direct flight. Do they ever do that? Is it worth walking over to the domestic terminal when we arrive there tuesday~noon and asking someone?
Thanks
Mar 6, 2012, 12:08 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,731
Unfortunately not.
The whole point of overbooking flight is that some people will miss the flight for various reasons. Therefore, there is no such thing as a pre-bump (with advanced compensation). The airline is happy to wait until boarding time and see how many people actually show up.
Also, the airlines have become very good at overbooking in advance, without actually overselling at departure time. Many sold-out flights depart without anyone bumped off the flights, and sometimes with a few empty seats too.
If all you want is a direct flight, there is a small chance that a sympathetic agent could put you on the direct flight, but advanced upgrade or compensation would be out of the question.
The whole point of overbooking flight is that some people will miss the flight for various reasons. Therefore, there is no such thing as a pre-bump (with advanced compensation). The airline is happy to wait until boarding time and see how many people actually show up.
Also, the airlines have become very good at overbooking in advance, without actually overselling at departure time. Many sold-out flights depart without anyone bumped off the flights, and sometimes with a few empty seats too.
If all you want is a direct flight, there is a small chance that a sympathetic agent could put you on the direct flight, but advanced upgrade or compensation would be out of the question.
Mar 6, 2012, 5:19 am
#3
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Los Angeles/New York City
Programs: AA ExPlat
Posts: 61
Unfortunately not.
The whole point of overbooking flight is that some people will miss the flight for various reasons. Therefore, there is no such thing as a pre-bump (with advanced compensation). The airline is happy to wait until boarding time and see how many people actually show up.
The whole point of overbooking flight is that some people will miss the flight for various reasons. Therefore, there is no such thing as a pre-bump (with advanced compensation). The airline is happy to wait until boarding time and see how many people actually show up.
But then a bunch of people just didn't show up. There ended up being empty seats.
I think for these entertainment festivals, you have a lot of people going for business with very malleable schedules that change at the last minute.
(The opposite of kettles clutching their Hawaii tickets that were purchased 10 months ago.)
Mar 6, 2012, 6:35 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 446
The closest I've seen to this is when you have a non-direct flight that has a full leg, you may get a call offering to move you to a direct flight (for a fee 
).
).
Mar 6, 2012, 7:19 am
#5
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: TX Panhandle
Programs: EXP AA 5.7MM, Diamond HHonors, a bit of Marriott, a bit of United, a bit of this and that
Posts: 737
A few years back, local AA folks called me at the house early in the morning to pre-bump me from an afternoon flight--could I fly out earlier? I believe it was around spring break time and every college kid was fleeing Lubbock. That was the one and only time. Made money and plus-points with the local staff.
Sometimes I really love flying out of a small airport where the car-park shuttle driver, the airline staff, and even most of the TSA people know me, by name.
Sometimes I really love flying out of a small airport where the car-park shuttle driver, the airline staff, and even most of the TSA people know me, by name.
Mar 6, 2012, 9:40 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Wanting First. Buying First.
Programs: Lifetime Executive Diamond Platinum VIP with Braniff, Eastern, Midway, National & Pan Am
Posts: 17,481
Preremoval calls only happen when a flight is severely overbooked, i.e. overbooked beyond the authorization levels set by revenue management. Equipment substitutions are the most common cause of this.
As a recent case in point, I scored a $300 voucher via a Res call for preremoval the night before a scheduled DFW-MIA 763 that had downgauged to 757.
While I agree that the OP's chance getting a preremoval call and voucher in advance just because SXSW has all flights to/from AUS quite full is approximately zero, let's not deny the very existence of preremoval calls.
Mar 6, 2012, 11:26 am
#7
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,731
That's 100% wrong. There is most definitely such a thing as a pre-bump. It's called preremoval and isn't all that rare.
Preremoval calls only happen when a flight is severely overbooked, i.e. overbooked beyond the authorization levels set by revenue management. Equipment substitutions are the most common cause of this.
As a recent case in point, I scored a $300 voucher via a Res call for preremoval the night before a scheduled DFW-MIA 763 that had downgauged to 757.
While I agree that the OP's chance getting a preremoval call and voucher in advance just because SXSW has all flights to/from AUS quite full is approximately zero, let's not deny the very existence of preremoval calls.
Preremoval calls only happen when a flight is severely overbooked, i.e. overbooked beyond the authorization levels set by revenue management. Equipment substitutions are the most common cause of this.
As a recent case in point, I scored a $300 voucher via a Res call for preremoval the night before a scheduled DFW-MIA 763 that had downgauged to 757.
While I agree that the OP's chance getting a preremoval call and voucher in advance just because SXSW has all flights to/from AUS quite full is approximately zero, let's not deny the very existence of preremoval calls.
Mar 6, 2012, 12:00 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
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Mar 6, 2012, 4:14 pm
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
It seems that AA proactively deals with well overbooked flights by calling connecting paxs and asking them if they want a direct flight for $49, assuming there is that option and seats are available. Now whether on a severely overbooked flight will they do prebumps(?), I've never seen it.
Mar 6, 2012, 6:10 pm
#10
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 446
It seems that AA proactively deals with well overbooked flights by calling connecting paxs and asking them if they want a direct flight for $49, assuming there is that option and seats are available. Now whether on a severely overbooked flight will they do prebumps(?), I've never seen it.
Mar 6, 2012, 6:44 pm
#11
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Stockholm, Sweden + Austin, Tx
Programs: "But, I'm a GLOBALIST guest...."
Posts: 2,848
So every flight just about from wed-on from dfw -aus is sold out on AA due to the SXSW festival there.
I have some award tickets from lax-aus wednesday night connecting through dfw. I am not really too concerned with time and I could fly tuesday night or wed morning where there are lots of open seats if they paid me for my inconvenience/upgraded me and put me on the direct flight. Do they ever do that? Is it worth walking over to the domestic terminal when we arrive there tuesday~noon and asking someone?
Thanks
I have some award tickets from lax-aus wednesday night connecting through dfw. I am not really too concerned with time and I could fly tuesday night or wed morning where there are lots of open seats if they paid me for my inconvenience/upgraded me and put me on the direct flight. Do they ever do that? Is it worth walking over to the domestic terminal when we arrive there tuesday~noon and asking someone?
Thanks
Mar 6, 2012, 11:39 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SHV
Programs: Nada :(
Posts: 109
There were a ton of seats available on today's flights lax-aus, it's only later in the week that these are sold out as well. Even tomorrow morning there are seats available, anyways it's a moot point now as we decided we wanted to stay in la for the night and drive up the coast anyways. I am scared what that poor airport is going to look like tomorrow though!