Tries

I have a following situation:
My parents, both not English speaker, will fly SFO-ORD.
3 weeks before the flight will occur, there are no seats available in coach class anymore.
Since there is a chance that GA will look for volunteers and my parents won't understand it and because I won't be able to come all the way to the gate- is there any chance that I would ask at the check-in counter if that flight will need any volunteers and place my parents on the list?

imapilotaz

Others may know better, but I am not aware of a ticket counter agent ever offering VDB (granted I'm sure someone out there has a brother's uncle's roommates' friend who had this happen to them). The reality is, there are people that no-show, change, etc, and they will not know until ~30 minutes prior if that's the case, which is why these happen at the gate... It's also why many times you hear from the agent that "we may be in an oversold situation and looking for passengers who may be willing to travel on a later flight". Again, until ~30 minutes prior at a spoke, no idea if they will be needed. In a hub environment, many times its ~15 minutes prior due to misconnects.

Also keep in mind that what you are seeing is the publicly available seats. All airlines Z-block seats that wont clear until either 24 hours, and in some cases only by airport control. Its not uncommon to have 12-16 seats on an aircraft be z-blocked and you would never know it.

JJeffrey

At the most, the check-in AAgent could possibly call the gate and see if they could be added to a VDB list. However, as mentioned above, if you're checking them in 1.5-2 hrs. before, it's not likely that anyone has even begun to think about a VDB situation yet.

That said, if your parents don't understand English, do you really want to put them in a VDB/voucher/rebooking situation? That seems very stressful...

Spiff

I've been bumped at the counter on a very oversold flight. However, the vast majority of my bumps have been at the gate.

Herb687

At most, the check-in counter might be willing to add you to the volunteer list. The ATO would not, however, be able to actually bump you off the flight, issue vouchers, rebook, etc. That would only happen later at the gate once it is known how many actually showed up for the flight.

IceTrojan

I have as well, but only in an extreme oversold situation (previous flight MX)

Dave Noble

If they don't speak English and would not understand, would it even be wise to try getting them a voluntary denied boarding. If they get selected , then they will need to be able to understand the other options being offered to them etc

wrp96

+1

A few years ago I took a bump on a severely oversold flight. Unfortunately so did a couple with limited English. Security had to be called when the plane left without them - because they isn't comprehend what giving up their seat meant, much less what their alternative travel options would be.

mvoight

No seats on the seat map, or is some site showing Y0?
Do NOT go by the seat map. Not all non-occupied seats show up,

Often1

This sounds like a terrible idea even if offered. OP's parents don't speak English so adding them to the VDB list just means that if they are called, they won't be able to communicate with the GA, negotiate their compensation and reroute.

Yes, UA does occasionally seek volunteers even before check-in. But, that's only when they've got multiple cancellations so they know that they need hundreds of seats.

On short domestic flights such as SFO-ORD, the flight could be overbooked by 20, two hours before departure and wind up with empty seats at departure.

flyer215

OTOH, it's probably safe to assume that UA won't be seeking volunteers at the AA check-in counters.

Dave Noble

So does AA, it just is rare . I have seen it at Gatwick where a flight was very oversold and able to get arranged compensation vouchers and an upgrade at the check in desk and get rebooked out of Heathrow

cme2c

If your parents don't speak English , could you ask to get a pass through Security when they check-in? Haven't done it, but seems I've seen others get passes for lesser reasons. I wouldn't mention the bump at all. Just ask for the pass to escort them because they are infrequent travelers/language issues.

FlightNurse

Why wont you be able to go to the gate with your parents, ask the Ticket agent for a gate pass, I do this with my parents all the time.

PanAmFT

Better to ask AA in advance if you can get a gate pass, and chances are slim unless they're elderly. If not, they understand English and just don't speak it, you could write a note that says they volunteer to take a later flight and some minimum conditions (for example, it's both of them or neither, the later flight needs to arrive at their destination by X time, etc.) and tell to give it to the gate agent with their BP's as soon as they get there. If they don't understand English, they're better off taking the flight they're on.