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AA Bump Rates; compensation for VDB / Voluntary Denied Boarding (master thread)

Old Mar 31, 2016, 5:15 pm
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AA Bump Rates: Volunteer Compensation / Voluntary Denied Boarding

Passengers involuntarily denied boarding on AA are denied usually after calls for volunteers to accept vouchers (and occasionally variable other benefits), usually beginning at $200 or $300 but possibly going significantly higher, depending on passenger response. See more below, including AA Conditions of Carriage.

See IDB / Involuntarily Denied Boarding on AA & Compensation (master thread) for INVOLUNTARILY denied boarding.

Link to US Dept. of Transportation Aviation Consumer Protection Division's "Fly-Rights - A Consumer Guide to Air Travel" section on Overbooking

"IDB" (involuntarily denied boarding) compensation is governed in the USA by "14 CFR 250.5 - Amount of denied boarding compensation for passengers denied boarding involuntarily".

Link to CFR 250.5; as well:

14 CFR 250.2b Carriers to request volunteers for denied boarding.
(a) In the event of an oversold flight, every carrier shall request volunteers for denied boarding before using any other boarding priority. A volunteer is a person who responds to the carrier's request for volunteers and who willingly accepts the carriers' offer of compensation, in any amount, in exchange for relinquishing the confirmed reserved space. Any other passenger denied boarding is considered for purposes of this part to have been denied boarding involuntarily, even if that passenger accepts the denied boarding compensation.

(b) Every carrier shall advise each passenger solicited to volunteer for denied boarding, no later than the time the carrier solicits that passenger to volunteer, whether he or she is in danger of being involuntarily denied boarding and, if so, the compensation the carrier is obligated to pay if the passenger is involuntarily denied boarding. If an insufficient number of volunteers come forward, the carrier may deny boarding to other passengers in accordance with its boarding priority rules.

14 CFR 250.9 Written explanation of denied boarding compensation and boarding priorities, and verbal notification of denied boarding compensation.
(a) Every carrier shall furnish passengers who are denied boarding involuntarily from flights on which they hold confirmed reserved space immediately after the denied boarding occurs, a written statement explaining the terms, conditions, and limitations of denied boarding compensation, and describing the carriers' boarding priority rules and criteria. The carrier shall also furnish the statement to any person upon request at all airport ticket selling positions which are in the charge of a person employed exclusively by the carrier, or by it jointly with another person or persons, and at all boarding locations being used by the carrier.

Link to AA Conditions of Carriage, "Oversales"

In the European Union, EC261/2004 governs denied boarding compensation.

Link to EC261 / EC 261/2004 complaints and AA (master thread)

On American Airlines, you are sometimes ineligible for IDB as allowed by the USDOT:
If a flight is oversold (more passengers hold confirmed reservations than there are seats available), no one may be denied boarding against his or her will until airline personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservation willingly, in exchange for compensation of the airlines choosing. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with the following boarding priority of American. In such events, American will usually deny boarding based upon check-in time, but we may also consider factors such as severe hardships, fare paid, and status within the AAdvantage program.

If you are denied boarding involuntarily, you are entitled to a payment of
denied boarding compensation from the airline unless:

- You have not fully complied with the airlines ticketing, check-in and reconfirmation requirements, or you are not acceptable for transportation under the airlines usual rules and practices; or

- You are denied boarding because the flight is canceled; or

You are denied boarding because a smaller capacity aircraft was substituted for safety or operational reasons; or

- On a flight operated with an aircraft having 60 or fewer seats, you are denied boarding due to safety-related weight/balance restrictions that limit payload; or

- You are offered accommodations in a section of the aircraft other than specified in your ticket, at no extra charge (a passenger seated in a section for which a lower fare is charged must be given an appropriate refund); or

- The airline is able to place you on another flight or flights that are planned to reach your next stopover or final destination within one hour of the planned arrival time of your original flight.[/code]

The previous thread is http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html
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AA Bump Rates; compensation for VDB / Voluntary Denied Boarding (master thread)

Old Dec 27, 2018, 10:07 pm
  #586  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
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Originally Posted by econometrics
I did not hit "Volunteer", but it seemed to me that you were simply added to a list of volunteers, and that any bumps or compensations would be determined at the gate itself by the gate agent of your flight. And at that time, you can choose to accept it or leave it.
Thanks for the extra info ^ Wonder if it will evolve to handle situations where they offer something straight away with a confirmed change for situations where its clear they are oversold. In the post-UA Dr dragging era the gate lottery for volunteers can get rich, I scored a 2K voucher from DL on a SEA-YVR flight this year which was hilarious (think I paid $400 for the R/T in F, I was booked on AS in F 3 hours later), so if done properly it could save the airlines from needing to increase the offer at the gate and get flights out quicker since they won't need to keep increasing the offer until enough people bite.
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Old Dec 29, 2018, 12:45 pm
  #587  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 579
Tons of overbooking at CMH yesterday. I was trying to standby for an earlier CMH-DFW flight and they ended up needing a couple volunteers. Not sure what the comp was. Later, my flight was overbooked by 6. They offered $550 and flights the next day and got enough volunteers. Apparently the situation for CMH-PHX was dire, as I heard them offering $1,000 for any volunteers.
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Old Jan 2, 2019, 7:15 pm
  #588  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: AA EXP
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Oversold by one today on PBI-PHL and they were initially offering $700, then $850, and finally $1000. Unfortunately I couldn't take it as I had an international connection in PHL.
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Old Jan 2, 2019, 8:04 pm
  #589  
 
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Originally Posted by ryan182
Thanks for the extra info ^ Wonder if it will evolve to handle situations where they offer something straight away with a confirmed change for situations where its clear they are oversold. In the post-UA Dr dragging era the gate lottery for volunteers can get rich, I scored a 2K voucher from DL on a SEA-YVR flight this year which was hilarious (think I paid $400 for the R/T in F, I was booked on AS in F 3 hours later), so if done properly it could save the airlines from needing to increase the offer at the gate and get flights out quicker since they won't need to keep increasing the offer until enough people bite.
ya it is ridiculous. Last year march when i was in Bozeman, then DL outbound flight was oversold by 4. I heard the gate start to offer from $500 for volunteer until $1500 before I boarded my AA outbound flight. Not sure if anyone bite it at that point. But $1500 is a very good offer even it was amazon voucher
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Old Jan 5, 2019, 1:44 pm
  #590  
 
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Not me unfortunately, but a mate of mine and his other half were flying MCO-MIA-Europe yesterday

MCO-MIA was over by 1 and mate volunteered after hearing the amount - $850 voucher !! Unsure if there were lower amounts before this was offered

Was put on a flight 1 hour later and met with partner in MIA during their 4 hour layover

Pays for nearly all of their next trip back to the States. He flies a couple of times a year and gets this!
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Old Jan 13, 2019, 6:43 pm
  #591  
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Flying SYR-ORD today.
Oversold by 4. Rebooked flight was ~4 hrs later.
Started at $450, I volunteered right away (agent said everyone would get the same final offer amt).
Raised to $600. Still not enough.
Final offer $800. 1 person and 1 couple bit.
Tough crowd!
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Old Jan 15, 2019, 1:51 pm
  #592  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 23
Didn't report these as they came up, but I've made out like a bandit this past year.

On 3/25 I picked up a $300 voucher for ORD-SNA. Was traveling for a business training, and had the first flight of the day scheduled, and they just needed to VDB to the next flight about an hour later. Jumped at the offer (nothing better to do). They later offered $1,200 to take a flight later in the day, but I didn't want to chance it.

On 3/28 I picked up another $500 for SNA-ORD. Wife told me to walk in and volunteer right away if able, since I was solo and returning home, and I can work from practically anywhere if needed. They took my VDB, upgraded my boarding group, and issued 2 meal vouchers, and rerouted me SNA-PHX-ORD-overnight-AZO. Plane was held on the ground for maintenance (dent in cargo door). Ended up missing my PHX-ORD connection, but when I arrived, ended up having a rebook done already for the next morning, #1 standby for the red-eye. Gave me an option to wait 5 hours or take an overnight hotel. Opted to wait and work, and got on the red-eye. Made my connection to AZO.

Took my $800, booked ORD-LGA to do a long weekend with the wife and my older 2 daughters in NYC. Arrived at ORD on 7/19, must have had some WX and other issues in the country, because there were 60 on standby for our flight and they were asking for 8 VOLs at $800 per. With the 4 of us in no hurry, we took the offer. Got a meal voucher each, and put on standby for the remaining flights until our confirmed about 4 hours later.

Got plenty of vouchers now for a spring vacation with all 4 of my daughters now! Just got back from Costa Rica with my wife after I used vouchers to pay for her ticket when I was down there for business as well.
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Old Jan 19, 2019, 8:49 am
  #593  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 15
My wife and I each scored $1200 vouchers last year when AA was needing 19 people to get off the plane (they had almost finished boarding before they realized there was a problem). This was a flight from CLT -> AUS. AA was going to put us in a hotel overnight and we were supposed to be booked on the first flight the next day but we were able to get on a flight that evening to San Antonio instead and found a $60 one way rental car and just drove from San Antonio to Austin. Got to Austin about 3 hours later than we would have.
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Old Jan 19, 2019, 10:13 am
  #594  
 
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Originally Posted by decoybob
My wife and I each scored $1200 vouchers last year when AA was needing 19 people to get off the plane (they had almost finished boarding before they realized there was a problem). This was a flight from CLT -> AUS. AA was going to put us in a hotel overnight and we were supposed to be booked on the first flight the next day but we were able to get on a flight that evening to San Antonio instead and found a $60 one way rental car and just drove from San Antonio to Austin. Got to Austin about 3 hours later than we would have.
should have asked if they would give you each an extra $100-200 for saving them the hotel and food voucher cost. nice catch!
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Old Jan 27, 2019, 4:55 pm
  #595  
 
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AA 1142 (MIA->JFK) on 1/27 is oversold by 6, they are offering a $600 voucher and hotel accommodations/meals to take a flight tomorrow morning. It blows my mind that they can be so oversold on a 767-300 on this route.
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Old Jan 27, 2019, 4:56 pm
  #596  
 
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Deleted duplicate post.
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Old Jan 27, 2019, 5:12 pm
  #597  
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Originally Posted by donotblink
AA 1142 (MIA->JFK) on 1/27 is oversold by 6, they are offering a $600 voucher and hotel accommodations/meals to take a flight tomorrow morning. It blows my mind that they can be so oversold on a 767-300 on this route.
How many did they actually need in the end? They have a habit of asking for volunteers and then not actually using them when it comes to boarding.
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Old Jan 27, 2019, 5:39 pm
  #598  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
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Originally Posted by absoluy


How many did they actually need in the end? They have a habit of asking for volunteers and then not actually using them when it comes to boarding.
You beat me to the punch, they ended up not needing anyone. On the plus side, Im flying in row 17 for the first time!
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Old Feb 16, 2019, 8:26 am
  #599  
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
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CLT-LAX VDM compensation

Anyone have any datapoints on recent VDB compensation CLT-LAX, or comparable cross country flights?

I'm on the 10am CLT-LAX flight this Monday, 2/18, the day after the NBA All-Star Game, and the only seats left to buy on the 6 CLT-LAX nonstops are 3 first class seats on the last flight out.

Hoping to get bumped at least once, plans totally flexible.

And is there some sort of algorithm they use? The computer says initial offer of $x, wait for 15 minutes, then increase offer to $x if still need more volunteers? I'm imagining there will be a lot of business types that don't have much flexibility and that there won't be a lot of no shows.
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Old Feb 17, 2019, 8:39 am
  #600  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: AA EXP
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Originally Posted by jchock1
Anyone have any datapoints on recent VDB compensation CLT-LAX, or comparable cross country flights?

I'm on the 10am CLT-LAX flight this Monday, 2/18, the day after the NBA All-Star Game, and the only seats left to buy on the 6 CLT-LAX nonstops are 3 first class seats on the last flight out.

Hoping to get bumped at least once, plans totally flexible.

And is there some sort of algorithm they use? The computer says initial offer of $x, wait for 15 minutes, then increase offer to $x if still need more volunteers? I'm imagining there will be a lot of business types that don't have much flexibility and that there won't be a lot of no shows.
Not sure the algorithm that is used. I've received $580 in the past to wait 3 hours on American Eagle and downgraded to coach, but I've also received $900 to wait 1 hour and upgraded from J to F on JFK-LAX. I wish I could understand the algorithm but I can't seem to figure it out. Please report back and let us know if they were looking for volunteers!
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