This morning (Sunday) I was scheduled to fly ORD/BOS. My flight was cancelled Saturday due to weather in Chicago. I was not automatically rebooked, but instead, through the app, I was given the opportunity to select a new flight. Of course there were no Sunday options, only Monday, so I picked the 8:40 am option. The flight was confirmed, I selected a seat, checked in, got a boarding pass, and the app still gave me option to change my flight again at no charge.

So this evening I decided a little more time in the morning might be nice. I went to the app and selected a new flight at 10:05am. Again it was confirmed, seat BP, etc...

Except now, the message in the app, instead of saying I can change flights, is offering me a voucher if I am willing to change flights. When I click on the message it takes me to a page that asks me how much $$ I’d be willing to accept to take that flight change.

Never saw this before, so I thought it was pretty interesting.

Glad to see it rolling out:

Not via the App but my non status friends both got $900 each for taking a later flight CLT-Houston recently. They were super pumped lol.

Flying late in the evening on 5/2 on a flight that they stopped selling seats on since Sunday. I was looking at the app and saw that they were soliciting volunteers “starting at $200”. You essentially select from 4 offers. In the case of my flight, the offers were $200, $300, $400 and $500.

I don’t think it benefits people to wait until the last minute to check in. I have not checked in for my flight and won’t be doing so until I get to the airport but the offers are already there with preloaded amounts. Sure, they could go up at the gate if they don’t get enough volunteers but the risk you run by not selecting an offer in advance is that enough others would select one either when checking in early or by just looking at the app 24 hours before departure. If they have selected an amount that gets AA the number of volunteers it needs, you’re pretty much out of luck. So waiting wouldn’t help in that regard. The terms and conditions indicate that the solicitation will be taking place via the app and kiosks.

I know people have been wondering if everyone gets the same amount as the highest offer. See below from the terms and conditions:

”Please note that other passengers may submit Bids electing different options and therefore Accommodations may differ in the amount of compensation offered in exchange for giving up a confirmed seat. Additionally, we may receive multiple Bids in the same amount and therefore you may not receive an Accommodation even if your Bid was in the same amount as the Bid resulting in an Accommodation provided to a different passenger.”

the voucher is not granted until the seat is needed after boarding I believe. On UA I have seen them allow people to bid in advance but when they are really expecting to need the seat they also allow you to switch to other flights for no fee at check in to reduce the overbook without needing to compensate.

I agree with your assessment. There is no point in the app only accepting 3 volunteers because it in no way adversely impacts AA. Soliciting more than the possible “oversell” ensures they will have enough volunteers when the time comes, especially since people can change their minds.

I have a flight tomorrow and looking at the app, I see an alert that they are asking for volunteers to give up seat for travel vouchers. Is this new for the app and do they normally do this the day before? Never seen it before.