I would never suspect that if I agreed to change my flight so that the airline could accommodate someone else that I would not receive any compensation...and I am sure I am not the only one. You are doing the airlines a favor - whether the flight you agree to change to at the last minute gets you there faster is not of any consequence. I have never heard of anyone being VBD'd and receiving nothing in return. (And I would not consider a food voucher any kind of compensation for changing my itinerary!)

Instead of passing judgment on the OP or even the station agent, seems like the best takeaway from this is to simply get a dollar number on the record before even having any further conversation about VDB options with a agent, either via the checkin process or with literally the first sentence of your conversation.

True but the OP stated in a subsequent post that this is not his style and would not do it even in the future. His loss. End. Of. Story.

No, it's not the "End. Of. Story.", this is a discussion forum.

This discussion is valuable because it reminds all of us to be extra vigilant during what can only be properly called a negotiation.

In my opinion the OP should have gotten more and was taken advantage of by a GA who missed an opportunity to deliver excellent customer service. The GA could have given a voucher, or confirmed an upgrade to F on one of the segments, or some miles. To have done so without being asked would have been in line with DL's overall fantastic customer service reputation. That reputation can easily be tarred by little things like this, and is worth much more than the few hundred dollars of e-credit or the free upgrade to F.

A while back, I was flying XXX/MSP/SEA, and I knew THE MSP/SEA flight was overbooked. I was chatting with the GA, and she told me she was over by 3.

She had been paging a family of 3 going MSP/SEA/GEG (I think it was), because she wanted to offer them a nonstop instead of the SEA connection, and get in 3 hours earlier.

Paging, paging.... No answer. Suddenly, they appeared! DRAT!

Anyway, they were occasional travelers, I'd guess, and they were just THRILLED to not hafto connect, plus get in earlier! Nothing was ever discussed with them about comp. I stood there the whole time!

That said, while, technically, the OP here probably isn't entitled to anything, surely the GA must've known the OP was looking for comp. Who in the world would ask about a VDB and NOT want comp, especially to change to cr@ppier seats on such long flights?!? Are there some kind of bonuses for keeping stations under a certain VDB budget?

Compensation and rebooking options go hand in hand. Don't accept $200 and then find out they can't get you there for three days. Don't demand $1000 when the rerouting gets you in 37 minutes later. First question should be when and how they can get you there... once you know that, then immediately ask what the compensation would be, or say "I'd be willing to do that for $xxx."

Completely agree. I disagreed with OP's approach because you can so easily win the negotiation when they are in a rush and really need a volunteer, with little backup options - it doesn't cost any of those agents or the Red Coat personally (aka money out of their pocket) to issue a voucher, etc. Hence why it would be so easy to accomplish, and as jdrtravel says, the Red Coat SHOULD HAVE done.

The OP was inconvenienced - worse seats, getting in around the same time, same number of connections, etc. There should have been something in exchange for this inconvenience. It wouldn't have cost the Red Coat ANYTHING to issue a voucher, would have made the OP happy, and would have likely caused the OP to spend more than the voucher amount with DL. Everyone wins.

I would say that there is significant value for these occasional travelers in this reroute. They skip a connection and save hours of time. They also don't have to deal with an extra segment, which as an occasional traveler, they probably don't care very much for.

While I think the GA could have issued these three people a small voucher for the trouble (think of what DL fanboys they would be if they got the nonstop AND $200 voucher each - which is nothing to DL - and they would likely spend more on DL that $200 on a single flight out of GEG) I don't think these people were as "taken" as the OP. OP didn't have segments or overall trip time reduced, and had uncertainty on seats, carriers, upgrades, etc. increased.

Over the years, I've heard similar to the above quite a few times in BKK! .....

But, that's for another place and time.

hey, Dave, are you competing with javabytes here? look at your post counts!

My reply was sentimental and taken a bit outta context. I may not feel compelled to bargain in specific circumstance in original post, but I'd highly unlikely get myself into same situation again. Biz is biz... No twice shame on me thing...


I concentrate my flights on DL/ST last year. DL PM now and will hit DM on scheduled flights within a few months. More long hauls than domestic so not quite often encounter VDB. It's definitely first time no dollar amount was announced calling for VDB and turned into tricky situation.

For the sake of discussion, it's poor biz practice to play regular client like one-timer, at least After all, material impact is minuscule but surely left a little bad taste in mouth over much goodwill DL has built over the years. Keep climbing...

Hahaha! Amazing!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program!

Benitovacation, I think you should VERRRRRY politely call into the PM holiness, and very briefly, explain that the GA was offering Delta$$$ for VDBs. You volunteered, and we're told follow the RedCoat to a different gate, and we're handed new boarding passes without your direct approval or consent, and I'd expect that you at least get something.

Completely agree. I disagreed with the approach and feel ashame of myself

Departing for a two-week vacation alone in Europe I've waited for couple of years. Just like to relax and get a voucher and go on my way... still got the voucher though

Voucher was deposited to my account after the call.

Is it autocorrecting? PM is obscure and not entitle to DYKWIA holiness