That’s what I was trying to figure out - how to take an Amex or Visa GC from a bump and somehow cash it out. Like can you buy a money order with them?

Generally you cant buy anything that can be converted to cash. Money order - no, Store Gift card - yes, etc...

You can use services like PayPal, Square, etc to cash out the card by paying yourself using the AMEX GC. It's what I do. Order the AMEX, same day it arrives cash them out. Cash in bank account following day.

However, doing so will usually cost you a few percentage points.

that's not quite right. If the card DL gives you is a debit card with a pin, you can go to any usps post office and get a money order for $1.20 then deposit to your bank. has to be debit and not credit for usps to accept for a money order.

according to my local post office, about a year ago the law or post office policy changed and it's no longer permitted to convert prepaid cards like this amex card, vanilla debit, etc., to money orders. something about money laundering and gaining points, rebates, etc.,this way. somebody put a stop to it. she didn't know who but she said she got stuck with three cards herself. if your name isn't printed on the card, their system won't accept it.

ymmv

It's not a debit card and there is no pin. It is a prepaid card and you have to select 'credit' when running it at any merchant, not debit.

I usually do Paypal. I do lose a little bit of money but all of it is "profit" so its worth not worrying about losing the gift card or having to track the balance and such.

A bit late, but had a bump last month:

7/4/2019: MSP - DCA, needed either 2 or 3 volunteers (don't remember for sure) on the 9 AM flight. Started at $200 to bump to the noon flight, ultimately offered $400 for noon flight or $600 for 3:15 PM flight. A friend and I took the $600 each for the 3:15 PM flight (vacation and had enough time to head back home for a bit.) Actually wound up being the better choice - the noon flight was diverted to CVG for a while, and while our 3:15 PM flight was delayed a couple hours it arrived before the noon flight did!

It's an Amex card which will never run as debit.

Flight on Wednesday 8/21 was overbooked by 3, but wound up taking 1. Unfortunately, some idiot bid $300. The kicker was that DL had to put him up for two nights in a hotel because that was the next available flight to his destination. I have never seen someone take such a bad deal. GA felt bad that I lost out and YBYL'd me into F since I had to hang around to the last minute. If they needed a second person, I would have got $1000 for a 5 hour delay (albeit a very creative routing I put together).

22-Aug IND-DTW asked for volunteer(s). I did and the GA asked me how much money I wanted for going the following day. 1st time I've ever been asked. Irrelevant since they didn't end up needing anyone.

BNA-SLC on Sunday evening 9/8 oversold by six due to a combination of delayed earlier flight to LAX and the Tenn-BYU game the day before. $600 gift card to take a flight the next day. They ended up needing four volunteers.

I would say $600 is pretty stingy for having to overnight and take a 24 hour delay.

Most offers I see on UA for similar circumstances are between $1000 - $2500.

Isn’t United still in damage control mode after that Involuntary Removal From Aircraft incident?

8/30 - MSP-RHI on a CR2. Arrived at gate right before boarding when the announcement came over that they were up to $800 and needed 1. Next flight was a 10:30 pm departure instead of 2:30pm. Someone beat me to the GA.