ok. Yes it's likely oversold. You can call DL day of and they're required to tell you if it's oversold but really depends on how many people check in and board.

Y2 can be "even" in some cases, meaning the airline is willing to oversell 2 seats. On UA's app, for instance, you can see in some cases that the flight is showing full (when checking flight status a couple days prior to departure), even though you will see Y>0 when searching for inventory.

The flight I was able to get is not available even for purchase anymore. I'm curious if that means it's dead even and they don't oversell all flights or if it gets to the point where they stop selling tickets it means that it's over by 10. Any insight?

Very interesting, never read this before, thanks!

If the flight is more than 2 days away, it is likely oversold if they are not selling seats. If it's day of departure.... more than likely even at best... possibly oversold. If Y=0, it is at the very least completely sold out.

3/4 flights DL was dead on the money. Every seat taken. No VDB.
Today DTW-SWF 2 over - $400 pp.

Checked in at IAH yesterday for IAH-ATL-RDU. The machine said ATL-RDU was oversold, I put in a bid of $200. I got to ATL, went to the SC, then got to the gate 5 minutes before boarding. I asked if they still needed me and they said they'd made their own announcement for volunteers. Kind of makes you wonder what the point of bidding at the machine is.

As it was they took one person that they made an announcement for on the plane. Not sure how much she got.

Depends on what time you got to the counter before boarding started. If they know they are oversold, they usually prefer to secure VDBs sooner (e.g. 30min before boarding) to avoid last minute shuffles.

Earlier you get to the gate and confirm with the GA know you are willing to VDB, they are more likely to bypass the list to give it to you since you are already waiting near the counter. It's less work for them.

Would be much better if the airline just made an initial minimum offer at check-in and then deal with the bidding war at the gate if they don't have enough volunteers from the check-in kiosks. Then they can raise the offers up.

The GA's probably had it sorted out before you were able to connect into your gate. My VDB chances reduce dramatically if I'm not able to make it to the gate 60 minutes or more prior to departure.

Two examples to share:

1) Last year, I took a bump when IAH-DTW was oversold by 2. I bid $500 at check-in. But I approached the gate agent about an hour before departure and specifically volunteered to take a bump. She then made an announcement "needing 1 [more] volunteer."

2) On a different day, I also bid $500 on DTW-IAH at check-in. I flew my first segment, went to the Sky Club, and forgot all about it. I boarded near the end of the line. Then, the gate agent came on board and asked just me if I was still interested in $500. I declined so she made an announcement and got a volunteer.

Conclusions are they DO use the check-in list IF they need to, and that asking at the gate helps your chances.

Today PIT-DTW oversold by 4 or 5. We each got $900 travel voucher and I got Marriott + amenity kit + 3x $15 meal vouchers and 1st class (F with 100% MQM bonus when originally on Q fare) to PDX (PIT-MSP-PDX) tomorrow morning. I was only in C+ on both of today's flights.

$11,000 in VDB compensation
 

For a family of 3, and multiple bumps on same trip:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/airl...g-compensation

The following is peculiar, though:

"At first, Bloom says she ignored the offer, but once an announcement for $900 per seat was made, her husband approached the agent to say that he, his wife, and their 4-year old daughter would be willing to give up their seats for $1,500 a piece. The agent made a counteroffer of $1,350, which is the maximum amount an airline is able to compensate a passenger under U.S. law."

$1350 is the maximum that the airline could be required to pay for an IDB, not the maximum that is is allowed to pay under US law.

So, does this reflect:

1) an ill-trained or disingenuous GA, or

2) a misunderstanding by the PAX?

Either way, the statement as it appears in the article is careless "journalism." The author is passing on misinformation. Something he could have avoided by following his own link to the DOT web site and reading for comprehension.

A pet peeve of mine... travel articles too frequently contain misinformation, misconceptions, and/or B.S.

What did Delta give you?

May 25 LAX-PDX. Asking for 6 volunteers. In the end only needed one and I was it. $500 AMEX gift card, $15 meal voucher, hotel (Fairfield Inn) and rebooked in F on May 26. May 26: looked like the flight was oversold so I went to podium early and offered to volunteer. This time they ended up needing three. $500 AMEX + $15 meal voucher + booked in F three hours later. I did offer on the 3rd flight (it was 100% full, but not overbooked), but wasn't needed.

ATL was a nightmare today. Booked ORF-ATL-SEA-PSC, 2 hours before departure got a call for $200 voucher or 20,000 sky miles for later flight that got in sooner due to overbooked ATL-SEA leg. On rebooked ATL-SLC leg, got $800 voucher to spend night in SLC. There wer about 25 on the standby list. On shuttle to Residence Inn everyone had at least one bump out of SLC, some with two bumps.

Sooo, how does Delta decide who to call offering bumps? This was the first time I got a call.