This might seems to be a weird question….
I will be returning from HKG - YYZ tomorrow and I am travelling on a award business class ticket on Canadian Airlines…they regularly overbook flights at times such as the end of summer vacations and Christmas holidays…at my last check of itn, the whole flight is full in all class and I know that CP always put regular passenger in business class in order to accommodate overbooked passenger…I am curious as to how I can approach the agent whether they need to bump anyone and also does it make it harder to be bumped if I am travelling on a points business class ticket…last time I actually got bumped on CP was 3 years ago when they offered me a free round trip between YYZ - HKG, however, I was travelling in paid J class that time…

Regards,
Empress

Policy would vary from airline to airline.

Your best bet is to arrive at the gate as early as possible. Ask them if they are excepting to need volunteers to give up seats. If they answer is yes, ask them what they are offering as conmpensation. If you like the offer, tell them you'd be interested. Smile alot, be friendly, it always helps your chances.

I can't say with CP, but I know with American, it makes your chances not as good if you are not traveling in Coach. They usually only overbook Coach, and they need coach volunteers. I HAVE been bumped, but only because 1) I was elite and so they made a special effort and 2) I said at the very outset, when offering to volunteer "I would like to volunteer, but I would hate to not be chosen simply because I'm in business class. Is there a way that you can keep a special eye out for me because I would really really like to stay if possible." They told me no problem, and then becuase of that when I was at the bottom of the list (because i was in First class) they made a special effort and moved someone else up to First and let me stay.

I will restate the need to be real nice. I did this last year (on a paid fare) and because I was kind enough to offer and wait until the entire flight had been loaded, the agent gave me a $25 voucher just for being nice on a hectic Monday morning.

BSL

So, Empress. What happened? Were you able to give up your seat and fly later, and what compensation were you offered on a free ticket? Or were they putting overbooked passengers onto Cathay?

One Friday evening I was flying Canadian from Edmonton to Toronto on the last flight out (at 5pm) using a deeply discounted M-class ticket. There was no chance to use J/R-class upgrades since J-class was full, and it was clear from the crowds gathering that the rear cabin was full too. Sicne I had no need to be in that night, no hotel waiting, etc. I asked the Empress Club receptionist what the situation was with the Toronto flight. She confirmed it was going to be a problem for them since it was overbooked.

So, I went out to the gate agent (it was 45-minutes before boarding) and indicated I would be prepared to be voluntarily bumped if they needed to get some other passengers back home for the weekend. I had had the Empress Club receptionist check and so knew there was a Red-Eye out of Calgary, and another out of Vancouver, and that there was both economy and business space open on the one ex-Vancouver. The gate agent accepted my offer and I gave up my seat on the Toronto flight.

In exchange I was confirmed in J-class to Vancouver, where I picked up the Red Eye, also in J-class. I was also given a voucher for dinner until the Vancouver flight left at 7pm, as well as $100 cash. I suspect I could have asked for a domestic ticket or a few hundred dollars more if I'd taken in vouchers, but I was appreciative of the upgrades -- and full mileage credit without using any of my own stickers -- and being able to help someone who needed to get to Toronto sooner than I did, get home.

In most overbooking situations, as an elite member in Canadian Plus and Aeroplan, I find I am automatically upgraded if in economy should space be available on that same flight, or when I check in am offered the opportunity to take the next flight out, confirmed in J-class without the need to use upgrade stickers or coupons. A voucher for a few hundred dollars is also offered by way of compensation. I've never been bumped when flying in J-class, either when paying full fare, on an upgrade, or a free ticket. Must be the elite level status, though I suspect they never overbook the front cabin...

Or do they? Has anyone ever been bumped from the front cabin, either flying on a paid, up- grade or fee ticket?

I ended up flying home on schedule...they did have to denied boarding to 4 passenger on that flight due to overbooking...but the gate agent inform me that they start bumping passenger off in Y class instead of J class...compensation was told to be a free roundtrip between HKG and Canada in "E" class...I remember up until last year when CP overbook flights, a message will be displayed at check in as "Denied boarding for free ticket"...however, not anymore.

Regards,
Empress

My best ever compensation was last year in London. American was overbooked, looking for volunteers London to SFO. At first they offered $600 but upped the ante to $1500! My husband could not stay (work...) but I jumped at that one. They put me up in a 4 star hotel at Heathrow and fed me for 24 hrs. I took the train into downtown and rode around in a double decker tour bus for the first time in many years. It was great to see how much London has been scrubbed clean. My son got a freebie to Alaska off a $59 RT ticket. We have been given compensation even though we were on an award. Our experience is that it is first come first served regardless of your ticket. We now also have 2 free tix anywhere American flies domestically for volunteering Las Vegas to SFO. Not bad. One day we sat at San Diego and volunteered 3 times since we had nothing to do all afternoon anyway and gobbled up a bunch of scrip. Labor Day Weekend...

I fly within Europe out of the UK.

Is there any way I can PLAN to travel on a flight that will be overbooked. Occasionally,I would be in a position to voluntarily "bump". My only time experiencing this was last year travelling in "C" class to Barcelona on an overbooked flight. The offers were tempting but I had an early am meeting. Being able to plan being denied would be useful.

Also, is there any way to check BEFORE getting to the airport if the flight is overbooked - say via internet?

Check the available number of seats in all fare classes on www.itn.com (use expert mode). If there are 0 seats available in all the econo classes it is a good bet that it is oversold (though the airlines usually keep some seats for themselves so it is not a sure thing).

I did a quick glance on ITN...How do you
get into exprt mode to check seats?
Thanks...

If you are a registered member on itn.com you can switch from "novice" to "expert" thru a choice on the personal profiles menu. Then you can see (with some caveats) seat availability for each booking class.

Just a note that it shows a maximum of 9 seats available in any class. So even if the class is empty and there are say 24 seats it will still only show 9 available, so check back often to see if the number drops below 9.

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Happy travelling and remember - No matter where you go, there you are.

Like the moniker in your profile megamiles (yes, I occasionally go back and see if people have changed their profiles). Still banging out that code, eh! Looking forward to PiP.

I have an interesting observation about voluntary denied boarding. Generally, my primary means of paying airfare is vouchers I get from "bumping." (I haven't had to pay airfare yet this year ) My general strategy so far has been buying tickets on flights which were likely to be oversold, and then hanging out by the gate area waiting for the airline to ask for volunteers. However, after reading come people's advice on the subject, I decided to be more agressive and instead of hanging out by the gate area come and ask the gate agent if they need volunteers. I did this twice, and both times, they needed volunteers, and both times I was not selected as a volunteer! Even though I was the first one to volunteer both times! My theory is that airlines are getting a wind of people like myself who make bumping their second major source of income , and are suspicious of people who seem too eager to volunteer. Next time, (I have tickets booked for the Thankgiving season ) I'll just lurk around the gate and wait for them to get desperate for volunteers...

Darien...I too, have been bumped many times...and I, too booked a trip to Key West on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and back on the Sunday after mostly to get bumped. We booked last December so the tickets from Boston were less than 250.00....until about a month ago they were selling for 850.00 but now everything is oversold. Let me know how you make out.