I am going to write an airline with a suggestion and I wondered what others thought. I think when an airline asks for volunteers to give up their seat, the volunteers should be allowed to board the plane in the regular order if they so choose. If the seat is needed, the flight attendant can get the volunteer and he can exit the plane while the new passenger enters the plane.

The way the system works now (at least with respect to the airline I flew a few days ago), if a person volunteers and the seat is not needed, the volunteer is the last person to board the plane. There is often either no overhead bin space or none anywhere near his or her seat. It is safe to say that most volunteers have not checked their luggage and really don't want to. The flight attendant thinks the volunteer is just someone who was really late getting to the gate and is relatively more likely to be unpleasant.

I had this happen the other day. I responded to a very direct solicitation to give up my seat but it wasn't needed. I ended up having an unpleasant flying experience and got $0 in return. A much worse situation than if I hadn't responded to the invitation to give up my seat.

Interesting idea. I'll leave it up to the venerable Flyertalk gurus to give opinions regarding whether this is workable.

I do have an alternative solution, however. If you have bumping on your mind, don't carry on anything that won't fit under the seat in front of you. As long as you're not in a bulkhead seat, you're in business!

It depends on how busy the gate agents are and their attitude. The other factors are whether the flight is running late or not and the a/c size. On a flight out of SEA a few weeks ago, the gate agents told me to wait otherwise I might lose my upgrade if I boarded. Moot point as I got upgraded before boarding. On another flight (same airline, same airport, same a/c), they boarded people than asked for volunteers. That was done efficiently (needed 6) but it did delay pushback a few minutes. At other times, I have heard staff of the airline telling volunteers to board first anyway and to not board. If the a/c is running late, going back to get the volunteer might take too much time (or trouble). Similarly, if the a/c is large, boarding will take more time so going in to get volunteers will delay pushback.

Interesting that you discuss Seattle. It was at SEA earlier this year that I and a friend boarded an American (either 757 or MD-80, I don't remember which)after volunteering to be bumped. They said the plane was only oversold by two so they probably wouldn't need us but thanks for making the offer. Just before the aircraft was buttoned up, the gate agent came and found us, asked if we still were interested in volunteering. When we said yes, she said something like "send them down" on a walkie-talkie, told us to get our carryons, pulled us off the plane (and I literally did see the door swing shut before we left the jetbridge) and gave us $500 bump vouchers, a hotel room, and first class seats all the way to the east coast the next day.

So I've had bumps happen both ways, but being asked to wait outside is more common and I think for the reason that's easier for the ground crew. Maybe a good in-between solution would be for the gate crew to let the cabin crew know these last-minute boarders are unneeded bump volunteers and so a little extra help in finding space in the overheads would be appropriate?

I know when I've flown CO they would board coach pax who are waitlisted, and then seemed to discretely pull you from your seat and move you up front if you got an upgrade.

UA doesn't do this, so if you are waiting for an upgrade and it falls through you are last to board with the same problems of lack of overhead space etc.

I think your suggestion is a good one but I can't see UA doing it although other airlines might (and they all should)

The big problem that I'd foresee is buyer's remorse: someone volunteers, sits in his seat, reconsiders whether or not the $n00 is really worth it, and then doesn't budge when asked.

My SEA example was with US.

The last time I flew PHL-SEA (not-very-full A319 ontime arrival/departure), the gate agent went to the back to upgrade someone who had already boarded (not free, he had to surrender 3 coupons). As said, I guess it all depends on how much time they have before scheduled pushback and the size of the plane. In my US volunteer-after-boarding example, they just called for volunteers and didn't go look for anyone who had volunteered at the gate.

Last time I volunteered but not get bumped.. when I go to the plane (the last-5 person) with a backpack and a plastic bag of gifts (no checked luggage, legal to have two).

The FA saw me and asked where is my seat, i said 17B (exit row) show up my BP. He galdly said there is some place at the back, help me unload the pack and place it, find another spot for my plastic bag... nice touch.

I think the following may be factors:

1.I hold up and showed him my BP with <b>large marker word "vol"</b> which means I am a volunteer so boarded last.

2. this domestic leg is "rerouted" in "Y" Class, so my ticket (or the manifest) will show I am "Premium", "Adv Gold", and "Exit".

3. I kindly help people in front of me to get to his right seat.

....I think I will always show the FA that large "VOL" mark on my BP.

I think whether or not agents will have volunteers wait at the gate is solely based on the likelihood of needing volunteers and is a judgement call. I usually ask about volunteering on return flights and even when the flight is oversold up to 10 over, sometimes the answer is still no. I've also boarded fights that sold as full, and ended up volunteering after being seated. A volunteer told they are not needed faces full overheads...this is the downside to volunteering. I think volunteers that board should be given some compensation, maybe even something as little as a drink/headset voucher.

I can think of at least 3 different times in the past year that I have been given $25-50 in discount certificates on United just for volunteering on flights that were predicted to be full. In those cases, though, I did board at the very end when they ended up not needing volunteers.

If they were to offer compensation to everyone that volunteered, there would probably be a rush to the counter in hopes of being compensated no matter what happened.

I agree that there are a few problems if they have you board and then come and get you:

1. if the overhead bins are full, the crew will want to take your bag outside and stick it in the plane. They won't want it sitting in an aisle until the last possible moment.

2. once you are on the plane and they come and get you, you have ALL the negotiating power. Since you are holding onto your boarding pass and are on the plane, you can unreasonably delay them by wanting to negotiate while you are in your seat.

I've volunteered and been told to get on the plane anyway, without settling on a $$$ amount. If they don't want to lose their place in line for takeoff, they will get to see how greedy I am (the number I usually have in mind is the full-fare walkup price). Or, they could physically throw me off the plane, which, I suppose, they are low enough to do.

My experience is mostly with United; they've almost always asked volunteers to wait in the boarding area. I'd imagine it slows down the take-off if they have to go on and get passengers (and see if they're still interested); the way things stand they can give the overflow boarding passes immediately and try to get out reasonably on time (not too likely with an overfull flight ).

To my mind the full overheads is simply a risk of volunteering, well compensated for by the frequency that I've been upgraded on my replacement flight.