OMNI: Budweisser? BLEH!

Becks is good beer, and I hope you get your free samples Beckles (and save a few for me!)

I seem to recall the CRC at Laguardia has Becks, so if you're ever flying DL out of LGA you can get in their now and have some (with your RCC membership).

Thanks MisterNice, I got some good tips.

Thought I would bring this forward given some of the current interest. Additional references on strategies to maximize bumping chances:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/002854.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/001491.html

I was also bumped once on my way out of San Diego. I believe the runway there is just long enough for the largest planes they take, and it happened to rain on the morning that I was there. So, the plane had to shed some weight, and they asked for volunteers.

I was flying transcon UA (SAN-ORD-BOS), and the gate agent said that finding open seats on other flights was getting difficult, and it was looking like I might not get bumped. But I made some quick calls, and found that SAN-SFO-BOS might work. Showed this to the gate agent, and she booked me in transcon first class SFO-BOS (3 class flight)! The shuttle flight to SFO didn't have room to do 1st but I have to say that SFO-BOS flight was the nicest domestic trip I've taken. I don't know if it's equivalent to SFO-JFK service, but it was great.

Also got $300 out of it, and avoided the original routing, which got those passengers in to BOS 6 hours late, due to weather. Before this I hadn't really though about concentrating travel on one carrier, but after this, UA basically captured my loyalty -- why? 1) the vouchers put me into a cycle of traveling on UA that year, allowing me to reach PE status, 2) the accomodating staff and crew on that one trip, and 3) hopes of flying in transcon 1st again...

Hi! Some question about volunteering...

1) Any chance to volunteers on a trans-pacific flight? (Usually I fly ORD-NRT-ORD)

and then the connecting flight ORD_DTW?

Also, For airlines (e.g. AA), will they try to do all the operational upgrade stuff before asking volunteers? Any specific booking class people they will look for?

A side question.. any people familiar with situation of ORD please tell me the chance to get bumped on 31 Aug NRT-ORD and ORD-DTW?

Thanks!

A couple of months ago a friend and I were booked CVG-FRA on a Friday night. He's a PM and I a GM. We discovered that the flight was overbooked by 34 seats 1 1/2 hours before departure. We volunteered to be bumped. They bumped us both, gave us a $500 voucher, $15 meal ticket, Hilton hotel for the night, rebooked us BizElite RT for the next day's flight;we were in L class on a nonrefundable, nonexchangeable, non upgradable ticket. They were pleased that we were willing and needless to say we enjoyed it thoroughly as we were on inexpensive Escape fares. We both really like DL and get upgraded fairly regularly but not bumped very often as planes are rarely full. We heard later that BE may not have been full the night of our original reservation after all.

Best I've done is on a flight from L.A. to Melbourne, Australia on United. I volunteered at check-in at SFO, and also at the Red Carpet Club in L.A. I was told they would not use me because I had checked a bag.

Boarded the flight in business class, and no sooner had I sat down than they were paging for volunteers. I was the first one at the door.

Got $600 voucher, two nights at the airport Hilton (until flight time the next night), and meal vouchers. Spent the entire next day in San Diego with a person who worked for IBM in Melbourne that also volunteered. Best part of this was the upgrade to first class the next day out, as business was full

Most recent bump was $300 voucher in early June for an oversold BWI-SFO flight. They took me by cab over to Dulles, and I arrived 2 hours later than scheduled.

[This message has been edited by tom911 (edited 07-03-2000).]

There was an article hot linked somewhere here by a guy who seemed to make a career of getting bumped by AA! Says he got $600 a bump as I recall, and bought 3 x $200 sale tix to same destination, so flew all year for free basically. Who knows if it is true, but he gave a kind of primer on what to do, and not do, to be sucessful!

I think this is the what you are looking for ozstamps. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum71/HTML/001147.html

[This message has been edited by magic111 (edited 07-04-2000).]

I don't think checking a bag has much to do with it. However, in my experience, checking a bag and then NOT being bumped is a great way to make sure your bag gets off first! They hold potential bumpees' bags until the end, because they don't know if the person will be on the plane or not. They even come off ahead of first class and other priority bags.

I've had many "good" bumps and often times will purposely select routes and travel times that I know will be busy. One of my better ones happened last summer from MSP to a small town in MI on NW Airlink. I was traveling with a group of four and could see that our gate was crazy so I asked the agent to put my name and one of my travel partners (who I talked into it) on the volunteer list since the flight was overbooked. We did get bumped. Over an hour after the original flight had departed the gate, the agent was just finishing up with our $400 travel vouchers, meal vouchers and hotel reservations when our other two travel partners arrived back. Our original flight had waited on a sweltering runway for nearly an hour before taking off and then one of the engines overheated on takeoff and they had to return. The agent was able to rebook us along with the rest of the passengers from our original flight on a larger aircraft and let us keep the vouchers "for our trouble" (I didn't think waiting inside the air-conditioned airport was much trouble in comparison to those who had to sit in that small plane on a 100 degree runway for an hour) . I was even able to use the meal vouchers a few days later when I came back through MSP. Talk about a good deal! Another time a few months ago, a friend and I each got $50 vouchers from United just for volunteering. That was a first.

[This message has been edited by MauiGirl (edited 07-05-2000).]

My bumping stories aren't quite as dramatic as some here. The best? Two years ago the brief flight from Memphis to Huntsville was overbooked. The boys and I gave up our seats. We walked away with $1,000 each in vouchers. Plus dinner and overnight. I even had people telling me how grateful they were that we gave up our seats. Your welcome

to those lucky ones who got $1000.00 each... did u have to bargain? or they just gave it to u right out?
i am truly amazed with the amount of money the airlines willing to give out to get the seats....

[This message has been edited by belle3388 (edited 07-06-2000).]

I was booked on a 9:00pm Continental Express CLE-DTW, and when I got to the gate early, the agent asked me if I would mind taking a 9:05pm Northwest nonstop-- and she gave me $300, which I really didn't expect. I went to the NW gate and Gold upgraded. $300 for 5 minute delay and a gate change isn't bad at all.

Fact: your Northwest flight to DTW will _always_ arrive at the end of the C, and the moving walkway will _always_ be broken.