Does anyone know the government Web site that gives a history of what flights have been overbooked and required volunteers to give up their seats? I've heard that this history can be an invaluable guide in planning to be bumped.

The best way to increase your chances of bing bumped that I have found: call the night before to see how the flight is looking. If it looks overbooked, arrive at the airport 2 hours early so that you can be first on the list. I never bother to ask at check-in, but go directly to the gate. If I am traveling with someone and I sniff chaos in the air, I leave my companion at check-in and head right to the gate to be first in line.

If I do get bumped, I always insist (in a friendly way)on receiving a Customer Care packet that has a free phone card, free headset rental or free drink, and a discount off my next flight. America West and Continental have always provided me with these. Also, if there is a delay due to a mechanical problem, my request for one of these packets has never been turned down.

Lastly, even if you are not an elite member, asked to be placed in first class on the next available flight (no matter what airline you will be flying) and make sure they do not put you on standby (being an elite member definitely helps here).

jwhite4 asks At least on United, I've had exactly that happen (bump w/ upgrade; re-bump w/ downgrade)...and I got an upgrade voucher to use on a subsequent flight (North American, not systemwide...my original flight was ORD-SFO).

Wiirachay, it's interesting that NW considers an upgrade on the substitute flight to be sufficient compensation for the bump. Then again, you're talking transPacific, so the upgrade is a lot more significant than between, say, Chicago and Orlando.

In general, for voluntary bumping it's whatever you can negotiate with the airline - there are no government "rules". Hence some airlines use vouchers, some give roundtrip tickets, NW uses just an upgrade http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif. While you may be upgraded on the future flight, I wouldn't count on it...but then again, I've been upgraded on the original flight just for volunteering! But that was in the early days of FF programs; today an elite (me!) would probably get that upgrade.

For involuntary bumps, there are government rules, starting IIRC with next flight and basically a full refund. That's why I'm surprised NW is so cheap. But airlines want to avoid involuntary bumps because of the expense and also the ill will, both from the affected traveler and the public at large who sees it in the statistics. Hence they'll make these $1,000 offers from time to time - it's better than having to do an involuntary bump.

Captain Mike, I've never understood why most people are unwilling to bump either. Can't conceive of doing something "spontaneous," I guess. But lets not clue them in, OK http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif?

[This message has been edited by johna (edited 07-12-2000).]

Being available for bumping means you have the time at the other end of the flight FREE! Most people have to work or are working. Wolunteering is another luxury of the upper percentile in any country.

I want to get bumped from Business Class on NW in NRT on the way from BKK to LAX, so I could sleep in a real bed, have a good meal, and shower with the good rest. Starting over fresh for the last leg out of NRT. Those 6AM flights out of BKK mess me up. Got on the plane SMOKING(a mistake in seating) section, got off, but was put back on in a non Smoke section of Business class.
I would sleep over at NRT on any trip if it were possible.

Roadrunner, I agree that much of the time business people can't take advantage of bumping opportunities. But the situation Captain Mike was describing occurred on a Sunday morning - surely at least a few business people had the flexibility to take the bump. Not to mention the leisure travelers, and for a Sunday a.m. flight there should have been quite a few leisures. Yet very few volunteered. I suppose they figured a three-hour wait in an airport isn't worth $400.

[This message has been edited by johna (edited 07-13-2000).]

In my bumping experiences, it appears AA offers most generous voucher amounts and UA offers equivalent of $100 voucher per hour delayed.

Holidays are also the key times to expect bumping opportunities.

On Dec. 23, friends were traveling SFO-Belize on TACA. The flight was oversold and they were offered $600 in vouchers and night's hotel at SFO to go out biz class on AA through DWF the next morning. They took it.

In Dallas, AA was overbooked and they were offered $1500 to spend night in Dallas and go out biz on AA the following morning. They got to Belize two days late - and on Christmas - but they pocketed $2100 each in vouchers.

Same people booked SFO-CDG first Saturday of spring break on AA (paid for with their vouchers, of course http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif ). They are offered $1100 to fly same flight the following day, plus hotel and food. Again, they took it.

On that same Saturday, my son and I were booked SFO-KOA on UA, first flight of the morning. They offered $400 in vouchers for anyone willing to take flight four hours later. I told the agent we'd take it if we could get biz class seats and she said, "No problem."

As we walked around the airport that day we paid attention to what flights were oversold. Morning flights on the first Saturday of spring break to OGG, KOA,IAD and Florida destinations seem to have high probability of being oversold.

My best bumping stories happened when my company transferred me to PHX from LAX. For a month I had to commute to LAX on Monday and PHX on Fridays. The 5 PM, 6PM and 7PM flights were always oversold. I volunteered each time they offered and in that month racked up over $3k in vouchers.
The only drawback, it was with AmericaWest who is probably the worst airline in terms of service and on time record. But free travel is free travel. Also, they are reluctant to transfer remainders of vouchers.
The lesson is to be flexable, friendly and firm when it comes to the carrier breaking their contract with you. Always dress to impress and ask if you can be upgraded to first class. For me it has worked enough times to justify donning the suit and tie. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

My family of 4 has greatly enjoyed several bumps during the Easter holiday season. We live in Cleveland & usually travel to warmer climes during the week between Good Friday & the Sunday after Easter. We've been bumped in Ft. Myers, FL, Brownsville, TX, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and Nashville, TN. We volunteer as a group of 4, but we will split up when necessary. We have one carry on that has overnight necessities--just in case we get lucky. Our most recent bump in Nashville was on SW. We'd bought our tickets only 4 days in advance so they were expensive ($589), but "fully refundable with ONE hour's notice". The bump deal was 50% face value of the ticket PLUS $200/ticket & confirmation on the same flight 24 hrs. later. We had a super 24 hr. stay in Nashville and the $1500+ we received in vouchers just about paid for the ENTIRE vacation. My kids only groused the 1st time we did this, but now they expect it, enjoy it, & reap the benefits of more "free" travel when they least expect it. Every bump has been a great adventure--we're now very disappointed if we DON'T get the chance to get off the plane!

I get the impression from reading the posts above that many think NW often offers the least in terms of compensation for a voluntary bump. My experiences have been great with NW. I have always received a voucher for a free ticket rather than a dollar amount, and NW doesn't even seem to hesitate to offer the vouchers. I paid $305 for a coach ticket (LSE-MSP-MEM-MCO) a couple of weeks ago. In LSE, volunteered to be bumped and pocketed a free ticket, upgrade to F/C, and a direct MSP-MCO flight which arrived an hour earlier than expected. On the return, pocketed a free ticket in MCO for a bump to a flight leaving 20 minutes later and another free ticket when I volunteered to be bumped on the MSP-LSE leg. Bottom line is I flew only 4 segments and pocketed 3 free tickets. Gotta love NW for this if nothing else! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

"I have an OAG and I know how to use it." http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
But most travellers haven't a clue what an OAG is, much less how to use it....

One strategem which helped me last year was arranging a little extra time on business travel in order to be able to take advantage of bumping opportunities. Especially given that I'm single, it's not much hardship to spend a couple of extra hours in the destination city and be able to see the sights a bit.

... I haven't seen anything in concrete, but back to the bumping questions:

If I volunteer to take a voucher at $300, and then the airline needs more volunteers at the price goes up-- does everybody get the next higher price?

I am wondering if the answer is "yes"-- because whenever I get bumped, they thank me and have me sit down and wait until the flight leaves... then they process everybody at the same time...

Also... my last bump, I read an article in the paper and I got everything except the free lounge passes:

* $350 Voucher
* Free Night at the airport Ramada in New Orleans
* Free 10 minute phone card
* $10 meal voucher (not good towards beer however)
* Free transportation to the hotel
* Roundtrip Cab Vouchers to and from the hotel down to Harrah's Casino and back
* Return flight in First Class the next morning

... If you get bumped involuntarily-- do they get the voucher as well?

As to when you volunteer at a certain voucher level, and the price goes up for people who volunteer later: yes, you get the top voucher value. That's been my experience on AA, at least, where I've gone from the initial $200 (I'm always first on the volunteer list if possible) to over $400 when they finally have everybody they need.

All this bumping talk is making me jealous! I flew SFO-SLC-GEG on DL today and it was a bumpathon at SLC. 3 out of the 6 flights boarding nearby were offering bumps, significant numbers of them on SLC-ATL and SLC-CVG. They started at $300 and I heard them offering $500 but don't know the final deal. My flights were crammed full but no bumps. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I'm thinking about buying a bunch of full fare refundable tickets and going to the airport and playing bump roulette. Can I check in, wait and see if I'm gonna get bumped and then if not refund the tickets? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif (I'm not really going to do this! But is it possible?)

I had a bumpathon this weekend in Vegas, "trying" to get back to JFK. Or actually trying "not to get back to JFK"

I was bumped 3 times in 18 hours, and picked up $1000,$600, and then $500 for a total haul of $2100.

Thank you America West

Best I ever did was back in high school. It was a student group going to Germany, and the travel agent botched the reservations, and they didn't have room for all of us from ORD to Dusseldorf.

AA offers us $800 each if they reroute our group through Manchester, UK. (We'd paid about $750 each for a 3 week homestay trip with some bus excursions) So the group says "You betcha" and we end up in Manchester, where somehow either AA or BA managed to lose our reservation information again, and about 2/3 of the group ended up in first class between Manchester and Dusseldorf because that was where there was room on the next flight. (Alas, not me.)

So between my chaperone father (who went free because the group was big enough to get him that perk) and I, we ended up with $1600 on my $750 vacation.

Our family of four spent the next Spring Break on St. Croix because of the vouchers.

Suppose that you're traveling on a full-fare refundable ticket, and volunteer to be bumped for some vouchers/compensation, etc. You're then rebooked on a later flight. Can you decide not to take that flight, and still get a refund for the ticket? Or is a ticket non-refundable after check-in?

You see what I'm getting at -- is it possible in effect to get something for next to nothing (just a couple hours at the airport in return for bumping vouchers)?

Just curious.