Updated Bumping Guide
 

An excellent updated (7-10-99) guide to airline bumping can be seen at Bestfares:
http://www.bestfares.com/travel_cent.../10012559L.asp

thank you - very good summary update (for US travel).

and if you don't want to get bumped on a risky flight (with a very discounted ticket), make sure you have ordered a special meal (my best bet would be: kosher). The airline will in most cases not "dare" to bump you and risk not to be able to serve you on the next flight. Make your point clear (in a very friendly way) about your non-tolerance of another meal, when you check-in - and again at the gate.

Good overview article. I’ve managed to score $300 twice from United due to giving up my seat; but both times happened without me intentionally aiming to get bumped.

Anybody have had success planning for it intentionally? I sat next to a guy once who said based on strategically booking a couple of flights during the xmas holidays (which he would take anyway), and aiming for ones which will be full, he flies free the rest of the year. Yes, I know, I shouldn't believe EVERYTHING my seatmate tells me. But that's why I'm asking here.

p.s. Once was offered $600 to give up a seat on a LH FRA-EWR flight, and actually had the flexibility in my schedule to take the flight the next day. (They were even going to pay for the night in the hotel!) But I was on the final leg of a ZRH-TLV-ZRH-FRA-EWR trip, and was coming down with a severe case of, um, the stomach flu, and couldn’t stomach (no pun intended) the thought of hanging out myself for a night in a FRA hotel. But I still question that decision...

p.p.s. Rudi - thanks for yet another valuable tip. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

The most important thing in these situations is to be positioned to take advantage of them. If you want to be bumped, don't book the last flight that gets to your final destination on time.

Also, book on airlines with lots of service between your travel points, this gives you more options for rebooking on later flights.

Take advantage of the heat. Hot air is less dense than cold air. Planes get less lift in
less dense air, so they must be lighter, thus leave some people on the ground.
So, in the summer, book mid afternoon flights, the hottest time of the day. The hotter the air, the more empty seats they need.

How do the airlines treat free ticket passengers (that have used ff miles).

regarding planning for getting bumped intentionally:

there were a bunch of people a few years ago (including my brother) who would travel back and forth on southwest between phoenix & san diego on the weekend knowing that they could get bumped at least once.

to san diego on friday night and back to phoenix on sunday were always ridiculously overbooked. it was often possible to take a $49 or less "chicken feed" fare and parlay it into two or three free trips.


as for how airlines treat passengers using free tickets:

as long as you have checked in, have a booarding pass, and are at the gate, you have the same opportunity to volunteer as everyone else. so, if you're looking to get bumped, you're OK.

if you're looking to not get bumped, the news isn't so good. using a "non-rev" ticket, you have very little priority over other passengers, possibly only airline employees not traveling on business. one exception to this may be if you're an elite on the airline ...they may actually bump other paying passengers before you under the right circumstances.

Confirming the low priority of FF ticket holders, I have been on two FF trips where earlier flights were cancelled, so the flight was overbooked, and the FA's have tried to put us off of the plane and let other passengers (WHO THEY HAD ALREADY REBOOKED WITH OUR SEATS ON THEIR BOARDING PASSES) take our seats. In both instances, I had my wife and 2 kids (who were small at the time) with us, so we had boarded early (when the airlines still let you do that with kids. I refused to give up our seats, since we were already in them, and had made the reservations 9 months in advance. In both cases the passengers they tried to put in our seats made the FAs back off, and agreed to go elsewhere, but it just confirms that you are the lowest priority if you are flying on FF tickets.

Djlawman

My husband, daughter and I were flying to Antigua through San Juan on the Saturday which was the first day of spring break in Chicago. American airlines was very booked. We were flying on frequent flyer tickets. We were scheduled at 6:30 am, the first flight out. We volunteered and got $700 each and a free breakfast (I had order a diabetic meal). We were scheduled on the next flight. We were prepared to volunteer again, which we did - this time for $1000 each. Also had our tickets converted to the code that would give us miles for that leg of the trip. We also got lunch. It was the best part of the trip. I have already booked my trip to St. Maarten with ff tickets for the first Saturday of Spring break, 2000, and I'm hoping it will happen again.
I'll let you know. $5100 in total is not bad - and most of the tax is waived so it is in fact worth more. Each time a voucher is used, it gets reissued for the balance and good for a year from the new date. I keep rotating the tickets. The airline kept thanking me volunteering. There are all those people needing to catch cruises and they CAN"T be bumped. My pleasure indeed.

------------------
DtG

I got offered $1000 JUST TO TRADE SEATS with a couple while sitting in first class on a DC-10 from LAX to DFW (the equipment was to continue on to Madrid after DFW)

Whoever the people were, they must have been very important, b/c the gate agent was walking around first class bending over in a hushed voice soliciting volunteers not to get off the plane, not to go back to coach, but simply take their middle seats in the 2-2-2 across seating so these people could have their window seats.

Give me a break (Give me a $1000)

The airline was AA! It was about 1989 or 1990...

Geez, Grice, now I fell like an idiot. On a recent UA IAD-LHR flight in int'l first, I traded my seat with a gent who wanted to sit next to his wife (whose seat was next to mine) just out of the kindness of my heart. Boy am I a SUCKER! http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by Matt Wald (edited 07-16-1999).]

When I'm in first, I certainly never have a problem moving if someone asks to another first class seat (though I do prefer the window, I can easily live without).

On my Fourth of July trip my girlfriend and I had the aisle and middle seat in coach (on Delta of course http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif) and a man came back with his two sons and they were not sitting together.

First the flight attendant asked one lady if she would mind moving to another aisle seat. She starts huffing and puffing asking them to move her up front to First and so on, finally the F/A just moves her up a couple of rows in coach to another aisle seat and she seemed none too happy about it.

I then offered to move from the aisle to the window (actually I moved from the aisle to middle and my girlfriend from the middle to the window) so this guy would be sitting directly across the aisle from his sons, instead of a row in front of them. No problem for me, I didn't mind at all, but the F/A came back a few minutes later and thanked me and gave me two courtesy coupons (free drink/headset), which I thought was a very nice gesture that I in no way expected for my small act of courtesy!

It's priceless to be nice. It costs nothing.

I will move to keep the couples together "I say 'I hope I get the same courtesy when I am a couple again!'"

And your case Beckles you got a free drink. Not bad.

OK! I'll move for a Heinekkin!

... Heineken? ...CAtman, look at BECKles name, please. http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Rudi (edited 07-16-1999).]

Rudi ~ *LOL* ... why don't you tell your friends at Becks I took this name in honor of them, and maybe they should reward me with some free samples of their product http://talk.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Besides, I'm not that picky when it comes to beer (I do have favorites of course) ... don't get much of a choice on DL anyway, for regular beer it usually Michelob or Killian's Red in First and Budweiser in Coach ... as long as it's cold, it's usually pretty good, especially after a long day on the flight home!

On a trans-Pacific United flight some years ago in Business Class, I has the aisle seat and the young lady who had the window was obviously with a gentleman who was seated in the middle section some rows up. She mentioned they were on their honeymoon, and had changed to the flight at the last minute and couldn't get seats together. Of course I traded with him.

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 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif. 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 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Fact: your Northwest flight to DTW will _always_ arrive at the end of the C, and the moving walkway will _always_ be broken. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

Best bumping story:
Used to fly back and forth from SFO-LAX every weekend. About to get on the plane (American) when an older man fainted (VERY DRAMATIC!). Turns out he had heart problems and was on the way to his doctor in LA. He had to get on the plane and they wanted to put him and his wife in first class togther which meant moving someone back to coach but coach was full. I immediately volunteered to give up my seat. They kept thanking me, put me on a flight 30 minutes later in first class, and gave me a $500 travel voucher. All this on an $80 ticket from Cheap Tickets.

No bargaining involved. We originally were first on the list when the offer was $500. But, since they needed more seats the offer kept going up. It made that three week family trip to Italy ALOT more affordable http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

That is correct u do not need to bargain.
In fact if u don't want to accept their bargain u don't have to. In other words u could volunteer and then withdraw when they do not get enough volunteers to raise the ante to what u would consider reasonable. Of course after u withdraw the number may go up. ("such is life" Ned Kelly)
The reason they hand out the vouchers like candy is that only about 10-40% of vouchers are ever resubmitted. I confess some years ago it even happened to me. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

Coming back from Cabo in March, we were waiting in Seattle for our flight back to Juneau. The gate next to us was for a flight to Phoenix leaving about the same time and was way overbooked and they must not have been many volunteers because they raised the payoff to two roundtrip tickets for each seat given up.

Unfortunately, the number of people wanting to go to Juneau was not equal to the number wanting to go to Phoenix.

I am not sure about the other airlines, but on AA, if they raise the amount offerred b/c they need more volunteers, EVERYONE gets the higher price http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif. As such, there is no benefit to waiting for a better deal.

I knew that - what i was stating was that if when your name/number is called and the offer is not satisfactory (in other words it has not risen to your desired level) you can decline to volunteer. Or in one case for myself i was on the wait list for upgrade also and that came through before my name was called for bumping. Took the upgrade and had my name taken off the volunteer list.

btw - how do you do that quote thing - or direct me to where the instructions are - thanks

USAIR unfortunately gives R/T vouchers instead of $ vouchers, which means you don't makes miles on the voucher travel, still a good bump my wife and I were able to take a ff CDG->PHL->RDU last leg. We used the bump vouchers for a R/T RDU->LAX->FAT, both got bumped in LAX for two more vouchers. Found out then both vouchers could be in her name and she joined me on two more business trips later in the year (not then, but now vouchers are transferrable). She ended up with 3 free R/Ts originating from a ff flight. For any airline, tip would be to ask gate agent right when they arrive if flight is oversold, then ask to volunteer. Voluntary bumps go in order of listed volunteers, not your ticket type or elite status. It helps to be #1 on the list when they start working the list backwards calling names to take a seat. I check luggage every flight, if you don't, main negative about volunteering is you've given up any chance of getting overhead space if you have to board.

America West has poor vouchers, IMO. No residual value...important to know, especially if they say $500-$700. Didn't find out later and we would be hard pressed to spend that much on one ticket. We were planning to split it up. Can. Lowers the value. Can't earn frequent flyer miles on the voucher as well--so it says. Keep these factors in mind.

residual value is very important. CO says no way, no longer, but can get miles. Also, CO will not allow, in policy, for you to combine the voucher i.e., "certificate" with other coupons. Thus not like money.

NW and AA, I believe, have residual value and treat the vouchers more like cash.

Such details are an important factor in bumping...

JL2

Wow, those are very good details to know! Anyone know if there is one place that tells the tale on most of the US carriers' bump vouchers?

JeffLewis2 (as opposed to JeffLewis1 :P )

Since the Northwest agreement, you can use Continental vouchers for Northwest flights on Northwest published fares-- and I have gotten a NW voucher for the residual. That effectively converts your CO voucher into a NW voucher.

More tricky but possible: I once tried to ticket a CO res. with a NW voucher and get the residual. CO said they couldn't issue the residual-- but said NW could go into the CO system and issue the ticket at the CO published fare. It took time for the NW agent to do that, and she was coached by phone with a CO agent down the counter, but in the end, she issued the ticket at the CO fare, and gave me a NW voucher for the residual.

Re. coupons, I've run into not being able to use paper coupons with vouchers ("No other discounts or vouchers apply...") but if you have an electronic coupon, like an Entertainment discount, reserve by phone and have the agent apply the electronic coupon to knock dollars off. Then ticket the res. in person using the voucher, and the discounted fare should stick.