Hello all,
I need some help, please... I have in the past few months taken many bumps from United Air Lines and I am worried, now concerned that I might be banned from flying UAL. I read in an article that Ben/Lucky the guy who writes the One Mile At a Time Blog, a great read, a great blog, was banned from flying UAL for taking bumps, I do not want this to happen to me. Am I an any danger of being banned from UAL???
thank you,
kc tigers.
I need some help, please... I have in the past few months taken many bumps from United Air Lines and I am worried, now concerned that I might be banned from flying UAL. I read in an article that Ben/Lucky the guy who writes the One Mile At a Time Blog, a great read, a great blog, was banned from flying UAL for taking bumps, I do not want this to happen to me. Am I an any danger of being banned from UAL???
thank you,
kc tigers.
Not unless your breaking some rule or UA thinks your scamming them. But I assume if you've taken lots of bumps it's because UA has overbooked to many of your flights. Not your problem and I would not worry about it.
If you're booking refundable tickets, taking bumps and then cancelling the underlying ticket (a/k/a "Bump Running") and get caught then, yes, you can be banned from the airline. If you are taking advantage of a (now gone) bug in the website to redeem the same certificate multiple times then, yes, you can be banned from the airline (and arguably prosecuted for criminal wire fraud). If you are purposely causing physical damage to planes so as to be able to claim vouchers for the IFE being broken then, yes, you can be banned from the airline.
He was not banned simply for taking bumps. The story is more involved than that.
My guess is that you are doing none of these things, but I know people who have done them.
He was not banned simply for taking bumps. The story is more involved than that.
My guess is that you are doing none of these things, but I know people who have done them.
That's not why he was banned.
You can be banned for violating the COC or violating the law. Taking bump vouchers is not a violation of anything.
Just like anything else, it can be part of a fraud, but that does not make that conduct a fraud.
Just like anything else, it can be part of a fraud, but that does not make that conduct a fraud.
I remember talking to some of the CO management years ago, and they wanted to profile likely bumpers so they can call them out for their known flexibility if they're in a bind.
If anything, a repeat bumper is a good thing for the airline -- it helps them resolve a situation easily with someone who is accommodating. You're also often a GA's friend, since you know the drill, don't need a lot of hand holding, etc. Remember, if they don't get volunteers, they need to pay someone cash to get off the plane.
You have nothing to worry about so long as you're taking the bump in good faith -- you are intending to fly when you approach the interaction, you fly the flight if you're not needed, and you ultimately fly the backup flight if you are bumped.
If anything, a repeat bumper is a good thing for the airline -- it helps them resolve a situation easily with someone who is accommodating. You're also often a GA's friend, since you know the drill, don't need a lot of hand holding, etc. Remember, if they don't get volunteers, they need to pay someone cash to get off the plane.
You have nothing to worry about so long as you're taking the bump in good faith -- you are intending to fly when you approach the interaction, you fly the flight if you're not needed, and you ultimately fly the backup flight if you are bumped.
You can be banned for T&C violations ? I just thought they would ban you from MP, not from the airline all together.
What do you have to do to get banned from an airline ? ? ?
What do you have to do to get banned from an airline ? ? ?
Wholeheartedly agree with Channa. Broadly, the airline would be more in a position of appreciating these types of people (assuming no rules are violated).
Any sort of squashing repeat bumpers would probably result in more IDB or fewer intentional over-bookings - both will negatively impact quarterly earnings.
In fact, the more I think about it, I hope they send me a holiday bonus for all the VDBs I took for them.
Any sort of squashing repeat bumpers would probably result in more IDB or fewer intentional over-bookings - both will negatively impact quarterly earnings.
In fact, the more I think about it, I hope they send me a holiday bonus for all the VDBs I took for them.
Actually, I often see the GA calling up people who have connections or long layovers that can be switched to shorter flights or non-stops to try to reduce IDBs.
Unless you're selling your vouchers, I don't see the issue.
Unless you're selling your vouchers, I don't see the issue.
If it's just regular bumps and you're not gaming the system (other than picking flights that are likely to ask for VDB, which is starting to be a lot of flights...), I agree that it's unlikely.
I flew at the holidays for 3 years in a row on a single ticket purchase from America West without any special attempt to get VDB. I bought an RT ticket one year, they were overbooked on the return flight so I took VDB. I used the voucher to buy my holiday ticket the next year, and again got VDB on the return. Lather, rinse, repeat. Nobody complained.
I flew at the holidays for 3 years in a row on a single ticket purchase from America West without any special attempt to get VDB. I bought an RT ticket one year, they were overbooked on the return flight so I took VDB. I used the voucher to buy my holiday ticket the next year, and again got VDB on the return. Lather, rinse, repeat. Nobody complained.
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Unless you're buying refundable tickets with no intention of actually flying, taking the bump and then refunding. That got at least one person I know banned from a US carrier.Originally Posted by channa
If anything, a repeat bumper is a good thing for the airline -- it helps them resolve a situation easily with someone who is accommodating. You're also often a GA's friend, since you know the drill, don't need a lot of hand holding, etc. Remember, if they don't get volunteers, they need to pay someone cash to get off the plane.
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Unless you're selling your vouchers, I don't see the issue.
Seeing a lot of this as well.Originally Posted by eng3
Actually, I often see the GA calling up people who have connections or long layovers that can be switched to shorter flights or non-stops to try to reduce IDBs.Unless you're selling your vouchers, I don't see the issue.
Last week at ORD a flight was oversold by 5, family of three from ORD-DEN-PDX put on a nonstop ORD-PDX and problem solved.
I offered to be put on ORD-SFO (a 777)-DEN free of charge and the GA politely declined.
People who get involuntarily bumped are entitled to pretty hefty compensation under DOT rules. Airlines like people who volunteer for bumping because they can get away with providing much less compensation.
Quote:
Last week at ORD a flight was oversold by 5, family of three from ORD-DEN-PDX put on a nonstop ORD-PDX and problem solved.
I offered to be put on ORD-SFO (a 777)-DEN free of charge and the GA politely declined.
I've found that about half the time, if I ask, they'll do it for me. I get free SDC anyways though.Originally Posted by BThumme
Seeing a lot of this as well.Last week at ORD a flight was oversold by 5, family of three from ORD-DEN-PDX put on a nonstop ORD-PDX and problem solved.
I offered to be put on ORD-SFO (a 777)-DEN free of charge and the GA politely declined.
I suspect it has to do with how oversold my flight is and how undersold the one I want is.