tikiboy

I too never get bumped. I'd probably do it for the $400 if I had the time.
Though it wasn't on United, I was on a Delta flight yesterday SEA-MSP-YYZ, and on the MSP-YYZ leg, my seatmate told me he was bumped out of his flight from Des Moines and given a full-fare refund in cash (he showed me the check) and was then put on another flight to MSP 2 hours later for the same connection to YYZ he was scheduled on. That was a deal, as I'm sure he didn't pay for his flight originally.

craz

a no Brainer as much as I dont care for E- but Id grab it in a sec even if it meant a middle seat.

Of cause id go thru my stash of Drink coupons in order to not realize Im in a middle seat But Ive been stuck in middle seats NY-LA or SF so at least with this Id be getting paid to sit there

unavaca

$400 for sure. I look at it was UA paying me $400 to sit in Y instead of C. I'll take the $400.

PromoGoogler

I was offered $400 voucher last Friday for a flight 90 min later but GA gave me about 5 seconds (with no one in line at the counter) and rushed me for an decision. She said "sorry but I'm kinda busy" and kept typing away... I kept my e+ seat and got UDU'ed by the same lady 10 minutes later.

So is this an e-cert, or a paper voucher that you can only redeem at the airport or by mail? Is it good for only domestic or can it be applied towards an international ticket?

unavaca

Sounds like you were being offered a VDB. These are travel credits that can be used for any UA ticket on UA metal and need to be ticketed at an airport or by mail. There are threads on "travel credits" on FT.

GimmeLegRoom

Had a similar offer last month (was in domestic F), also without the E+ guarantee, no way I could do it. Shame was I for once had the time to spare, but at 6'3", I didn't see it as giving up F but rather potentially subjecting myself to torture for 4.5 hours ORD-PDX. And trust me, I could use the vouchers.

mrswirl

It always seems that these VDB opportunities happen to me on the outbound portion of my trip when I have much less flexibility in scheduling than on the return.

Yesterday they were offering $400 vouchers to bump DEN-YYZ. My earlier A320 direct was cancelled so they were drastically overbooked on the later E170 flight. The heavens were smiling on me as I managed to keep my F seat even after the cancellation ^

I think they ended up bumping 7 or 8 people including a last minute IDB to a guy on the plane. I feel sorry for him cause when he first came on there was somebody already in his E- seat so the agent pointed to the last empty F seat for him to take instead. A few minutes later they pulled him off and gave it to a deadheading FA. The guy was pretty P.O.'d and I don't blame him.

bobbysfca

Good question - it was an UDU

LAX

I probably would have taken the $400 and ran with it, too, for the 90 min or so delay. I was in F on a LAX-PHL redeye a month ago, and they were pleading for volunteers. I went to the podium to check and see if they could get me out on a connecting flight to the East Coast that night. Everything else was booked solid as well and the best they could do was next AM's nonstop. I didn't have a whole day to kill (counting the time zone difference), so I took my F seat.

LAX

tomsundstrom

I was thinking about this as if I were in an E- seat and offered a buy-up to C for $400. Would I take that offer? For me the answer is no so I would definitely go with the bump instead of the biz.

Lightman7

On Sunday mid-day they were offering $400 for LAX-SFO. If I didn't have a meeting to make, I would have taken it. (Plane swapped from regular to PS 757, I got C with the COS bonus for my W fare, so a little bonus anyway).

United777Heavy

I'd take it...

I volunteered two nights ago; received my $400 t/c... (was confirmed on a flight 4.5 hours later) went stand-by on a flight that left 2.5 hours from the original flight, cleared both the flight and got upgraded.

Sometime you play the game and win, sometimes, you lose and are stuck in a middle seat... but you get to your final destination and have a couple extra bucks to boot.


How much is/was your time worth? Sitting in the back is not horrible...

Mike Jacoubowsky

But sitting in a middle seat, on a bumpy flight with few opportunities to get to the bathroom, might be. Much nicer sitting up near the front and being able to monitor the line a bit better. Of course, you don't know if it's going to be a bumpy flight ahead of time, with the seatbelt sign frequently on. Or you could be on a flight that ends up diverted and sits on the ground for two hours in St Louis because of a mechanical issue. Not that that's ever happened to me, but when it did happen, it was a whole lot nicer being in F all that time.

But hey, I'm the guy that's passed up almost every transcon UDU that's come my way so I could sit with one of my non-upgraded kids, so what do I know?

deniah

10$ sleeping pill
100$ for a full massage after the flight
290$ on booze and cigar

pokecheckted

Not a moment of hesitation for me. $400 buys a lot of mileage running. ^