Ever volunteered to be bumped from a flight?

[SodoffBush]

An upcoming flight I'm on is booked, and friends on a similar flight this week told me they were offered $400 plus a hotel room if they would volunteer to be bumped and take the next day's flight.

I am not on a tight schedule and so would entertain the offer, but is it negotiable? For example, is it reasonable to tell the airline I'll volunteer if they also guarantee me a business class seat (this is an international flight)? I know it doesn't hurt to ask, but what can I reasonably get out of the deal if I arrive early and the offer is made?

What have you been offered to be bumped from a flight?

[trotsky]

1. I got bumped to the next flight (2 hour wait)

and got upgraded to a first class seat. First and only time I have flown first class, and let me tell ya, it was worth the 2 hour wait.

You bet your arse you negotiate. What do you have to lose?

[SodoffBush]

2. all right then

Upgrade me to 1st class, pay for my ticket, and I'll take the $400 to boot, thank you very much.

How's that? :)

[trotsky]

3. LOL shoot for the moon!

Why not?! As long as your schedule is flexible.

[ikojo]

4. Bumping...

is good for you and for the person who REALLY wanted your seat. From May 2000 to March 2001 I flew five times and paid for only one flight. The others were courtesy of the airlines because I allowed myself to be bumped.

In January 2001 I attended the demonstrations against the coronation of the Chimp in Chief. Having gotten the hang of this bumping thing as soon as I got to the gate I told the attendant that I would volunteer to be bumped should they need one. Well they needed three seats and I was one of them!

I negotiated a hotel room and free breakfast as well as a first class flight home. There were two other women (Bush supporters) who volunteered to be bumped. I told them to request first class back to St Louis but they did not. On the return flight home I was in row three and they were in the last two rows. Hee....hee....hee....I found it to be sweet justice!

Oh yeah I suggest bumping whenever you can.

[SodoffBush]

5. Good point. Don't wait till they come to you to ask

Volunteer right away, if they can meet my "demands." :)

[revcarol]

6. I thank you for offering to be bumped, in spite of your obvious

mercenary characteristics. Many times, the person is being bumped so that a relative can get to the side of a dying parent or child.. So I thank you, in spite of your obvious mercenary characteristics.

[trotsky]

8. Hold on

You know, sometimes the airline just overbooks the flight. In that case, it's their fault, and we passengers have every right to reasonable compensation for our inconvenience. No need to send us on a guilt trip.

[HawkerHurricane]

7. I wasn't offered anything!

Of course, it was a Navy Plane, the Bumpee was a Admiral, and (at the time) I was a lowly Seaman Apprentice...
Later, I heard that I wasn't bumped by the Admiral per se, he needed space for his dog! (No, I don't know if it's true, that's just what I was told.)

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Yes!

My wife and i were put up in a first class hotel in Miami for the evening, bought a very nice dinner and upgraded to first class if we would take a bump from the last flight out to Chicago (about 8pm, IIRC) to the first one out in the morning. (I think that was 7:05)

Since we're both early risers, and we'd already turned in the rental car, and the hotel had an on-demand shuttle, it was a non-issue. The upgrade to 1st class really was a kick for my wife (i've been upgraded on transoceanic flights before) and the hotel/meal package was worth about $300. Add to that the flight upgrade and we made out royally.

I've never been bumped, however, when i didn't volunteer for it.
The Professor

[AWD]

10. My wife did

She was on her way back from Cleveland to Knoxville, and at a layover in Detroit, they asked if anybody would volunteer to be bumped.

She asked what they would offer her, and they gave her 300 bucks, pay for her hotel, and she could either have her dinner and breakfast paid for or a 100 coupon for her next flight.

She took the meals, because we NEVER flew back then.

[philosophie_en_rose]

11. If you have no reason not to do it, you may want to.

I've never been forcibly bumped, but I was bumped on an international flight a few years ago. They overbooked; the staff was extremely nice and I only had to wait overnight for $500, a free ticket to the states, a refund on my ticket for that flight, and a hotel room in a very nice hotel.

Basically, my friends and I received an extra day of vacation, simply for volunteering. We had to fly into San Francisco and then back to Seattle, instead of a direct flight. But we had five hundred dollars and plenty of time to run into the city and act touristy.

Overall, I thought it was a great experience, but I think I would have been pissed off if I was a business traveller or had a strict deadline.

I never considered negotiating, but no matter what the volunteer bumpees ask for they are potentially saving someone else from being bumped against their will or making room for an emergency passenger.

[zekeson]

12. My Mother-in-law

came to visit. When it was time to leave she took a bump and got free tickets and a res on a plan the next day. The next day, same story. The next day, they couldn't get her out until after the weekend. She wound up spending all summer flying around on those free tickets. And as a bonus she spent nearly an extra week with her grandchildren. She was ecstatic, as were the kids and my wife.

I,uh, cursed the name of Northwest for sometime.

[amazona]

13. a friend did it and now I definitely won't volunteer

It was the same deal you were offered -- $400, hotel room. Catch is, he had to use the $400 on that airline within 12 months. Although he flew every 4-8 weeks during the next year, it was not on that airline, which was not his usual airline, so he was out the $400 and the time. I would only do it if it was a destination/airline that I used regularly. Also, I've heard complaints elsewhere that they put those vouchers in the same category as frequent flyer free tickets -- and only a few seats are allocated on any given flight -- making them difficult to use.

[IB3]

14. Bumped on the way to Hawaii...

The wife and I were bumped...

We each got 1st class tickets to Hawaii AND $400 vouchers.

We ended up arriving 3 hours later than originally scheduled...and far more relaxed for the 1st class accommodations (and drinks)

I'd definitely do it. Depending upon how many people are offering to give up their seats they may or may not be open to "bumping your grade" as well...