Airlines and volunteering

[ozziemuzza]

do you know which airlines offer cash incentives to volunteer to get bumped from a flight .

i did it in zurich and got a nice hotel and a cash payment.

your mate in the west
murray

 

[NM]

Very few offer cash. Many US-based airlines will offer vouchers for future purchases from the airline. I have not seen any Australian airlines make such offers.

 

[ozziemuzza]

thanks nm i met one couple that were flying economy but were diverted several times by qantas and were given $1200. seems some airlines have cash and others dont

 

[limlib]

My husband was booked on a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Norwich last month. He arrived at the airport and the plane was overbooked. KLM offered 500 euros to catch the next plane two hours later.

 

[ozziemuzza]

wow was he in first class?

tht is amazing is there a bigger story? i.e is he a top politician or royalty?

thanks for the feedback and let me know if you have any story behind this one

best regards from down under
murray

 

[Mal]

Especially to/from-EU, or involving an EU based carrier, you will find offers (when needed) to be pretty high.

This is because long delays or "bumping" of passengers can cost up to €600 in compensation to the passenger as well as other benefits.

 

[NM]

thanks nm i met one couple that were flying economy but were diverted several times by qantas and were given $1200. seems some airlines have cash and others dont

Cash is normally compensation for an involuntary situation. Voluntary changes/bumps are usually no compensated in cash.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Cash is normally compensation for an involuntary situation. Voluntary changes/bumps are usually no compensated in cash.

What are the voluntary changes/bumps compensation measures normally utilised NM?


regards SPRUCE

 

[NM]

What are the voluntary changes/bumps compensation measures normally utilised NM?

Most common is a voucher that can be used for future purchases from the airline. These are very common in the US when flights are regularly oversold. the airlines know they have to pay cash if they deny a paid passenger entry to the flight, so they ask for volunteers and offer vouchers. If they don't get enough volunteers, they may offer cash. However, if they offer cash to one then they have to provide cash to all volunteers, so they really try to avoid it. They know a $500 voucher does not cost them $500 and in many cases the vouchers don't get redeemed anyway.

In Europe there are very specific rules too.

In Australia, the need to bump people from domestic flights is rare and the compensation requirements are less clearly defined.

 

[Mal]

What are the voluntary changes/bumps compensation measures normally utilised NM?

My example ex-LHR on Qantas recently:
Flight well oversold. They were asking for volunteers to waitlist to be bumped. While I didn't note the exact figures, they were something similar to:
£550 in vouchers and a flight tomorrow OR
£400 in cash and a flight tomorrow.

 

[ozziemuzza]

Especially to/from-EU, or involving an EU based carrier, you will find offers (when needed) to be pretty high.

This is because long delays or "bumping" of passengers can cost up to €600 in compensation to the passenger as well as other benefits.

thanks mal do ll the airlines ofer this and often do they over book?

 

[ozziemuzza]

thanks mal but is the overbooking common amoung airlines and how do you know if they are over booked ?

i travel by myself so i would assume this to be and advantage in being bumped and maybe receiving a cash payment andf a night on the tiles....lol

your mate in the sunshine down under
murray

 

[onemore]

I was bumped off an Air France flight because it was overbooked, I was offered 600 Euro cash, or ticket to the value of 800 Euro valid for twelve months, I took the ticket option.
After six months I used the ticket to a value of 120 Euro, the twelve months to use the balance started again.
So now I make sure I am one of the last in the queue, hoping for a repeat.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[liamg]

Is there a point in one asking if the flight is oversold? i.e. I'm on an AA flight right now JFK-LAX, not a single spare seat left on the plane. I assume it's reasonably likely it was oversold. I don't care what time I got into LA, indeed a few hours later would have been better perhaps, so is there a point at which I should have queried if AA was asking for people to be bumped?

Would to know for my LAX-IAD flight in a few days

L.

 

[Mal]

thanks mal but is the overbooking common amoung airlines and how do you know if they are over booked ?

Yes it is, but seeking volunteers doesn't have to be common due to airlines gambling that a certain number of pax won't actually fly on a flight they have tickets on - and in many cases they are correct!

The easiest way to know if a flight is overbooked is to ask airline staff. Another way is to look at various other factors like fare class availability from sites like SeatCounter - The Booking Class Availability Machine

 

[Mal]

Is there a point in one asking if the flight is oversold?

With AA, they normally ask for volunteers at the gate if they are overbooked. I've certainly heard the requests at times.

You might be able to ask at check-in (or even the podium) if the flight is oversold and whether they are looking for volunteers, but it's something I haven't tried.

Some frequent flyers make bumping an artform!

 

[serfty]

With Qantas, especially in the premium cabins it's mainly IRROPS that cause voluntary bumping issues (rarely overbooking).

See this from 2006:

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/voluntary-downgrade-syd-sin-would-6715.html

 

[ozziemuzza]

Yes it is, but seeking volunteers doesn't have to be common due to airlines gambling that a certain number of pax won't actually fly on a flight they have tickets on - and in many cases they are correct!

The easiest way to know if a flight is overbooked is to ask airline staff. Another way is to look at various other factors like fare class availability from sites like SeatCounter - The Booking Class Availability Machine

hi mal thanks for the info on seatcounter.com i tried to use it and it came up with numbers and letters and i could not see a legend . there were green and red colours and all sorts of permuations i think i need a science degree...please help your mate in the sunshine down under muzz

 

[serfty]

... there were green and red colours and all sorts of permuations i think i need a science degree...please help ...

Forget the colours - this thread may help:

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/understanding-expert-flyer-9314.html

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Singapore Airlines is also fairly generous with overbooking and bumps.

Friends of mine (2 adults and child) were flying to london last year with oversold flight ex MEL.

They were accommodated at the airport Hilton, given AUD200 in cash each (including the child) and given a one way, one segment business class upgrade good between MEL and SIN or vv (only these routes could be used - no other for the upgrade).

The next flight was 10 hours later.

Now as it turns out they had booked flights which had a 12 hour stop over in singapore - so they could take advantage of a cheap one way fare and had made bookings at the transit hotel anyway.

They said thank you very much! Meant now only a 2 hour stop in SIN, and they got to London at the same time but much richer!