Calling for volunteers to take a later flight (and pocket $2,700)

[albatross710]

Similar story - my sister was flying AC from YVR to SYD (in J with points) last week, flight overbooked by 6 so they called for volunteers C$2,600 each in any class. She said not many came forward so they kept making the announcement. As a result, flight was delayed around 45 mins.

There is definitely an opportunity on the AC legs to Australia this month. I encourage any pax to be on the lookout for it.

The other bonus I got was higher VA Status credits as whatever class I got re-booked into for my later flight was at full economy.

 

[Dr Ralph]

I'm currently in the US. I have a QF J flight to SYD in about 30 hrs from now. I'll be all over a cash offer to stay for another 24 hours!

No offer Headed to gate soon. Flight delayed around 2 hrs.

 

[Happy Dude]

Changing the subject a tad, I recently booked business class flight for two to Budapest next year using points arriving on the 21st July, so I quickly booked 3 nights in a reasonable hotel for a good rate of $150 including breakfast. I then saw a better hotel, so I booked that for a similar rate, while keeping the original booking so that I could mull over it. I was then tempted to book an even better hotel because of a cash back deal with my credit card. A few weeks later, the grand Prix dates for Budapest were announced, and I now have bookings for three hotels that are now charging $400 a night for the same rooms. I have to cancel 2 of the bookings of course, but can't help feel that I am just handing the hotels money on a plate... these are the sorts of cancellations that they would hope for.

Hard to tell if you're being anti-hotel or not here for some reason or pleased that you've booked refundable rates. ICYMI, this isn't ozbargain but you could on-sell the excess rooms. Checking in for them would be your only obstacle to a sweet payday.

 

[blaz]

Hard to tell if you're being anti-hotel or not here for some reason or pleased that you've booked refundable rates. ICYMI, this isn't ozbargain but you could on-sell the excess rooms. Checking in for them would be your only obstacle to a sweet payday.

No, not anti-hotel, but it is a strangely one-way street when it comes to these situations. I once booked a sweet clubroom in a Perth hotel at a very cheap but un-refundable rate during their fly-in/fly-out heyday hotel period when hotels were often selling for $400+ a night. My trip was cancelled at the last minute and I rang the hotel to see what I could do as my trip was rescheduled by a fortnight. They said that the rules were the rules and they couldn't do anything, but did I wish to cancel? I figured that if I had already lost my money, that it made no sense for me to cancel it just so they could on-sell it at a much higher rate plus keep my un-refundable rate I had already paid them. Not sure what happened, as they knew I wasn't arriving, but officially I hadn't cancelled. The hotel was fully booked that particular night.

 

[albatross710]

Three weeks down and AC are still saying that my payment is "processing".

I know it will come it's just such a sad waste of a good customer experience.