Airlines Offer Thousands to Switch from Overbooked Flights

With many flights to Australia currently fully booked or even oversold, airlines have been turning to desperate measures to encourage passengers to give up their seats.

AFF member albatross710 was recently booked to fly from Vancouver to Brisbane on Air Canada. At the boarding gate, airline staff were calling for 7 volunteers to give up their booked seats on the direct flight and accept an alternative routing via Hong Kong.

albatross710 ended up flying on Air Canada to Hong Kong, then with Cathay Pacific onwards to Brisbane, arriving home around 15 hours later than originally booked. Clearly this would be quite inconvenient for most people – especially as the booking was in Economy. But for their trouble, they were given $2,700 in compensation.

This member wrote on the AFF forum:

Anyone that is travelling back from YVR during October should be on the look out for volunteering opportunities. The gate agents indicated it’s a nightly event and expected to be so during October. Anyone travelling alone would be best suited for it.
Considering I paid $2k for my BNE-USA-BNE itinerary and received more back than I paid it was a great deal.
– albatross710

It seems Air Canada is far from the only airline currently faced with the problem of having sold more seats than are available on the plane. Another AFF member says that Delta recently offered a friend USD3,000 (~AU$4,695) per passenger to wait for the following day’s Los Angeles-Sydney service.

Have a friend who was returning from LAX on DL last week. Flight oversold and calling for volunteers to go the next day. Him and his wife accepted US$3k each. Was given to them in a prepaid Visa card. Same story the next night but the offer only got to US$1.5k so they declined. Another couple who also took the offer mentioned that this was their 3rd day in a row being paid to not go. I guess if you’re in no rush then why not accept a heap of cash to sit by the pool for another day.
– NoName

Qantas has also recently been bumping passengers off flights departing London for Australia, as many of those flights are currently overbooked. In fact, at the time of writing, the next available seat for sale in any class of travel from London to Perth is not until the end of October!

In the case of oversold Qantas flights departing from London, airline staff at Heathrow Airport have reportedly been asking for volunteers to accept a flight the following day in exchange for overnight accommodation, meals and £532 (~AU$927) in compensation.

Meanwhile, Jetstar flights to and from Bali are so heavily booked at the moment that seats haven’t been available for sale for the last few weeks.

How much do airlines pay as overbooking compensation?

In some jurisdictions, airlines are legally required to pay a minimum amount as compensation to passengers who are denied boarding and put on a different flight due to overbooking. Countries that mandate compensation include the United States, Canada, UK and European Union countries.

When departing the UK and European Union, €600 (equivalent to £532) is the mandatory compensation amount payable to passengers who are denied boarding on a flight of more than 3,500km. So, while the Qantas offer cited above may seem generous, it’s just the minimum they would be legally required to offer to a passenger who was involuntarily bumped off the flight.

Unfortunately for Australians, there is no minimum compensation for passengers who are denied boarding due to overbooking on flights within or from Australia.

Many airlines have their own policies, which are set out in their Conditions of Carriage. But we’re aware of recent examples in Australia where passengers have been rebooked onto other flights due to overbooking, without their agreement, and given nothing in return.

Have you ever received a great offer to change to another flight? Let us know on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum!

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.