Have you ever been bumped from a flight? During this holiday season, as the number of air travelers swells to a record high, your chances of being bumped will increase dramatically. If you do get bumped, you will probably view the airline in one of two ways: either as the Grinch or as Santa Claus!
Do airlines really sell more seats than are actually on a plane? Absolutely. Most airlines overbook flights, because some people do not show up for their scheduled flights. To an airline, a passenger seat is a "perishable" item which "spoils" if left empty, and there are enormous revenue implications every time a passenger no-shows for a flight.
In order to offset the impact of no-shows, airlines overbook flights according to careful calculations. Airline inventory analysts take into account many variables, including season, market strength, and how many people no-showed for the flight in the past, to name a few. When the analysts’ projections are off, someone usually gets bumped--voluntarily or otherwise.
At flight closeout time, once it becomes clear a flight is oversold, the airline is required by law to solicit volunteers who would be willing to give up their seats in exchange for compensation and guaranteed passage to their scheduled destinations. For the passenger who has some time to spare, this is a great deal: compensation often takes the form of a free domestic roundtrip coach ticket, which isn’t a bad return on the investment of arriving a little later at one’s destination!
If the volunteer process doesn't do the job, the airline will involuntarily deny boarding to passengers, usually based on the order of check-in. Federal law requires airlines to provide involuntarily bumped passengers compensation in the form of $200 or the face value of the affected segment (whichever is less), if transportation to the destination is provided within one to two hours of the original arrival time.
If the delay is more than two hours, but less than four, compensation will be double the value of the one-way fare, up to $400. Most airlines will offer you a discount voucher or free ticket in place of cash when you’ve been involuntarily bumped, but they are required to provide cash compensation if that’s what you prefer.
Some tips to remember: |
