When it comes to overbooking flights and getting passengers to voluntary move to a different flight, Delta is one of the best airlines (see below).
According to One Mile At A Time, the amount Delta employees can offer in compensation for voluntary bumping is increasing:
- Gate agents can offer up to $2,000 worth of vouchers (up from $800)
- Supervisors can offer up to $9,950 worth of vouchers (up from $2,000)
It’s great that all Delta employees can offer more than the $1,350 maximum currently available if a passenger is involuntary bumped from a flight. This doesn’t mean they will offer these maximum rates for overbooked flights, just that they have the ability to do so.
It will be interesting to see if Delta passengers actually see any notable difference in what they are offered in terms of compensation or not. Â You can read more about overbooking by clicking here.
is any of this compensation taxable?
No. compensatory damages awarded are not taxable. this is not a prize or the lottery.
Okay, it’s better than being knocked unconscious, but I don’t want a stinking voucher. I want cash or equivalent, like a check or Visa gift card.
Vouchers not $$$$$.
True. I wonder what the new $$$$ limits are. Delta has sometimes offered Amazon gift cards & pre-paid Visa type cards according to flyertalk.
What are the restrictions for airline vouchers? Is there a website or picture of the voucher that lists all of the restrictions? Can I use it for the lowest fare (the lowest economy)?
I believe they have the option of cash or vouchers (supervisors that is)
Strictly a p.r. move. No one will ever come close to getting $9,950 to VDB.
On a $300 domestic economy flight, certainly not.
But what about someone on a super-long-haul international flight in premium class who paid many thousands for their seat?
They don’t oversell business class
This won’t even matter. Doesn’t Delta for most people. Doesn’t Delta offer an option at the kiosk and they ask you how much you would take to get bumped? I always put $300 and they never choose me.
How about all the airlines also agree not to bump disabled or senior citizens from the passenger list. I would think there’s plenty of able bodied and younger folks to choose from. Who drags a 69 year old person and think it’s a good idea?
According to federal regulations, people with disabilities are actually protected from involuntary bumping.
Disabilities are protected from getting bumped. Don’t remember seeing anything on seniority though.
I agree about Disabled being protected, though I think there is a law protecting them. As for seniors, I disagree. A younger person usually has a smaller timeframe for flexibility for their schedules, between work, school, etc. Seniors usually have more flexibility, especially if retired, and therefore should be eligible for bumping.
I do think that if one has a medical appointment, wedding, funeral, etc that don’t provide flexibility, one shouldn’t be bumped as all of these are urgent matters. But one should have proof of the matter in question to avoid bumping. Add in a law that protects employees from penalties from missing work due to flight issues and it may open up some volunteers. After all, I’ll take $1,350 (or probably closer to $800) in cash to spend a few more hours in an airport as that is more than I make in a week. But I don’t want to take it to have a pink slip for not showing up for work when I’m scheduled.
Airlines give seniors discounts even though they’re the richest demographic and is discriminating based on age. A senior citizen has less time on earth, so I would advocate bumping a younger person.
Proof for a funeral is hard to obtain. The death certificate may not be available yet. A few years ago, my grandmother died in Paris. Under Jewish tradition, she had to be buried within 48 hours. I learned of her death at about the 40 hour mark, in California. There was not a single nonstop flight SFO-CDG that could get me there on time.
I left on the next flight at SFO at great cost about 8 hours later, with a 45 minute connection in London that I of course missed (but that was on BA, they rebooked me, but it took 5 hours to get my luggage. helllish day). I made it to my mother’s apartment about 10 hours before the funeral.
The death certificate wasn’t available until the week after the funeral. If the airline had requested it, it would have been very problematic. I had zero written trace, just a call from mother.
I left on my French passport too, because my US passport was at the Vietnamese consulate for visa processing. Without a 2nd passport, I wouldn’t have been able to leave the country that day and make it to the funeral. Coming back to the US with only my French passport was quite an ordeal. Airline wanted me to book a “return” ticket to Paris, because I was flying “one-way” to the US from their point of view. I almost caused an international incident but eventually made it. This came back to bite me during my Global Entry interview last year.
I’m not saying that it would be easy, but could be possible. If there was a law dealing with not bumping “urgent, inflexible” plans, I’m sure a doctor could write a note when scheduling the appointment, a wedding invitation could suffice, though not sure about a funeral that is time sensitive, as most I’ve seen take about a week or so to get everything in order. Perhaps calling the airline about the issue ahead of time (or ordering the ticket) and if one doesn’t provide a death certificate on return trip or say 30 days upon return flight, the airline charges a fee for making you a “priority/elite” passenger.
As for seniors having less time left, that is generally true. But who is to say a younger person doesn’t die sooner due to any number of things. Another way to look at it is seniors have had more time to enjoy life to the fullest. Now if a younger person has a flexible schedule, I agree that they should VOLUNTARILY give up their seat for reasonable compensation. But who’s to say that a retired senior’s vacation flight is more important than a mid twenties person taking a flight for a major job interview? Or that a vacation booked recently by a senior is more important than an international vacation planned and booked 6-12 months in advance by a young person (which many need a few hours in stops between flights for customs and rechecking bags and that the person may have asked work for the specific days off work)
Everyone has circumstances that may be more important in their mind. Delta asking at the gate is a good idea (with the reverse bidding) that other airlines should adopt. Though another good option is last to check in is last to board and first to bump when involuntary bumps are necessary. Then the person who bought when the flight was cheapest isn’t kicked off first, and the last minute “Elite” member isn’t priority when a ‘random’ computer makes the choice.
Your argument makes sense from a pure logical and legal standpoint, like something a lawyer or an engineer would do. I just believe treating seniors more respectfully is generally a decent think for a society to do regardless of whether they have more free time.
The requirement to provide a death certificate within 30 days or be charged a fee would be reasonable if airlines still offered bereavement fares – which they unfortunately no longer do. The best I got when I went to visit my father when he was terminally ill and then died was one change fee waived – and I had to make two changes.
Fortunately, I didn’t get bumped in this case, or for my grandmother’s funeral. I have gotten bumped before, but never in a time-sensitive situation.
The airlines are not really equipped to make the determination of who really deserves to fly and who doesn’t, if a flight is overbooked, IMO. People also don’t know if they are going to get bumped ahead of time, and thus don’t know if they would need to prepare a doctor’s note, invitation, etc. Even then, how can the airline verify their legitimacy ? IMO, it makes far more sense for airlines to provide higher financial incentives for people to voluntarily give up their seat, or deplane. If there is no arbitrary limit, with an auction model, overbooking will start costing airlines more, and they will engage in less overbooking. And even in cases of the need to bring in crew, or the CEO, or other “more important people”, providing compensation without a ceiling would limit these abuses by the airlines.
United’s boarding protocol makes married couples more eligible for involuntary denial of boarding; probably to save on hotel costs. They must have been one of the few couples on the flight.
If they do offer someone a $9k Delta voucher with all the restrictions and expiration, it’s probably impossible for anyone to exhaust that face value. Step in the right direction at least.
I volunteer as tribute in this quest!
Have you seen Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow? The horror version is one where you keep riding the same Delta flight in coach over and over..
Where did you get the voluntary bump data from? Can we get it more granular? Month to month or Even date by date or flight to flight.
I see what you’re trying to do there.. 😉
And then we would look forward to Doc’s “Best Airline Bonuses for May 2017” 😉
From the DOT: https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/resources/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/2017MarchATCR.pdf
I don’t believe you can get access to that sort of data 😉
These are for cash compensation, Delta limits are flight vouchers. Not the same currency.
Guess they don’t want another United situation on their hands.
“Here at United we treat you like a king. Rodney King.”
“Here at Southwest we beat the competition. Not you.”