This past Sunday I was in Vegas and I had booked my self on the 9:55 AM flight out of Las Vegas to Atlanta. I intentionally booked the mid-morning flight as I felt it had the best opportunity for a voluntary bump. My goal was to get either a Transcontinental upgrade or get bumped, to my surprise I ended up getting both.

Bump

I arrived 2 hours early for the flight, after a night in Vegas that seemed like a long time. But I was the first to the counter and the agent put my name on the list for a bump. I was hoping for a bump since there were only 2 seats available for upgrade and I was #3 on the upgrade list. #1, and #2 were standing behind me in line. About 40 minutes prior to departure the gate agent called for volunteers and I was near by. I asked when he could get me to my final destination and if he could confirm me in first class. Not only was he able to get me to Atlanta in First class, but he was able to get me there in time to make my original connection, which had already cleared an upgrade as well. A zero minute difference in arrival time netted me $200 and a seat in the front.

Delta 757 Business Elite

After I received my $200 Delta voucher for the bump, I went online to see if I could see the new reservation. When I logged in I noticed that the seat was considered Business Elite. So I looked on Seatguru.com to see a review of the seats. They recline 160 degrees, have a massaging function, and sport a 20 inch width. While there are some concerns about service on the 757 in Business class, I had a great trip up front in 1B. There was Video on Demand for free, a nice lunch, and as much Coca Cola as I could drink. I found the seats to be less comfortable than the Business Elite on the 767/777, but it was a great improvement over domestic First and certainly over my original 27F exit row coach seat.

Bottom Line

Spending a little extra time in the airport because of a bump can yield extra airline cash. In my case it ended up being $200 for 0 extra minutes of my time and I got to try out the Business Elite seats on the 757 for the first time.