Last week I flew from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles on Delta, and noticed that when I checked in for my flight that the flight was oversold and they were seeking volunteers willing to bump to a later flight.
The first thing that jumps out is the preselected amounts have been increased to $200, $300, $400 or $500. These used to only be $50, $75, $100, or $125 if I recall correctly so these have been increased.
Another thing that IÂ specifically noticed is that you can now bid up to $800 (previously the maximum amount was only $400).
I decided to bid $800 and head to the gate and see what would happen. At the gate, they said they had a few no-shows and didn’t ultimately need any volunteers.
I think this is a great change enhancing their voluntary denied boarding compensation to $800, up from $400.
One main reason I suspect they did this was that they weren’t getting all the volunteers they needed at the $400 amount and would have to involuntary deny boarding to passengers, so this way with the increased amount they will hopefully be able to get more volunteers.
Another thing I’m wondering is if the compensation for bumping on international flights on Delta also increased.
How much do you plan on bidding on your next oversold Delta flight?
About Points, Miles & Martinis
Here at Points, Miles and Martinis, we love all things travel. We focus on topics relating to travel including destinations, airline, hotel, car rental and credit card reward programs. Our goal is to help people travel better. - See more at our About Us page.
Sign up for Email || Twitter || Facebook |
Hotel Offers || Airline Offers || Bank Offers || Cash Back Offers
I got $900 for 2 flights this past July 4th weekend, but I wish they were on UA lol
I always used to put in $200 or $400 when I got the offer at OLCI, and then check at the gate. My last flight I was coming off an international connection and put in $500. When we got to the gate, they were still looking for one volunteer and I approached. Ultimately I got $600 for that flight (domestic).
Sounds like $500 is my future standard bid.
My friend and I each got $1000 from AA for volunteering to board next flight. we were given voucher to sleep in hotel room and ticket for next flight in the morn. It was long ago but still feel good.
Even if people weren’t volunteering for $100 online, Delta agents could still solicit volunteers with higher offers at the gate when it became clear that more expensive IDBs were going to happen otherwise.
(That is, assuming Delta’s management is sane enough to prefer to offer Delta Dollars to VDBs cold hard cash to IDBs.)
Wow! That is quite a lot of money! I hope to have that option one day 🙂
First, the title of this post is extremely misleading. Second, in my experience bids do not come into play; rather, gate agents have a pre-determined amount and they use that ($400 most domestic, $1000 international).