This Holiday season will present many opportunities to earn bump vouchers by taking advantage of oversold flights. This weekend presented a reader an opportunity to get paid in Delta vouchers and spend extra time with loved ones. In this post I’ll share a story from a reader who was able to secure a $400 Delta voucher and spend a few extra days with family members in Shreveport Louisiana. You can make sure you know your rights for oversold flights by reading this earlier post.

Original Delta Itinerary

Outbound:

ORD > MEM – Flight 5408 Operated by ASA Dba Delta Connection was delayed due to weather

MEM > SHV – Flight 5277 Operated by ASA Dba Delta Connection

Return:

SHV > MEM – Flight 5388 Operated by ASA Dba Delta Connection was delayed due to mechanical issue

MEM > ORD – Flight 2585 operated by Mesaba Dba Delta Connection

IROPs And Passenger Re-Routing

It’s never fun when you experience irregular operations, but overall Delta handled the situation very well. Both delays were to or from the Memphis focus city and through Delta’s Connection Carrier ASA. Both times the passenger was re-routed through Atlanta.

Outbound: The outbound flight from ORD to MEM was delayed due to weather. No compensation was due and Delta handled re-routing the passenger through Atlanta flawlessly. The only down side here is the layover was greater than 6 hours, which makes for a long day on a Holiday weekend.

Return: The return flight from SHV to MEM was delayed due to mechanical reasons which would have caused a reader to miss his connecting flight to ORD. This delay triggered IROP rules (Irregular Operation). Delta re-routed him through Atlanta, 2 days later.

Bump Success

Due to the return flight (SHV > MEM) also being oversold, Delta offered a $400 bump vouchers to take flights later in the week. A $400 bump voucher is normally a decent deal for a few hour delay. Since this was a Holiday weekend, there were no alternative flights until Tuesday, making this a bad deal if the reader had to be somewhere Monday morning. Since the reader wasn’t in a hurry to get home, it was viewed as an opportunity to earn money and spend a few extra days with family.

Delta would have been obliged to pay up to $1300 had they needed to IDB (involuntarily deny boarding) a passenger with a 2 day delay. In the case of IDB, passengers are compensated by a set of rules you can find in this post.

If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (400% of your fare, $1300 maximum).

Bottom Line

Both delayed flights were operated by ASA a Delta connection carrier. By remaining flexible and knowing your rights as a passenger you can make the most of irregular operations. This reader took the opportunity to spend a few extra days with family and made four hundred dollars towards his next flight.