George Santos, a former New York congressman who pleaded guilty to federal wire-fraud and aggravated-identity-theft charges and later had his 87-month prison sentence commuted by President Donald Trump reports that Delta was offering $3,600 to avoid involuntarily bumping anyone off of a Northeast Shuttle flight on Saturday.
Earlier today Delta was offering 4 people $900 each to step off an oversold flight from DC to NYC… they had to beg people to take the $900 cash gift card!
I mean I’ve taken those before if I wasn’t on a tight schedule. It’s Christmas and people seemed completely uninterested.…
— George Santos (@Georgesantos) December 6, 2025
He wasn’t willing to take the money, though he’s accepted higher offers before. It seems to me that given his situation he’s making the wrong choice.
I’m on a tight schedule… so I had to just go to my next stop. It yeah I don’t mind the free money… my husband and I once took $1600 each to step off a Vegas flight.
— George Santos (@Georgesantos) December 6, 2025
Before Congress, he claimed a salary of $750,000 and up to $5 million in dividends from his firm, the “Devolder Organization,” on his 2022 House disclosure. The House Ethics Committee later concluded a lot of this was fictional and that he used campaign funds as a personal piggy bank (including for Botox and OnlyFans). Ethics investigators also said some “personal loans” he reported making to his campaign did not appear to exist. The money wasn’t actually there.
He has limited access to normal political or corporate career paths given his fraud and ID theft conviction. On the other hand, he has a proven ability to monetize infamy (Cameo, potential book deals and reality-adjacent activities).
After being expelled from Congress in December 2023, he launched a Cameo account that appears to have earned over $400,000 in a few months.
Santos, by the way, is unwilling to take Amtrak between New York and D.C. In one of the first times I’ve found myself aligned with the disgraced ex-Congressman, I prefer to fly as well.
I rather carve my eyes out of my face. Penn station is like the hunger games buddy. lol
— George Santos (@Georgesantos) December 6, 2025
Delta, though, almost never involuntarily bumps a passenger. They (1) offer gift cards, not mere travel vouchers, and (2) continually raises the amount they’re willing to offer until passengers volunteer to take a later flight. That way everyone wins.
Glad you’re exposing George but hate how we are even talking about him still.
I’m on a Delta flight now (free wifi ftw). 3 people accepted only $500, thought it could’ve gone a lot higher. Also 60+ people on the upgrade/standby list but not one of them had a funny four letter combo! Very disappointing.
@RunningJock – I think the premise of the story is also about the $900 offer from Delta. Just happens to come from this guy.
That amount is a bit staggering for such a short route.. I’m surprised they have oversells that bad. Is Delta still flying just E175s on the route?
@haolenate — Good question, my recent DL itineraries IAD-JFK and DCA-LGA have been E170 and E175s, haven’t seen anything else but maybe something bigger on a busier day of the week.
@L737 — Glad to hear your ‘Shuttle’ flights to NYC actually happened; have been burned enough times where I’ll only take Acela to DC, Philly, Boston, if that’s my destination.
Penn Station to Union Station is not that bad, and if you *live* anywhere within 15 blocks of Penn station, it’s worth it.
I live in PHL, and always take Amtrak to NYC or DC- it saves so much time and is much more reliable. But PHL-BOS? American Airlines all day, and getting from Logan to the back bay is never truly horrific… just sometimes, and you will still get there before the Amtrak train.
@Jon — That’s fair, from Philly. From NYC, it really depends what the rates are, like, if it’s a reasonably priced Acela, then I’m going with that, even for BOS. Prefer the $2.90 subway vs. the hour (and $70+ ride-share) to LGA, EWR, or JFK. At least PHL is relatively close to your city center; SEPTA doin’ alright these days?
@1990 — Knock on wood, the LGA I’ve only booked so tbd. Btw, I passed the ATL Centurion lounge again this afternoon no visible line so that’s good – opted to try the E Delta SkyClub instead, delicious beef and pork meatball arrabbiata!
Regarding Santos, he has excellent job prospects these days. Lots of opportunities for unqualified grifters in DC. Saw him shocking featured on a highly rated political YouTube show today and didn’t notice any remorse or shame. Guess those feelings are left to us little people when we get caught ripping off little old ladies and such. Could even be put in charge of the FAA the way things are going.
@L737 — Niccce. At ATL, E is alright. I’ve wanted to try the new Centurion, and new SkyClub at D18 (opened around April of this year?). It’s telling that Delta focused on upgrading its lounge at the terminal with competitors (D has United, after all); meanwhile, its SkyClubs at A are really showing their age, and the larger one at B, while quite spacious, is nearly-always packed. Interesting…
@1990 — Interesting indeed. Maybe one day with a long enough layover I’ll get to do the whole ATL SkyClub tour. I hear the one at F is pretty good too. Originally I was going to try A17 since it was next to one of my gates but the line was dozens of people deep, no line at E.
That’s the least of his problems. Husband? Sick.
Btw, who’s this George Santos fella; all I see are photos of Kitara Ravache.