Tag Archives for compensation.
American Airlines was reportedly offering passengers as much as $4,000 each to volunteer off an oversold flight to Aspen, a stunning number for a carrier that usually avoids paying much to solve these problems. The twist is that saying yes may have been the best deal in the cabin, because the original flight later diverted to Grand Junction and passengers wound up finishing the trip to Aspen by bus.
American Airlines has a new internal playbook for oversold flights — and it changes how you should think about taking a voluntary bump. A leaked memo lays out two rules that matter to passengers: everyone is supposed to be paid the highest offer the gate makes, and the third offer is usually the ceiling unless managers approve more. If you want the most compensation, that inside detail is now part of the strategy.
He paid for luxury and got bed bugs, broken seats, and a bleeding finger instead. After a nightmare flight from Delhi to Toronto, Air India decided the ordeal was worth just $120 in “compensation.”
Delta calls it fraud protection. Regulators might call it illegal. In 2025 the airline is still refusing check-in to passengers who can’t produce their original payment card, stranding travelers overseas and exposing Delta to compensation claims under U.K. and E.U. law.
My first thought was, a trip credit for a lap infant, I guess I need to buy him a seat next time! Of course I can use his travel credit for my own travels – with his permission, of course! 15,000 points would have felt light, but 45,000 points plus $150 seems pretty good. Perhaps I should be complaining more often.
On Monday morning Delta Air Lines was handing out $3,000 to passengers to take a later flight from Chicago to Seattle. It was the 7:50 a.m. departure the morning after Easter. And one passenger shares what happened after they had already boarded.
Last week, Delta had more passengers than seats available on flight 1668 from Seattle to Palm Springs. A passenger reported that “there was chaos” at the gate, since not everyone could be accommodated – and the airline instituted a bidding process to get 5 people to give up their seats.
A United Airlines passenger flying a regional jet from Chicago O’Hare to Fargo snagged $2,000 in travel credits to take a later flight on Thursday.
United Airlines reportedly threatened to force everyone on their flight 923 from Los Angeles to London to get off the aircraft on Sunday, unless three business class passengers gave up their seats and moved to extra legroom coach in order to make room for flight attendants. A passenger says that this “came across as a threat, both in their wording and tone.”
United Airlines was overbooked by 14 passengers on a flight to Las Vegas. They hadn’t even sold more tickets than seats.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
