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.
Was about to board my connecting flight home out of ORD and they were looking for four volunteers to stay because the flight was over weight. Started at $500 and within a few minutes upped it to $1k. I thought I wonder if they will go to $2k so walked up and asked and got it!
Pretty stoked my wife is coming with me to Tokyo this spring and this will cover her ticket or potential upgrades depending on fares.
United Airlines Terminal, Chicago O’Hare
They can’t actually use the credits to pay for upgrades, though of course they can use the credit to buy a ticket and the money they would have spent on the ticket could be used or an upgrade. Either way, they’re thrilled, it was well worth the wait. United flies the route three times per day.
Flights have too many passengers for a number of reasons.
- Sometimes the airline sells more tickets than seats, and more people show up for the flight than expected.
- They may also swap planes for one with fewer seats. The original aircraft goes mechanical, for instance, and they substitute with a smaller aircraft.
- Weight restrictions may limit the number of passengers on board. They might need more fuel for the journey than usual because of winds. They may have too much cargo on board. In that case even though there are enough seats for everyone, they can’t accommodate all the passengers. Weight and balance appears to have been the issue here.
Tunnel Connecting United B + C Concourses at Chicago O’Hare
Airlines give out compensation trying to get passengers to voluntarily take another flight. In most cases (although not an aircraft swap) they are required to pay cash compensation to passengers if there aren’t volunteers, and they have to ‘involuntarily’ deny boarding to someone. Here United was looking for volunteers, offering a lot of money to take the next non-stop flight.
Sometimes what to do is a real conundrum – one boyfriend got in trouble for taking $2,000 from Delta to delay visiting her. He should have spent half of it on her to make up for it. Delta pays out actual gift cards and not just their own travel credits like most airlines do. That’s part of their bigger deal with American Express.
United Airlines CRJ, Like Those Flown To Fargo
Shortly after the 2017 David Dao dragging incident on United Delta authorized gate agents to go up to $9,950. Around that time United gave one passenger a $10,000 travel credit for taking a later flight but they eliminated that generosity at the start of the pandemic.
This is how badly United didn’t want to give me cash: pic.twitter.com/sI7vmbeB2Q
— Allison Preiss (@allisonmpreiss) March 22, 2018
Still, $2,000 payouts are possible.
I’m reminded of our dear friend, Dr. Dao. May his memory be eternal. Hope he is enjoying his cash settlement these days. That guy really took one for the team.
If only they flew Alaska
They offered me 25 dollars to take a flight the following week
Roll eyes
I’d only take their offer if it is cash (check), not credits.
On a Delta flight, the gate agent needed just one more. Jokingly, a counter with $4k and the agent accepted.
@Lee
Glad you got $4,000 for taking a later flight or whatno.
By chance, are you the same ‘Lee’ that quoted the most notorious fascist in Gary’s recent post about the tragic midair collision?
If so, thank you for ‘keeping it light’ on this post at least—and, if not, apologies in-advance because there’s a Lee out there who is…very ’uncool.’ Beware!
I was once on a UA flight (2.5hrs) on a J ticket (FFF) and already seated when they made the announcement offering credits and next flight for volunteers. I raised my hand politely (did not push “the button”) and the FA came over. I asked if I would be guaranteed a F seat on that next flight and she said no.
That was the end of that. “Bidding” went to $600 and I just remember it as “sometimes the juice is not worth the squeeze.” My seat was great. No kicking kids, crying babies, Krazy Karens, or drama. I hope that guy who took the $600 got an equally great flight.
Can you imagine you make an appointment to see a specialist in some medical procedue, which takes months in some cases, and you’ve fasted, now splayed out on the gurney… and they offer you $600 to reschedule? What industry customers would ever use a vendor that can’t properly staff or provide resources to run its business?
Airlines suck. Also DEI is not a factor, and the Potomac disaster was not caused by ATC or the PSA/AE/AA pilots.
Ehud
FAA Commercial Helicopter and formerly a member of UA’s top-sekrit Perks Plus Program.
@Ehud Gavron
It seems like you made the right choice for you in that bidding situation.
We in the US deserve better passenger protections like EU261 or the APPR—alas, sadly, that is not the direction of where our country is headed.
As for the misguided, disingenuous, and/or outright hateful commenter(s) on here, thank you for also speaking truth to such lies.
Folks like them should not feel comfortable to spread such vile falsehoods, even if in jest, especially so soon after such a tragedy.
Safe travels.
Wow! I don’t usually head to the gate until around 10 minutes into boarding so I never hear these if they are offering — they should give you the opportunity through the apps.
Also @1990, interesting point. I’ve seen some “L”s pop up here and there that aren’t me. Hopefully they aren’t saying anything too out of pocket. A good guide is if they aren’t fawning over Cap 1 lounges or talking about Amex/Hilton, it’s probably not me. Maybe I can think of a creative name….L737 it is. I know, so creative.
Good for the person getting the flight credits. I don’t believe I have personally seen people being offered money or credits on my flight for taking a later flight in an overbooked or overweight situation.
I’ve noticed on almost every AA flight I’ve taken recently the app offers me anything from $200-600 (sometimes more) to take another flight. You get a choice of how low or high you want to bid. So far I’ve never tried it as I’ve had places I need to be, but maybe one day, especially as sometimes these have been on routes that are frequently served. The question that doesn’t seem clear is am I guaranteed to be on a new earlier/later flight or am I put on standby and could be there all day essentially as that makes a big difference in the choice
Meanwhile, on 2 separate occasions I took Delta’s lowest “volunteer” offer (a couple hundred) only to be told that they didn’t need me after all, gave my seat away, and gave me a middle bulkhead seat after everyone else boarded
@L737
You seem like a fine fellow.
It’s the internet, we’re anonymous strangers, and Gary doesn’t moderate much, so there is bound to be occasional hateful, ignorant, and bigoted comments on here. VFTW is not a serious place, but we should still feel safe here.
Personally, I wish folks would be more decent and respectful to each other. I know I was raised better, so I’ll speak up when it’s out of hand, but I realize my efforts won’t do much. And sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire—bully the bullies, troll the trolls. Those meanies should not feel comfortable to say such awful things—they should know they are outnumbered.
Most of us are good folks who are passionate about this hobby, and just trying to learn more about points, miles, status, and travel. I also enjoy the occasional banter, but that’s just me.
Please take care.
The offers on the AA App seems bogus. I think they do it to data mine on how low they can get people to go. Overbooks situations have become very rare (actually needing people to give up a seat after boarding has ended) but hooray for anyone that can negotiate a sweet deal.
@1990 Thanks #1 VFTW commenter!
Nice niche community here. I’m here to learn and be inspired by you more well-travelled folks. Also to be entertained so I hope the banter continues — we could all use more laughs during the day.
Safe travels to you and all and hope to see and converse with everyone here for a long, long time. (And lots of overbooked flights credits for all!)
@George N Romey Oh interesting, I didn’t realize they did do them via the app — guess my flights haven’t been offering recently.
Its not $2000, it travel credits upto $2000. They have all kinds of limitations and blackout dates.
so never ever take travel credits when you’re doing the airline a massive favor.
Small correction to the story. YES you actually can use the Electonic Travel Certificate for upgrades, you just have to call in