Ready.. Set.. BUMP!

Claudia Fenner is a writer, photographer and travel enthusiast from Dix Hills. She loves to plan her family’s vacations as well as help her relatives and friends with theirs. Have any travel questions you would like answered? Email her at travelingclaudia@gmail.com. Happy Travels!

    Some travelers view the prospect of being bumped off of an overbooked flight as their worst vacation nightmare. For our family, it’s an opportunity that we are thrilled to take advantage of.  To us, an overbooked flight translates into the airline giving out free travel “money” to anyone that is savvy enough to be flexible about their travel plans.
    Airlines are anxious to fill every seat on their flights. To ensure that the plane will pull away from the gate with as few empty seats as possible, airlines routinely overbook their flights accommodating for last minute no shows. Last year almost 700,000 passengers were denied seats on their flights out of the almost 600 million passengers that booked tickets. Most of these travelers gave up their seats voluntarily and received compensation such as a future travel, or meal and hotel vouchers for the inconvenience. Usually an airline offers anywhere from $250-$800 per passenger if you volunteer to give up your seat. How much they offer depends on a few factors including how overbooked the flight is and how soon they will be able to get you to your destination. If you are game, it’s a win/win situation for everyone involved.
    You can increase your odds of being bumped and earn free travel by following a few simple guidelines.
• Before you leave home, look up on line how crowded your flight is.  You can get a rough idea by going on the airline’s website to see how many seats are left on your flight.  If there are plenty of seats left then don’t count on being bumped.
• The gate agents show up at your gate usually around an hour before the flight is supposed to leave.  Be first on line and ask in a friendly tone if the flight is overbooked.  If they say yes, then advise them that you might be willing to give up your seat.   The gate agent usually will jot down your name and tell you to wait and see if they will need you.
• Before your seats are given away, they will tell you when and how they can get you to your destination. Sometimes it’s just a few hours later on a connecting flight.  Sometimes y­­ou will have to wait until the next day although they will provide hotel accommodations and meal vouchers.
• If you do decide to give up your seat, you will hand over your boarding passes and then wait until the flight has left the gate to get your new boarding passes and transportation vouchers for future travel. Sometimes they will be able to off load your luggage.. sometimes not.  If they are not able to, your luggage should be waiting for you in the luggage office at your final destination.
• Do your best to keep your patience and most of all sense of humor intact. We once gave up our seats on a nonstop flight from LGA to New Orleans. There was a Giants/Saints game and all of the flights going into New Orleans the next day were fully booked as well, so our airline flew us on a connecting flight the following morning from LGA to Gulfport LA (which is 70 miles away). Then, they paid for our $250 cab ride from Gulfport to New Orleans.  We arrived a half a day late but certainly with a funny travel story to tell. 
•  In the end.. if you are flexible and willing to start your vacation a few hours, or a day later then expected, you might have just paid for your next vacation and that will have you laughing all the way to the travel bank!

Happy Travels!