Understanding Bumping Better

[DonM]

I'm lucky to be able to be traveling to Hawaii for Christmas- the bad news is the flights are all overbooked.

The airline I'm traveling on (US Air) like most airlines allows you to assign your own seats which we've done.

1st question- If the flight is overbooked, how do those extra bookings get seats pre assigned?

If more people than seats actually show up at the airport, why would anyone voluntarily give up their seat if all the flights for the next few days are booked? Do they give you a specific guarantee that you will get to your destination by a certain time? Again how can they do that if all seats are overbooked?

If I get to the airport in plenty of time (2 hours before) with my on line boarding pass- will I avoid any practical chance of getting involuntarily bumped?

Thanks
Don

[JoeMid]

On USAir if you have an assigned seat and get to the airport before whatever the required time is, you will be on the plane.

USAir routinely ovebooks, for example a plane with 100 seats may be sold to 110 because they predict 10 no-shows for whatever reason. Only 80 people will have pre assigned seats leaving 30 people with 20 seats.

Anyone who checks in 'late' risks losing their spot with no compensation (just check in online the night before!).... after that they take volunteers. If they don't have enough volunteers they may increase the 'reward' to get enough volunteers. The 'reward' is always better than the compensation for non-volunteers required by law. USAir would rather not have non-volunteers, as stats are kept on that, whereas stats are not kept on volunteers.

If you were to volunteer, you never do so without knowing your compensation AND knowing what flight they guarantee to put you on next. It too, may be overbooked and the 'game' starts again. But if they guaranteed you a seat then they guaranteed you a seat.

USAir free R/T tickets are often hard to use as they come from the same seat quotas as frequent flyer tickets. Their vouchers are also good for a certain amount of dollars off any ticket if you want to use them that way.

Originally Posted by DonM

I'm lucky to be able to be traveling to Hawaii for Christmas- the bad news is the flights are all overbooked.

The airline I'm traveling on (US Air) like most airlines allows you to assign your own seats which we've done.

1st question- If the flight is overbooked, how do those extra bookings get seats pre assigned?

If more people than seats actually show up at the airport, why would anyone voluntarily give up their seat if all the flights for the next few days are booked? Do they give you a specific guarantee that you will get to your destination by a certain time? Again how can they do that if all seats are overbooked?

If I get to the airport in plenty of time (2 hours before) with my on line boarding pass- will I avoid any practical chance of getting involuntarily bumped?

Thanks
Don

[Cathyb]

JoeMid: May I assume then that if free USAir tickets come from same pot as ff mile pot -- then during the busiest flying times they would be impossible to use; i.e., holiday flying? In other words, 'good luck' on any decent flight.

[JoeMid]

Originally Posted by Cathyb

JoeMid: May I assume then that if free USAir tickets come from same pot as ff mile pot -- then during the busiest flying times they would be impossible to use; i.e., holiday flying? In other words, 'good luck' on any decent flight.

Exactly! Many, many people are severely disappointed with the free roundtrip. There are even blackout dates around holidays!! For domestic flights, their vouchers were also always good for $200 off any ticket but they didn't state it on the voucher, now they do. If you are an elite FF you can get around blackout dates and can also often get inventory control to open up more seats for you. I got 5 tix to Las Vegas Wed-Sun over Thanksgiving about three years ago with the vouchers (planning 11 months in advance, then all got bumped again on the way home!!

[DonM]

Originally Posted by JoeMid

USAir free R/T tickets are often hard to use as they come from the same seat quotas as frequent flyer tickets. Their vouchers are also good for a certain amount of dollars off any ticket if you want to use them that way.

JoeMid:


I've heard that using the vouchers to get a discount on future purchases must be made (by certain airlines)- at the airport which seems to me absurdly inconvenient for a casual flyer. Is this the case with US Air?

thanks for your help

Don

[JoeMid]

Originally Posted by DonM

JoeMid: I've heard that using the vouchers to get a discount on future purchases must be made (by certain airlines)- at the airport which seems to me absurdly inconvenient for a casual flyer. Is this the case with US Air? thanks for your help Don

Used to be the case with USAir, but now when they give you the voucher you assign a PIN and you can then do everything over the phone.

[camachinist]

Two words: Travel Voucher

When it's all about the miles, one accepts no less

Primer:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=278082

Enjoy!

Pat

[talkamotta]

Thats good to know about US Air. I have been bumped on Delta once and SWA several times.

On SWA its great. We once got bumped going and each of us got a $300 voucher (took a later flight that same day) and coming we each got $300 (stayed a day overnight and had dinner on them) We used that money for several flights over the next year.

Getting bumped is great if its convenient. I doubt going to Hawaii from the mainland would be very convenient during the holidays.