4 ms·

Delta Air Lines offers passengers $10k each to get off 'oversold' flight

27 points by cwwc 4y ago

djmips 4y ago
I was one offered a large sum and took it. It meant a 5 hour delay in Chicago but I passed the time rather pleasantly.
- tomcam 4y ago
  As far as you can remember. Your blood alcohol level was 0.15 by the time you boarded, according to the police report (joke! I don’t know PP).
nimbius 4y ago
As of April 13, 2021, the us dot indicates that passengers may not be involuntarily bumped once their boarding pass has been collected or scanned and the passenger has boarded. if you took the 10k, you're a chump who probably passed up a seven sfigure settlement.
- paulcole 4y ago
  > if you took the 10k, you're a chump who probably passed up a seven sfigure settlement Seems like a reach. Has anyone to date received a 7-figure settlement for getting involuntarily bumped (except for maybe that dude the airline really roughed up)? And remember the person taking $10k had what maybe a 1 in 100 chance of being randomly selected for an involuntary bump?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- listenallyall 4y ago
  You obviously don't understand game theory. You could only receive a "settlement" (and good luck even getting 6 figures), possibly, if you were involuntary bumped. Which is why airlines offer money -- so the removal is not involuntary. The people who got off got $10,000, the people who stayed on the flight and got nothing are the chumps.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- bandyaboot 4y ago
  You realize of course, that if you don’t voluntarily accept the 10k, you’ll get nothing unless 1) not enough other people accept the offer and 2) you get randomly selected to be involuntary bumped. You may want to rethink who would have ended up being the chump had you been on that flight.
- phil21 4y ago
  You likely won't get $10k even if no one else happens to take the offer and you get bumped. 7 figures is a pipe dream fantasy. These things are typically statutory fines that don't even go to you personally, but I have been out of flying for a number of years so info is dated. I'd be surprised if the amount wasn't exactly specified.
- hakfoo 4y ago
  I'm surprised the airlines haven't seen this as an itemizable fee opportunity. The cheapest tickets would come with an explicit "buying this class ticket constitutes an explicit agreement to being bumped according to such-and-such-rules if oversold" disclaimer, and then they can list "schedule protection" as a feature of more expensive fare classes. I suspect if they could get away with it, they'd just put everyone's ticket price in a spreadsheet and start bumping from the bottom up.
  - rootsudo 4y ago
    They can't, it's DOT Federal Law requirement. https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights
mondocat 4y ago
I was on an oversold WestJet flight a few days ago and a $2400 voucher was announced to give up your seat. I was told the amount corresponded to the delay, and that it was "up to" $2400, with a flight leaving the same time the next day, which was the longest option mentioned being worth $1500. I didn't see any confirmation from someone receiving the $10,000 so I would guess it was the same situation.
- paulcole 4y ago
  From the article: > “If you have Apple Pay, you’ll even have the money right now,” the flight attendant said, Aten wrote.
  - mondocat 4y ago
    That does not clarify whether it's $10,000, or up to $10,000.
    - paulcole 4y ago
      Back to the article we go: > The crew was looking for eight volunteers to give up their seats on the "apparently oversold" flight, offering them $10,000 each. I have emphasized the use of “up to” in the previous sentence.
    - arwhatever 4y ago
      Obligatory xkcd https://xkcd.com/870/ https://xkcd.com/870/
      - paulcole 4y ago
        Doesn’t seem to be the case at all. The article is very clear about what was heard: > The crew was looking for eight volunteers to give up their seats on the "apparently oversold" flight, offering them $10,000 each.
  - listenallyall 4y ago
    Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, none of which has been supplied. This particular statement about Apple Pay makes the story sound less likely, since it is not the typical way airlines handle this compensation.
lxchase 4y ago
Something tells me a gate agent does not have the authority to hand out $10k via Apple Pay.
pdx_flyer 4y ago
A few things that seem a little off from the accounts: 1) A flight attendant wouldn’t be the one to make the announcement. It would be the gate agent. 2) The Apple Pay part of the announcement is really weird. Airlines typically don’t hand out cash directly and even if they could, this isn’t how Apple Pay works. The payment usually comes in the form of a check or a credit voucher printed at the gate. I wouldn’t be surprised if Delta offered the amount to gain a little positive press but I don’t believe some of the extraneous details. To be clear, Involuntary Denied Boarding compensation, the kind you’re given when no one takes the bump offer, is soft-capped at $1550 - https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/bumping-oversales https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer... Delta may have known there was no way they were going to get these passengers on other flights today and gave them more cash to try to make it a little easier to swallow.

27 points by cwwc 4y ago

djmips 4y ago

I was one offered a large sum and took it. It meant a 5 hour delay in Chicago but I passed the time rather pleasantly.

tomcam 4y ago
As far as you can remember. Your blood alcohol level was 0.15 by the time you boarded, according to the police report (joke! I don’t know PP).

nimbius 4y ago

As of April 13, 2021, the us dot indicates that passengers may not be involuntarily bumped once their boarding pass has been collected or scanned and the passenger has boarded. if you took the 10k, you're a chump who probably passed up a seven sfigure settlement.

paulcole 4y ago
> if you took the 10k, you're a chump who probably passed up a seven sfigure settlement Seems like a reach. Has anyone to date received a 7-figure settlement for getting involuntarily bumped (except for maybe that dude the airline really roughed up)? And remember the person taking $10k had what maybe a 1 in 100 chance of being randomly selected for an involuntary bump?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
listenallyall 4y ago
You obviously don't understand game theory. You could only receive a "settlement" (and good luck even getting 6 figures), possibly, if you were involuntary bumped. Which is why airlines offer money -- so the removal is not involuntary. The people who got off got $10,000, the people who stayed on the flight and got nothing are the chumps.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
bandyaboot 4y ago
You realize of course, that if you don’t voluntarily accept the 10k, you’ll get nothing unless 1) not enough other people accept the offer and 2) you get randomly selected to be involuntary bumped. You may want to rethink who would have ended up being the chump had you been on that flight.
phil21 4y ago
You likely won't get $10k even if no one else happens to take the offer and you get bumped. 7 figures is a pipe dream fantasy. These things are typically statutory fines that don't even go to you personally, but I have been out of flying for a number of years so info is dated. I'd be surprised if the amount wasn't exactly specified.
hakfoo 4y ago
I'm surprised the airlines haven't seen this as an itemizable fee opportunity. The cheapest tickets would come with an explicit "buying this class ticket constitutes an explicit agreement to being bumped according to such-and-such-rules if oversold" disclaimer, and then they can list "schedule protection" as a feature of more expensive fare classes. I suspect if they could get away with it, they'd just put everyone's ticket price in a spreadsheet and start bumping from the bottom up.
- rootsudo 4y ago
  They can't, it's DOT Federal Law requirement. https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights

mondocat 4y ago

I was on an oversold WestJet flight a few days ago and a $2400 voucher was announced to give up your seat. I was told the amount corresponded to the delay, and that it was "up to" $2400, with a flight leaving the same time the next day, which was the longest option mentioned being worth $1500. I didn't see any confirmation from someone receiving the $10,000 so I would guess it was the same situation.

paulcole 4y ago
From the article: > “If you have Apple Pay, you’ll even have the money right now,” the flight attendant said, Aten wrote.
- mondocat 4y ago
  That does not clarify whether it's $10,000, or up to $10,000.
  - paulcole 4y ago
    Back to the article we go: > The crew was looking for eight volunteers to give up their seats on the "apparently oversold" flight, offering them $10,000 each. I have emphasized the use of “up to” in the previous sentence.
  - arwhatever 4y ago
    Obligatory xkcd https://xkcd.com/870/ https://xkcd.com/870/
    - paulcole 4y ago
      Doesn’t seem to be the case at all. The article is very clear about what was heard: > The crew was looking for eight volunteers to give up their seats on the "apparently oversold" flight, offering them $10,000 each.
- listenallyall 4y ago
  Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, none of which has been supplied. This particular statement about Apple Pay makes the story sound less likely, since it is not the typical way airlines handle this compensation.

lxchase 4y ago

Something tells me a gate agent does not have the authority to hand out $10k via Apple Pay.

pdx_flyer 4y ago

A few things that seem a little off from the accounts: 1) A flight attendant wouldn’t be the one to make the announcement. It would be the gate agent. 2) The Apple Pay part of the announcement is really weird. Airlines typically don’t hand out cash directly and even if they could, this isn’t how Apple Pay works. The payment usually comes in the form of a check or a credit voucher printed at the gate. I wouldn’t be surprised if Delta offered the amount to gain a little positive press but I don’t believe some of the extraneous details. To be clear, Involuntary Denied Boarding compensation, the kind you’re given when no one takes the bump offer, is soft-capped at $1550 - https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/bumping-oversales https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer... Delta may have known there was no way they were going to get these passengers on other flights today and gave them more cash to try to make it a little easier to swallow.