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Last year when travelling to Europe I could have gotten $800 worth of travel if I had been willing to be bumped to a later flight. (My friend and I talked about it too long and other folks volunteered first.)
Last month there were some overbooked flights when I was on my way home from London; by being willing to arrive in SF one hour later than usual (and change planes in NY versus LA) we were able to be upgraded to Business Class for both legs of the trip, plus I got to use the Lounge during my layover. (Man, it was my first time in Business Class and it was mighty fine. I can’t even imagine what goes down in First Class!)
Last night I was on a flight that had weight restrictions. If I wasn’t traveling for work, I could have volunteered to take a flight the next morning; had my motel and a dinner paid for, and gotten either $300 cash or $600 travel credit, fully transferable to a friend or family member. Flights in nearby gates seemed to have the same sort of thing going on: needing people willing to take later flights.
Keep yours ears open and being flexible might just be rewarding. For example, when I got bumped to business class, United had handed out a flyer saying if you are willing to be bumped you might get up to $1000 travel credit. I didn’t have much room to be totally bumped, because I had to go back to work, so I couldn’t score the grand, but the Business Class upgrade was certainly worth getting back an hour late!
Last month there were some overbooked flights when I was on my way home from London; by being willing to arrive in SF one hour later than usual (and change planes in NY versus LA) we were able to be upgraded to Business Class for both legs of the trip, plus I got to use the Lounge during my layover. (Man, it was my first time in Business Class and it was mighty fine. I can’t even imagine what goes down in First Class!)
Last night I was on a flight that had weight restrictions. If I wasn’t traveling for work, I could have volunteered to take a flight the next morning; had my motel and a dinner paid for, and gotten either $300 cash or $600 travel credit, fully transferable to a friend or family member. Flights in nearby gates seemed to have the same sort of thing going on: needing people willing to take later flights.
Keep yours ears open and being flexible might just be rewarding. For example, when I got bumped to business class, United had handed out a flyer saying if you are willing to be bumped you might get up to $1000 travel credit. I didn’t have much room to be totally bumped, because I had to go back to work, so I couldn’t score the grand, but the Business Class upgrade was certainly worth getting back an hour late!
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