I took advantage of my first voluntary denied boarding (VDB) situation in years on United Airlines over the weekend, netting me $1,500 in travel credit and bringing back very happy memories of my travels on United as a youth.
My Latest VDB Bump On United Airlines In SFO
I was flying from San Francisco (SFO) to Chicago (ORD) and booked on my favorite flight of the day, operated by a gaining but very comfortable 777-200 in business class. Unfortunately, the 777 has been pulled from redeye service this summer on this route, but it does operate once daily in the afternoon and I was booked in business class in a window seat…a necessity for an overnight flight, but a nice treat for a daytime flight.
I enjoyed a larger lunch than expected at the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (which has Mexican food this month, you know me…) and showed up to board at 2:00 pm just in time to hear a gate agent say, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are seeking five volunteers to take a later flight to Chicago in exchange for a $1,500 voucher.”
My eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning and I approached the gate agent and said I’d be happy to give up my seat. She thanked me and told me to sit tight and wait for the flight to board. Only then would they know if they needed my seat. Why? Because the flight must have been oversold by five but you can always count on no-shows or misconnects, which is why flights are oversold in the first place.
United’s booking algorithms have become much smarter over the years and so I’ve seen very few oversell situations of late…the system is just better at predicting no-shows and booking just enough. This was a very unexpected situation for me.
But sometimes every one shows up…and here everyone showed up. It felt like my weekend mileage runs between Philadelphia and LA back when I was in law school where I’d routinely get bumped at SFO.
All five volunteers were needed and I was gleeful when my name was called and the gate agent said, “We are going to need your seat.”
As much as I hated giving up a lie-flat seat, it was a four-hour flight and the $1,500 in travel credit will help underwrite future travel in a way I value more than than the lie-flat seat on this flight.
I was rebooked on another (same-day) flight to Chicago in first class (though on a Boeing 757-300, so from one of United’s most comfortable domestic premium seats to one of its most uncomfortable) but I had to get there so I could get right back home to LA…I didn’t have a day to waste waiting for another 777 or routing via Newark to get a better product.
I realize I’m not a kid any longer and my time is worth more than it was in the past…but four hours for $1,500? Theoretically even if I could bill for more than that, it was a Saturday afternoon and I just retreated to the Air Canada lounge where I worked for a few more hours in comfort before boarding the flight.
The past few summers I’ve made the deliberate decision to suspend most travel…after all, airfares are high and airports are crowded. This summer, however, has been the total opposite and I guess one advantage is that more flights are oversold.
To those like me who love VDB situations, I say happy hunting!
They must have been doing this all weekend with SFO. I got $1000 to take an hour later flight from San Diego (booked in economy). I’ll take it every day.
Can you demand cash instead of a travel voucher and they have to give it to you?
I’ve been an EXP at AA since 2015, and from 2010 to 2015 I was a 1K. In all that flying, I have had exacctly 1 VDB situation. I’d happily take more, but I never ever seem them arise.
You can demand cash if its an Involuntary Denied Boarding situation as in you’re a confirmed passenger and not allowed on the plane, but Volunteering is giving up the cash compensation.
This happened to me on AA in SBN just before COVID, the gate agents did a few feeble attempts for volunteers (offering like $200) and since I had waited to check in for Basic Economy tickets, a strategy on American that in the past let to exit rows and seats together with my partner at the time, we didn’t have seats and were Involuntary Denied Boarding.
The agents first tried to give us like $600 in vouches I said no I know our rights, give us cash and we each got checks (sent my mail, no one on duty knew how to operate the Airport’s check imprinting machine) for slightly less than that amount. So happy I said a check since COVID came a few months later and we didn’t fly for over a year. I did file a DOT complaint basically saying that the agents needed to tell us our rights to cash first and a third IDB person only asked for cash after I pushed for it.
I’m very happy to receive travel credit – I’ll certainly spend more than $1,500 on United travel in the months ahead.
So, you didn’t wanna push it higher, eh? $1,500 is nice, but, we know they can go higher, thanks to Dr. Dao!
She told me when processing my travel credit that she had gone up from $1K to $1.5K when she didn’t get any takers. Good thing I arrived at the gate late!