$3000, a free ticket to a local, fancy strip club of my choosing, and a nice hotel room to cool off.
I was a regular user of flights from Chicago to Louisville for decades, and I’m flabbergasted by that whole UA thing. There are multiple flights from O’Hare and Midway every day, and it’s only a hour trip. Getting bumped for a $800 payout would have delayed me maybe two hours (ironically, how long the flight was delayed for shenanigans) - I’d have jumped at that deal. Worst-case scenario and it was the last flight by any carrier? It’s about a 4 hour drive on I-65 almost the whole way doing 80mph and I’m still there the same night. Hell, for the money they offered you could probably hire a town car and sit in the back on your laptop the whole way.
I really don’t get why no one volunteered when they asked - the only time that would make sense would be during the Kentucky Derby next month because then all flights are booked solid.
Back when I was flying regularly, I realized one trip that while I’m traveling, I’m too groggy to make this decision, so I got into the habit of deciding in advance what I’d be willing to take. Most often, that either came down to “whatever the first offer is” or “not at all”, depending on the reason for the trip and what else I had scheduled.
IIRC, the last time it happened to me, the offer I took was a voucher worth another free flight on the same airline (I didn’t have much choice of airlines anyway), plus a hotel room for the night and a meal voucher at the hotel restaurant (which turned out to not be nearly enough for a full meal). It gave me a chance to do some sightseeing in Salt Lake City, a city I’d never seen before outside of the airport, so that was nice.
The last domestic flight I took was the third portion of a flight back from Greece, and I was flying alone. I was tired after the international flight, and bored after waiting for my plane back to Indiana-- I was in LaGuardia, but I had a poor frame of time-- not enough to leave the terminal to go do something, but too long to sit without getting bored.
If they wanted to bump me and send me to a hotel where I could have watched a little TV, ordered room service, or at least pizza delivery, and lain back in bed to read comfortably, and then gotten a good night’s sleep, I probably would have done it for not much. I wasn’t working the next day, and my husband probably wouldn’t have cared too much.
Now, if they wanted to reroute me, so I’d spend another two hours in the airport, and then take a longer flight where I had to transfer, that would have sucked. But for upwards of $1,000 cash, I’d have done it.
There was another time when I was flying alone with my son when he was 17 months old. No way would I take anything short of about $10,000 to get bumped with him. And again, we’d have to go right to the hotel, not sit around the airport.
My last flight was Dallas (DFW) back home to Grand Cayman (GCM) by way of Washington Dulles (IAD) and Miami (MIA) all on American. Yuck! I would have happily given up my seat for cheap, heck for just a meal voucher, if only they would reroute me to a one stop via MIA. No such luck.
I have taken the bump previously. I was supposed to fly Thursday evening so I could be at work Friday morning. I had to call work and take an extra day off. Got $400 travel voucher and an extra night in the hotel, and an agreement to rebook for a Sunday morning flight. Extended my stay and went sailing with friends that weekend.
Went to the airport for my Sunday flight and… got bumped again. Another $400 voucher, this time delayed only about two hours. Sat and had breakfast and read the paper. Had a shorter layover and got to my final destination less than an hour late.
Thanks for the head’s up. Will make sure China Bambina does contact Brown about the unfortunate miss. Brown isn’t really on the agenda, but they do have a strong sister campus affiliation with RISD.
China Bambina after the 3 tours ranks them as Pratt, RISD and Parsons. Not exactly what the preconceived notion was, but that’s why you do a tour. Next stop is the el-lay…
As others have said, it really depends.
My wife and I generally travel together, and never travel for business. So you would need to bump both of us. We are both ‘planners’. Can’t remember the last time either of has been late for anything. It just doesn’t happen. Of course we have never missed a flight.
We live 100 miles from the airport, so we give ourselves plenty of time to arrive, as we both hate to have to rush. No point in it. It’s a travel day, and we have no problem hanging at the airport for a few hours before our flight.
We are not rich, but are doing well. It would have to be at least a couple of grand to volunteer to be bumped.
A few years back, unless I was traveling for a specific event (wedding, meeting, etc.), I would have happily volunteered to be bumped for a reasonable compensation. But since the airlines have now put me in an adversarial relationship with fees upon fees, uncomfortable seats, surly employees, etc., I would institute a penalty payment for bumping me and my bottom line would be 2.5k in cash.
This.
The airlines have brought this on themselves. When I fly, I view it as something I have to endure in order to enjoy my destination. I hate the entire experience. If I could drive to the Caribbean, I would, but I can’t.
Furthermore, there aren’t any real choices. Do I do business with the airline that dragged a customer off the plane, the one that tossed the customer for what they decided was inappropriate reading material, the one that has a shitty on-time rating, or the one that might go out of business any day now?