Everyone has heard the term “bumped”. If you haven’t – or if you have and are not sure what it means – it is the term for when a person has the misfortune of getting to the airport too late to check in for their overbooked flight and loses their seat. They are “bumped” from the flight. With the number of overall flights being reduced, there are now more people who want to fly on those that are available and there are a certain number of no-shows or ticketed passengers who miss their flights each day. Sometimes everyone shows up and that can leave approximately three to five people without an actual seat. The airlines will rebook them on the next available flight, but will also ask if others are willing to be bumped instead.
Now, if you’re one of the unlucky people who doesn’t make it onto a flight, or steps up to relinquish your seat, you need to know your rights. Sometimes the airlines will try to give you a voucher for a free flight in the future, but they are legally obligated to give you a voucher worth an actual dollar amount, which can actually go further toward upcoming travel, especially if you shop the fare sales. So, what should you be getting? For flights arriving less than two hours after your original flight, you should be rewarded at least the cost of your one-way ticket, up to $650. For flights arriving more than two hours after your original flight, airlines are required to compensate you twice the cost of your one-way ticket, up to $1,300.
That’s not the end of your compensation, though. If you are rebooked on a flight more than a few hours later then you should be able to negotiate meal vouchers for the airport. If you can’t fly out until the next day, the airline must give you free meal vouchers and pay for your accommodations. If your hotel isn’t on the airport’s premises or doesn’t have a shuttle bus to get to it, they must also provide cost of transportation to get you there and back.
Overbooking isn’t always convenient, but when you have some leeway in your schedule you can make a delay part of your vacation adventure and give yourself a leg up on your future travel by earning free credit toward flights to use anywhere the airline flies. That definitely qualifies as budget-friendly.
