Getting Bumped from a Flight?

Question

How likely is it to get bumped from a flight and what is the best way to avoid getting bumped?

Answer 1

flights are often overbooked. Check in early

Answer 2

Well, how can I compete with the copied and pasted text from Northwest's website?

As an airline employee, here are my tips to avoid getting bumped.

1.) Purchase a better class ticket than coach
2.) Check in well in advance. The earliest is 24-hours out.

Carriers operate differently when it comes to bumping. For instance, Southwest will bump the last people to check in because they have no "First Class" customers. Whereas a legacy carrier may bump the last person who checked in that's sitting in coach.

When they oversell the flight, they are still selling "confirmed" seats. Airlines have stats that go back many decades that show an average of how many "no-shows" they will have on a particular day. Based on that number, they can determine how many seats they can oversell the flight by.

About 80% of the time, they are right on. They can oversell the flight by 20 and still have room onboard to clear standby's. If that's the case, then the airline has made a good profit because they will charge those missed customers a re-booking fee to fly confirmed or just throw them on standby.

In the 20% that they are wrong, they start asking for volunteers. If I ever pay for a flight again, I'd take that offer. But in the even no one steps up, then they start denying the last people who checked in and accommodate them anyways.

Answer 3

Check in online 24 hours before your flight--they usually bump the last people to check in. So if you're one of the first people to check in, you're more likely to actually get on the flight.

Answer 4

be at the check-in at least an hour before the minimum check-in time.being late is the best airline excuse to bump you,as they are automatically overbooked by 10% and sometimes,
everybody booked shows up!

Answer 5

Nowadays it is very likely to get bumped. According to web sites info from various carriers, having a confirmed ticket does not guaranty a seat. But checking in early does help your chances since late arriving ticket holders get bumped first. Below is a statement from Northwest Airlines concerning ticketing and boarding:
especially see the section "Denied Boarding Procedures - Involuntary"


Denied Boarding Procedures - Voluntary

A certain percentage of customers with reservations do not show up for their flight. Therefore, in an effort to accommodate as many customers as possible, Northwest is, as are all airlines, permitted to sell more seats than are available on the flight.

As a result, there are times when more customers hold confirmed reservations and tickets on a flight than there are seats available on that flight. When this happens, Northwest will request customers to voluntarily relinquish their confirmed reserved space. For their inconvenience, Northwest will provide these volunteers with a seat on the next available flight and a Travel Credit Voucher for future travel in an amount determined by NWA, or a Free Ticket valid for travel within the U.S. mainland 48 states and Alaska, or to/from the mainland 48 states and Alaska and Canada or travel within Asia/Micronesia.

The free tickets are non-transferable and must be booked in 'W' class (a restricted class of service with limited availability, which are similar to Northwest WorldPerks Award tickets and follow WorldPerks Award ticket rules). Note: You may not be able to obtain seats on your first choice
flight(s). It is especially difficult to obtain Free Ticket Seats for peak season/flight date travel, to/from the most popular destinations.

Travel on Northwest flights, Northwest Airlink flights operated by Mesaba and Pinnacle, and Northwest designated (code share) flights operated by Continental are permitted.

Denied Boarding Procedures - Involuntary

If there are not enough volunteers willing to relinquish their seats, Northwest may have to deny boarding to some customers. The procedure used to deny boarding in this situation is in reverse order of the time of check-in for passengers who were not holding a seat assignment. In these rare cases, NWA will accommodate the customer on another flight, provide them with a Service Recovery Packet and provide them with compensation as outlined by the US Department of Transportation, per the following tables: Domestic Travel

If the scheduled arrival time on the re-accommodated flight at the destination, compared to the scheduled arrival time on the original flight, is later by:

One hour or less

No Compensation is provided

Between one and two hours
100% of coupon value to first stopover point not to exceed $200 USD is provided


More than two hours
200% of coupon value to first stopover point not to exceed $400 USD



International Travel

If the scheduled arrival on the re-accommodated flight at the destination, compared to the scheduled arrival time on the original flight is later by:

Between one and four hours
100% of coupon value to first stopover point not to exceed $200 USD is provided


More than four hours
200% of coupon value to first stopover point not to exceed $400 USD is provided



Denied Boarding Procedures - Involuntary (cont.)

Customer Service personnel are instructed to avoid involuntarily denying boarding to passengers whenever possible.

In no case shall any customer be entitled to any damages (actual, compensatory, or punitive) for denied boarding.

Full details are published, and can be obtained, upon request in Northwest's Domestic General Rule Tariff No. DGR-1.

The "Statement of Denied Boarding" will be republished in a customer friendly format along with the denied boarding guidelines (check-in time limits, etc.) in the Northwest Airlines Customer Guide.

Answer 6

check in early, show up early, those are the best suggestions