VOLUTEER FOR OVERBOOKED FLIGHTS

All airlines are allowed by law to overbook their flights because jet fuel is expensive. The airlines have to make sure the flight goes out as full as possible every time. The airlines actually have people that monitor how many people fly on every flight on each day of the week. They use this data to determine how overbooked the flights should be. Most people wonder what happens when everyone who is booked for the flight shows up. That is when there’s a problem. First the airline begins to ask passengers if they will voluntarily stay off the flight for compensation, usually very little initially. If nobody volunteers, then the agents are told to increase the amount of compensation, or offer the passenger first class on the very next flight. This is an opportunity for you to negotiate. Airlines do not want to tell passengers that they cannot fly because the flight is overbooked and they will usually give you what you ask for within reason. Overbooked flight compensations go from $150 to $500 within a few minutes. When the airlines have reached their maximum compensation they will begin to involuntarily bump passengers. This means that passengers who have seats will be told that there isn’t enough room on the plane and they will have to go on the next flight available. These are the people that will get the highest Compensation. The airline knows that these people will be upset because they have a confirmed ticket and they are being told to stay off the plane. This is when most of the altercations occur between passengers and airline workers. There are people called “professional volunteers” who go to the airport with the sole purpose of getting compensation. They study flights and know which flights are full and which will give them the best chance of getting a travel certificate for compensation.

There are many ways to find out which flights are overbooked. You could call the airline’s toll Free number and ask them (they won’t tell you every time). You may find out that if you call a few Times different agents will give you different information. A good way to find out is to call the Airline’s toll free number and tell them you are an agent and you are planning on flying. Tell them you would like to know if it is possible for you to make the flight. The agent may ask you where you are stationed but they won’t get into much info so you need not worry. Since employees fly standby they call the Airlines' toll free number all the time to ask how a flight looks. If the agent tells you (the pretend employee) that there are plenty of seats open then you can be sure you will get on the flight. If they tell you that there isn’t a good chance you’ll make the flight, then you could how overbooked it is. Even if they don’t give you an exact number they will hint at how oversold the flight is.