The art of taking a bump for an oversold flight is not one that I have completely figured out, even though it seems like it should be something that would be at least a little gameable. I have gotten $1,000 from taking a bump on Delta before, and there was a passenger that was given a TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR voucher a few years ago.
(SEE ALSO: Should You Accept an Early Bump Offer From an Airline?)
(SEE ALSO: The One Time I Was Happy My Flight Was Cancelled)
Still, it’s no denying that taking a bump voucher can make sense if and when it all works out for you, but watch out – because it can all come crashing down horribly
Image source: Delta.
Problems Trying To Take a Bump From Delta
I was alerted to a situation on Delta from my friend Jeff, who documented his experience on Delta on Twitter in a series of 3 tweets
There’s many people on this @delta flight thanking me for being such a “nice guy.” I think I’m just being taken advantage of.
They asked for volunteers to take a later flight (4 hours). I’d get $500 for my inconvenience. Sounds good.
1/3
— Jeff Blankenburg (@jeffblankenburg) April 26, 2023
2/3
They give a hysterical lady my upgraded 1st class seat, and fill the plane, only to realize someone didn’t show up, and there’s an empty seat.
So no volunteers are needed now, but my seat is gone.
— Jeff Blankenburg (@jeffblankenburg) April 26, 2023
3/3
For my generosity, I get to sit in the back of the plane, after all of the overhead bins are filled. I get to check my carry-on.
And zero compensation.
This is certainly a story of privilege, but it also kinda sucks.
— Jeff Blankenburg (@jeffblankenburg) April 26, 2023
Delta Downgrading a First-Class Passenger
Jeff had a first class seat but gave it up because the Delta gate agents said that the flight was oversold. He volunteered to take a later flight for $500. Someone else was given his seat in domestic first class, but then the flight ended up not being oversold after all. So Jeff was put BACK on the flight, only this time, the only available seat was in coach. To add insult to injury, all the overhead bin space was gone and he ended up having to gate check his carryon bag.
What Should Delta Have Done?
So from one perspective, Delta is totally in the right. Jeff gave up his first-class seat to take a $500 voucher to the next flight, but once he gave up his seat, he no longer had any claim to it. When it turned out that the flight was no longer oversold, at that point he had no further “right” to his original seat, and so was put back on the flight (in economy). Certainly it doesn’t seem reasonable that they would have further delayed the flight or put the person in Jeff’s original seat back in coach. You might think that would be “fair” (and I’m not necessarily disagreeing), but there’s no way that would happen at the gate IMO.
On the other hand, the optics of this sure stink. I mean of course this is a “first world” or “privilege” problem as Jeff points out on Twitter, but I don’t think it would be unreasonable for him to either keep the $500 and fly the later flight, or take some lesser amount of compensation if he kept his original flight (but had to fly coach). That could be either cash, a voucher or some Sky Miles. It wasn’t clear to me from the Twitter account whether he had paid for or booked the first class flight originally or had been upgraded as an elite member, and that might make a difference to me in thinking what “should” happen.
The Bottom Line
A Delta passenger volunteered to take a bump from an oversold flight to a later flight for $500 and gave up his first class seat. When the flight ended up not being oversold after all, he was put BACK on the flight, only this time in coach. While I think that it is true that once he “gave up” his seat, he had no further claims on it, it certainly doesn’t seem like the “right” situation. I don’t know if there was any way for Delta to not take his seat before they knew for sure if the flight was going to be oversold?
What do you think Delta should have done or should do in this situation? Leave your thoughts in the comments
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
He should have asked for more tham $500! And he should have known the risk of taking another flight as the new flight can be cancelled or there can be an equipment change that doesn’t have the class of service or seat that he originally had.
He wasn’t downgraded to a lower class of service on a new flight – he was put back on the SAME FLIGHT, just in economy instead of (domestic) first class.
They should have compensated him for accepting the offer regardless of whether they followed through with having to put him on another flight.
This is the same thing car dealers do, combining three transactions into one: sale, finance, and purchase of a car; to take advantageof the buyer.
The key is to separate the transactions. Don’t walk away from agreeing to the bump until you have your voucher and first class boarding pass for the later flight in hand (in your account).
Then, don’t give up that boarding pass unless it is replaced with another first class seat.
Caveat emptor.
Oh, and the car… get a CarMax or Carvana quote to fix the value of your trade-in. Pre-finance and only take dealer financing if it is a lower rate. Come to the table with the KBB or TrueCar price for the car you want, with all your options and discounts.
Be prepared to take your car to CarMax to sell; take the dealer rate back to your original financer for renegotiation; and walk if the dealer doesn’t beat the median market price.
That’s absolutely not how it works. Thanks for showing everyone you are clueless and never fly.
Author, what planet are you on? In the real world where economy class and first are very different prices, at a minimum he should have received the difference in fare prices. The airline should have simply given him his seat back and put the malcontent women in the economy seat. Solid business practice suggests the volunteer should have been given some compensation in good faith despite the flight not being oversold.
Great advice!
Agreed. No take backsies! Once the deal is struck, Delta is obligated to follow through.
I had an aisle eco+ pre-reserved. At the last minute I got upgraded to first. ( Canada to US.)
The ground staff wasn’t great and it took forever to board the plane.
At some point a redcoat comes up to me “are you xyz?”
“The person who’s seat this is showed up.”
I get perp walked back to coach, no longer (my) aisle seat.
1k sky cents for my inconvenience.
(International flight)
It’s their plane, their game. If you are lucky you get where you’re going.
Delta are being sh-ts. What a shock.
He didn’t give up his seat, he traded it for $500 and was willing to take a later flight. The airline should still give him the $500 for the seat he gave up.
Agreed. The deal was $500 for the seat. Not $500 for the seat but nothing if someone bails. Unless that was the fine print……
Overselling is BS, and delta was wring for doing it in the first place.
They should have told the woman who got his seat that she was being relocated to economy, and then given him back his 1st class seat. They should further have given him a $250 credit for his inconvenience. Why would any flyer witnessing his poor treatment ever agree to be bumped in future?
On countless occasions, I have offered to give up my seat should it be determined the flight is over sold. I wait at the gate to see if my seat will be needed. Sometimes a gate agent will tell me to wait in the Sky Club and they’ll call the club if it turns out my seat is not needed. On most occasions, it turns out my seat isn’t needed. My assigned seat is kept open and FA’s save overhead bin space for me. I don’t understand what occurred here. If the flight was not oversold, the passenger should not have been given compensation. He should have been thanked for his offer and told to board.
I have never given up a FC seat and accepted a coach seat. In the case here, I would not have boarded. I would have waited four hours for the next flight and a FC seat.
He should have had the option to wait for next flight for f/c seat and still get comped. I only fly fc so I always negotiate with agent. I will give up my fc seat, BUT i must have fc next flight and$$$.
I wouldn’t fly delta again that’s for sure. Hopefully they do something. But they have always been a selfish greedy company.
Airlines should not over sell flights then there’s no problem. There sre only so many seats on a plane, once they’re sold. the airline should stop selling seats.
yes. for sure
Delta did me wrong too, but worse.
I arrived at one airport in Chicagp for my first class flight only to be told a lie about the flight being very delayed.
Not only did they take my first class seat, the made me go to the other Chicago Airport and booked me on another air line! Only to find out once there that I no longer had my first class flight. This flight was delayed way past the time my original flight had taken off.
Delta only returned to me the difference in the cost of the 1st class flight. Nothing for the excessive amount of extra effort it took. Nothing for my troubles.
Delta will never get my cooperation of giving up my seat or exchanging flights in the same manner. I realized later that maybe I should have just said, no thank you. I wait the extra time for my original flight.
Which, as I said, took off before my new United flight and I was able to track it through my Delta app.
Delta has difficulty doing the right thing. I got tickets through them on two partner airline but one of my luggage gone MIA for 3 weeks. Then Delta had it delivered it in front of my home while I was 5,000 miles away and left it in the hot Florida sun! Repeated complains and Delta just shrugged their shoulders saying it is the partner airline that would seem never had my luggage. Medicine, chocolate and never delivered gifts and Delta; it is not our problem!
This exact thing happened to me!
Shame on delta for treating its medallion loyal flyers thus way
If he wasn’t seated back in first class, how was he not downgraded? He had to sit in “economy”!!!!
Apologies if my initial comment was not clear – I said he was not downgraded “on a new flight”. I agree that he was downgraded.
Agreed. No take backsies! Once the deal is struck, Delta is obligated to follow through.
I agree completely. He bought a premium commodity and was given one of lower quality. At a minimum he should have been given the option to wait for a first class seat on another flight or be refunded the difference between the first class fare and the economy fare.
Nowhere did it say he was downgraded on a new flight. What’s your point?
I had a similar situation, except instead of first class I gave up an aisle seat towards the front of economy on an AA flight. I was one of 6 people to take the funny money (I took the offer when they hit $1,000).
But then apparently they were either incorrect, or 6 people didn’t show up and I ended up in a middle seat in the last row. It was a bummer for sure, and the next flight was only a two hour wait.
This is wrong. That 1st class seat was probably around $900+. If he took the voucher of $500 and got a economy seat, he pretty much paid for an economy seat and then a late flight. So that is it, no compensation at all. He pretty much paid for a late economy flight.
I think he was upgraded to begin with? It’s confusing bc he says “they gave a hysterical woman my upgraded first class seat” so I can’t tell if it was he who originally was upgraded or the woman who got the upgrade?
Regardless, I like the comment above about getting the new boarding pass and voucher in hand before giving up your seat. That seems like a no brainer, but in these situations, you sometimes get caught up in things and don’t do the simple thing that might be a life saver.
It is well know to me that Delta abuses customers when they wish and as they wish. They are so big that they really don’t give a damn. Having said the above, you got what you wanted and scored a self goal for being a bit greedy.
They should’ve switched seats so Jeff was back in first.
And add-on lady was in his economy.
His voucher cancelled.
He should still get the $500 for taking the voluntary bump, PLUS the difference between the cost of his 1st class ticket and the average price of an economy ticket on that flight.
You’ve already inconvenienced him by taking him off the plane, he deserves compensation for that. And he’s not sitting in a seat of the same value as what he paid for, so he needs to be made whole for that
What I learned: never volunteer to give up your seat. If the airline wants to encourage that, they need to do a better job.
Similar thing used to happen to me on Alaska multiple times. Hasnt happened in over a year so think they may have finally fixed this bug. I would get “upgraded to first” but with no seat assignment, within 24 hours of departure. Calling doesn’t help because seats are only being assigned at the gate. At the gate, first is full so I get moved from a premium economy window/aisle seat to a middle seat in the back.
A sometimes solution was to talk to the gate agent immediately and ask to be given the seat I originally paid for back. That exact wording was important since the reason i had no first class upgrade seat is because someone purchased it, at first fare, last minute. I suspect if u had said it like that they would have at least compensated u for the downgrade.
They should’ve given him the difference in fares from first class to coach AND a lesser value voucher (eg $250) to make you for this debacle. Lastly, they shouldn’t OVERSELL flights. The end.
It all depends on which class of service he was originally ticketed for . Was he promised a FC seat on the next flight? Was he “upgraded “ because of his loyalty status? I’ve been “upgraded “ in the past only to end up changing flights the same day. The complimentary “upgrade “ does not carry over to the rescheduled flight. My thoughts? “To bad for me, it would have been nice” . Realistically, my goal is to get from point A to point B when needed. I always purchase FC or at least economy comfort on flights over 3 hours. I don’t depend on “loyalty “ upgrades unless traveling in a market where the upgrade competition is slim.
I volunteered on NWA/Delta to take a flight from Narita with a stop in Minneapolis and to my final destination in Chicago. I was in first class (FF upgrade). Original flight was direct. Overbooked by one. Did not ask for compensation since it would have been my million mile flight. Was assured my luggage would be transferred. As a result that was the day that the FF program miles changed to actual miles flown. No million miles status for me. No announcement that program would be changed.Currently have 920000 Delta miles but only fly Delta when no other option meets my schedule. Delta miles have been downgraded.
Did anyone read that he said he received an UPGRADED 1st CLASS SEAT? He paid for a coach seat. His status got him a free upgrade, no use of miles or cash was necessary. He only lost his seat that he would have had without the upgrade and had to gate check his luggage. Should the woman move to the open main cabin seat, yes, but I wouldn’t want to be delayed for this. He still would have had to check his bag at the gate.
He still should have gotten the $500 voucher regardless. He gave up his seat !!!
I’m sure that he would agree with you (and so do I)
You obviously have no clue how overlooking VDB works. The seat was his till they knew for sure plane was overbooked. The agent screwed up by giving his seat away before everyone had boarded.
This is why they make you weight. They don’t know if will actually need the seat.
Agreed. Something doesn’t sound right here. I have dove exactly the same thing in the past and waited until boarding was complete. Sometimes I ended up with my original seat, sometimes I got the voucher and new flight.
Regardless of whether he gave up his first class seat. Placing him on the same flight in coach was wrong. Give him the $500 voucher. These big airlines are so cheap. That’s why I haven’t flown Delta since 2010. I asked if they could match AirTrans pet cost and they said no. I fly at least 3 times a year from the west coast to the east coast. Started flying Southwest. Twice SWA gave me a $150 voucher. This last time because I wasn’t notified that there was a gate change and had to run to the other gate. I didn’t expect to get a voucher. I just wanted them to know that they should text the passengers when a gate has changed. I will never fly Delta. It is such a small token to just keep there passenger happy. He flys first class.
Sounds like a lapse in strategic thinking. Either negotiate keeping the $500 and fly coach which will free up a first class seat on the next flight for Delta OR take the next flight as originally agreed upon , fly first class, and earn the $500 voucher. Flying coach and losing $500 seems like a poor third option to me.
Yes, they usually make you wait at the gate. Meanwhile, the overhead bins are long gone before they tell you they do not need your seat. Volunteer, then get yourself and stuff on the plane. They’ll find you if they really need you!
BTW In Delta hubs like Atlanta, most of the extra people standing around are employees or employee friends who are flying stand by so there are very few people being bumped.
Let’s be clear . He didn’t get downgraded to a coach sit . He was originally in coach and received a complimentary upgraded . Key word complimentary. Once the flight wasn’t oversold he was put back in his original class of service .
That’s what I thought. He had un upgrade. He states that. So he never bought the first class seat.
So what’s his problem. ?
Delta agreed to pay him $500 to take the never available seat, which he did. Pay him the $500. It’s not his fault they screwed it up.
That’s a bizarre set of procedure. My multiple experiences with situation like this is that they solicit volunteers, tell us to sit tight and if my seat is needed they start the arrangement of vouchers and rebooking while they board the flight. If there’s nothing then we took a risk and now board last but nothing changes with our seats. And I would be told this ahead of time. Or I volunteer and they rebook me immediately. So I’m not understanding this process. I sometimedbvolunteer and then give the gate agent my preferred flight options just to help them out and make sure I get my preference.
Yes I too was confused by the process described in the article as my experience many times volunteering is that volunteers do not give up their seat until everyone has boarded and determine how many seats are needed. If your seat I needed then they provide a voucher. If the seat is not needed than you board in your original seat.
The hysterical woman, who was originally flying standby anyway, should have been told that a mistake had been made and the seat that was available for her was in coach, then nicely escorted to her new available seat. Now put the gentleman, who was kind enough to offer a spot on the plane, back in his original seat. No voucher needed. However, with this Delta debacle, the correct customer service approach would have been to graciously insist that the gentleman not only keep the $500 voucher, but also refund him the difference between a first class seat and the coach/economy seat he ended up in.
He should have been compensated at the moment he gave up his seat. The agreement was $500 to give up a seat, regardless of where the seat was located. The moment that the seat was given up $500 should have been paid. The flight no longer being oversold AFTER the exchange is irrelevant because its a new situation that occurred later in the overall pre-departure process. Someone else on standby could just have likely been placed in the vacant seat that opened up later during the pre-departure process.
EXACTLY! Regardless of what happened later, the AGREEMENT was for $500 and a first class seat on another flight. That agreement should have been HONORED. If Delta won’t show integrity by honoring their commitments, how do they expect customers to trust them in the future?
Similar issue. Traveling with family on vacation. Different reservations on Delta for each family member due to different itineraries. Booked months in advance and got econ seats all in one row. I am very tall so got aisle. Delta upgrades me to Delta+ shortly after booking but later takes me out of Delta+ due to drop in status and doesn’t inform me of change. Week before departure I check flights to find out I no longer have a seat. Finally got middle seat in back on five hour flight. And I couldn’t check-in online due to weird booking system status. Same issue on return flight. Got $50 voucher after the fact. Ugh!
This isn’t even a reasonable story. You have absolutely no facts to make a determination. When you volunteer to take another flight, they tell you exactly what seat you’ll have on that flight. Did he decline to wait the four hours and ask to get back in the first flight? Was he upgraded due to his status on the first flight? They wouldn’t have taken his flight credit back in that situation. He would have kept the $500. And remember, HE made these decisions willingly. Delta never forced him to make them.
He didn’t get an economy seat on the flight 4 hours later. He was put back on the SAME FLIGHT (by Delta), because someone didn’t show up and so the flight was no longer oversold. In the meantime, an overzealous gate agent had upgraded one of the other passengers from coach into his first class seat, so he had to take HER seat (in the back, in the middle, with no overhead bag space).
He never got the $500
How American of you Delta. What a bunch of scum these people are! Have thy not forgotten it is about the customer, not their greedy, selfish selves. Delta and the American airlines make me sick. But if American’s keep encouraging this by keeping the airline in business, suck it up people. #giveyourselvesanuppercut
Logically, if he no longer had a claim to the original seat, then Delta no longer had a claim to the $500 as that was the contract made. If he paid for the first class ticket that wouldn’t even make up the difference. I always fly Delta but they were in the wrong here.
Same thing happened to me, ending up with a suckish seat on an intercontinental flight. It would be so easy to fix by them holding the old seat until confirmed required but I guess the gate agents didn’t care or were incompetent.
I was taking a long haul International flight last year. I was in Premium, but they oversold Economy. By the time I was ready to board, the price increased to 1500, and a hotel stay. I had a connection so that wouldn’t work for me. Weirdest thing is when I sat down, Premium economy wasn’t 2/3 full. I actually had the window row to myself for the flight.
Why is Delta even listening to the “hysterical lady” showing up at the airport out of the blue? How did she get through security without a ticket? When was her other flight and why couldn’t she take it? Did she pay the first class upgrade charge? Sounds like somebody’s aunt or friend got a slide and this guy took it on the chin.
Nahh delta is not in the right. I’ve worked for delta and when it comes to oversold flights we don’t give the vouchers out right away and we tell the person to stay to the side until the end and if we need them then we will release their seat, but that is after everyone is on board and we aren’t taking anyone else. Even when I stopped working for them and flew recently they still do the same practices and didn’t even give my seat away and I still boarded last. So, I feel there may be more because this sounds like bull and he should of got his upgraded seat back since that was his last seat he had and they shouldn’tof released it yet until the end.
I bet that first class ticket is still gonna serve as a tax write-off so imho the fucker got his just dessert. But I am glad he didn’t make a big stink about it, good on you.
Get the voucher in form of a visa gift card at the time of bump. That’s just money in his pocket. Then when this unforeseen vacancy comes up there is no incentive for delta to screw him. He sits in the skylounge for a couple hours for 1st class on the late flight. Yes, delta should grant bump access to skylounge for the duration.
He was owed the $500 voucher because the airline made an Oral Contract with the passenger. Since he was offered and he accepted, an Oral Contract was implemented. Yes, he did not have a guarantee of receiving another First Class seat. Too bad he did not clarify that his bag is handled without any baggage fee. However, he can win on the $500 voucher. This is not Real Estate, so an Oral Contract is a standing contract. Small Claims court is a simple method to threaten them if they do not fulfill their offer that he accepted.
A similar situation happened to me. I gave up my (aisle) seat when I was offered a voucher plus a seat on the next available flight. After everyone else boarded, they told me that the flight was not full and stuck me in a middle seat.
After such treatment,they have made sure that I will never take that offer again, and if I can fly a different airline I will.
This is an example of terrible customer service.
Meh – he didn’t pay for First, he was upgraded. Big deal. It’s always a risk. He could have SDC to the later flight if he really wanted to take it and try and get upgraded again.
The person getting the first class seat should have been the last one to board. Thereby not ever having this type of situation happen. Additionally, he should have gotten the $500 regardless. With the option to either sit in economy or wait for the next flight and sit in first class. He should not need to suffer for thr airline’s mistake. If he paid with a credit card, he should dispute the charge for the ticket.
Well that was dumb of the original passenger. They just asked for a volunteer, not specifically a first-class volunteer. I would not have volunteered in this case. Further, first class volunteer should be worth more than economy so he just took a bad deal.
Also this article was written too early. He needs to complain to Delta and report what happens. I am sure he will get compensation, unless it was a complimentary upgrade that put him in first… in which case he made a bunch of errors in his reasoning and should never have given up the seat!
This is why I never take those offers (well one of the reasons). I do not trust the airlines to have their shit together. This article shows exactly what I’m talking about. How do they not realize there is an open seat?????
Never play a game unless you know ALL the rules. Never forget that the airline sets the rules, so playing against them is rife with potential issues.
It is an ugly game the airlines play. It will work to their disadvantage as people understand it. The gentleman should have been given the $500 voucher as soon as they took him out of the seat — they took what was his, exchanged it for $500 and put the seat in their inventory for use– and they still had to provide the gentleman carriage. Because they now had an asset to use in inventory, the airline could use it however they like. They chose wrong by doing the contract and reneged on the deal by not giving him the $500 and taking his seat away. This is normal practice. Frustrating and why I never do it anymore. They need to change their practice/behavior for Lifetime Golds (Million Milers) like me to even entertain the idea ever again. A deal is a deal. If there was an empty seat and he wanted to still fly on that flight, knowing he would most likely be gate-checking his carryon (another disaster in the making as there is no real controls for baggage handling at that point and many personal items are in that bag), it was up to the airline to offer to let him fly on those conditions or take the later flight like he agreed to — but at that point, it is his choice and he would bear all of the risk that comes with it. Maybe we need more government involvement to punish the airlines who behave deceptively like this with like $5000 cash payments — airlines never seem to learn until they get pounded by government regulations. Caveat emptor — the airline will screw you (make you pay for them) to get out of paying for overselling the flight.
Helta Delta Skelta – no better or worse than Useless Air or American despair – and half of the others (SW cattle Shute )- I hate flying just for these reasons but what a time savings when all goes correctly I agree with most that he should have been compensated but again why they took his seat and then rebooked him is strange as whenever I volunteer i always keep my seat until it is the very last moment and most times I end up boarding – so something smells very fishy with this – again – who knows – its a nightmare that after 30 plus years of doing almost every week I have had enough to say the least Use to chase those points but who cares – USA may go bankrupt as I write this – haha – then we will see
The solution is quite simple. He gave up his seat for $500. Since they did take his seat to give to another passenger, the airline owes him $500. No more no less.
One would expect the least attractive and least costing seat to take the $500 offer, not the seat that is the most attractive and most expensive (whether it was an upgrade or not). So clearly the $500 offer was too low and should not have been taken by a first class passenger. Post-offer shenanigans aside, Delta was the deal winner here
Please clarify. Did this person PAY for a Domestic First Class seat or did they pay for a Coach seat? If they paid for a Domestic First Class, then Delta should have downgraded someone who paid for Coach seats to the seat they paid for.
If they cannot do that, then he should have been refunded the difference between F and C as of the time of flight.
If, on the other hand, he was upgraded to First then he did not really lose anything, yes it would be annoying to lose an upgrade but it happens.
This happened over a year ago why is it taking up space from current news on the BoardingArea home page