On the benefits of volunteering on an overbooked flight
Suppose that you're in a scenario in the airport when your current flight is overbooked and they're looking for volunteers. Should you take it?
Naturally it depends on a number of factors. You should be sure that your compensation is in a dollar-value certificate, not in a free flight --- because free flight certificates are often limited in use. You should be sure that your certificate can be used online, because many airlines only post their lower fares online, so that agents on the phone or in person are unable to access them at all. And then, if you have the time, you can volunteer in exchange for a dollar-value voucher, vouchers for food at airport restaurants until your next flight, and a hotel room should your new flight be on the next day.
There is, it turns out, another secret benefit to this. Suppose that the flight you volunteer for is in danger of being canceled due to weather. Then, should you be stuck overnight, the airline will not pay for a hotel room nor for food. However, if you volunteered, then even though the flight would have been canceled anyway, you will still get these perks: free food until you fly, and a hotel room. This is, as it turns out, the case for me now in Atlanta. I stayed at a wonderful hotel last night for free, because I volunteered for a flight that ended up getting canceled anyway!
This may sound like an odd thing for the airlines to do --- perhaps they didn't notice that the flight I volunteered for got canceled anyway. But it's actually a very smart thing for them to do, because now I am much more likely to volunteer for future flights. I know that I'll be cared for with food and a good room, that it can function as a "backup plan," at very little cost to the airline (certainly less than having to greatly increase their voucher value or involuntarily kick off another passenger). So everyone wins. And I get a good night of sleep after arriving in from an overnight, international flight.
Naturally it depends on a number of factors. You should be sure that your compensation is in a dollar-value certificate, not in a free flight --- because free flight certificates are often limited in use. You should be sure that your certificate can be used online, because many airlines only post their lower fares online, so that agents on the phone or in person are unable to access them at all. And then, if you have the time, you can volunteer in exchange for a dollar-value voucher, vouchers for food at airport restaurants until your next flight, and a hotel room should your new flight be on the next day.
There is, it turns out, another secret benefit to this. Suppose that the flight you volunteer for is in danger of being canceled due to weather. Then, should you be stuck overnight, the airline will not pay for a hotel room nor for food. However, if you volunteered, then even though the flight would have been canceled anyway, you will still get these perks: free food until you fly, and a hotel room. This is, as it turns out, the case for me now in Atlanta. I stayed at a wonderful hotel last night for free, because I volunteered for a flight that ended up getting canceled anyway!
This may sound like an odd thing for the airlines to do --- perhaps they didn't notice that the flight I volunteered for got canceled anyway. But it's actually a very smart thing for them to do, because now I am much more likely to volunteer for future flights. I know that I'll be cared for with food and a good room, that it can function as a "backup plan," at very little cost to the airline (certainly less than having to greatly increase their voucher value or involuntarily kick off another passenger). So everyone wins. And I get a good night of sleep after arriving in from an overnight, international flight.