If you can arrive a few hours late, volunteer your seat when an airline oversells your flight, and treat its first offer as an opening bid. Before you accept, get a confirmed seat on a later flight and ask what the travel credit is worth, when it expires, and whether you can take cash instead.
Many airlines sell more tickets than they have seats because some passengers don’t show up. When too many show up, federal rules make the airline ask for volunteers before it bumps anyone, but the rules don’t set what volunteers get.
So what you get is negotiable. Offers often start at a few hundred dollars and can climb past $1,000 when too few people step forward.
The rules do help you bargain. A passenger bumped against their will can be owed cash under federal rules, while a volunteer gets only what they accept. When the airline asks you to volunteer, it must also tell you whether you’re at risk of an involuntary bump and, if so, how much cash it would owe you. If that cash beats the voucher, ask for a better offer or let someone else volunteer.
To get picked, book flights that fill up, such as those on holiday weekends, and pack only a carry-on so your bag can switch flights with you. If the app, website, or kiosk asks at check-in whether you’d take a later flight, say yes, and name a price if it asks for one. Then, at the gate, tell the agent right away that you’ll volunteer.
Before you accept, settle these with the agent:
- A confirmed seat on a specific later flight, since a standby spot on a full flight can leave you stuck at the airport
- The credit’s value and expiration date, plus any fees or blackout dates, which the airline must disclose before you decide
- Meals and a hotel if the new flight doesn’t leave until the next day
- Cash or a gift card in place of travel credit
- A refund of any seat fee you paid but won’t use on the new flight, which federal rules require
Say yes only once the new seat is confirmed and the terms are clear. Then what you earn for a few hours’ wait can cover much of your next ticket.
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