chicago to vegas with AA. Giving up seat for comp. question

Had on two occasions instances of announcement asking any passengers to give up our seats on the flights. We were not prepared for it and did not do it. But last time we flew had overnight delay and wasted our accomadation. So this time i have not booked 1st night hotel room (SAT in September) just in case this happens again. The flight from Chicago to vegas is now fully booked with AA with my other flights getting that way.

has anybody worked the system to good benefit and any additional info would be useful.

I does not worry me in the slightest i don%26#39;t have a room booked but i love to play the game in getting a bargain from being prepared.

Bye the way my wife thinks i am crazy. But if i give her the extra saving/comp to spend who crazy then. LOL

Regards

Graham

chicago to vegas with AA. Giving up seat for comp. question

stop drinking for a few hours.

chicago to vegas with AA. Giving up seat for comp. question

I%26#39;ve been bumped several times (mainly on business trips) but I%26#39;d never get involved at the start of a vacation, only on the return trip. If you volunteer and are picked they can put you on some pretty weird routings - once I was flying from NY - London and I ended up going NY - Madrid - Rome - London arriving 14 hours later than originally scheduled. You should check American%26#39;s schedules and work out if there%26#39;s a way they can get you to Vegas that day even if it means going via one or two other places. They%26#39;d sooner do that than put you in a hotel overnight. Remember as well that even though a flight%26#39;s showing fully booked, all airlines overbook a lot of flights trying to guess the number of flexibly ticketed passengers that will be no-shows.

Also I%26#39;ve noticed that the compensation vouchers that airlines issue in lieu of future travel aren%26#39;t worth as much as they used to be. Back in the 80s I got $500 from Continental for being bumped off a transatlantic flight. They don%26#39;t offer that much more than that now.

If you do opt to be bumped, make sure you read the small print of what you%26#39;re offered. There can be LOTS of restrictions.

With all of the natural hassles associated with flying at the moment and into the forseeable future ... THIS seems like a good idea to you WHY?

Definitely confirm what you are getting BEFORE you follow through with this high-wire act for the reasons that have already been explained by the other person who responded.

if you do decide to volunteer, depending on how much later your next flight will be, consider asking for a taxi voucher RT to the strip - better than waiting at the airport for any length of time.

We were on an America West flight from Phoenix to Vegas (had gone to Phoenix from MN for two days on the way to Vegas to see hubby%26#39;s brother) and they of course had over booked the flight to Vegas from Phoenix. They were offering $500 vouchers for anyone willing to take the next flight which was only 3 hours later. My husband and I wanted to jump at that deal BUT we had the MOTHER IN LAW (his mother) with us and she flat out refused!!! She said this was going to be her last trip and she didn%26#39;t need the voucher. They were transferrable and I told her she could give it to us and we%26#39;d even give her $$ for it, not the whole value of course, but she still said no. So I let her know I was not happy with her. She is very selfish about about most things and so I guess it didn%26#39;t surprise me.

But if you can end up with free flights or vouchers for money off (our trip I just booked for next March we had $75 vouchers off each ticket which helps), I%26#39;d go for it if I were you.

My advice is take vouchers worth money, not tickets. I think most airlines are phasing them out, but be wary of accepting roundtrip ticket vouchers in these cases. My wife and I took 2 round trip ticket vouchers for being bumped last Christmas. They were transferable, but the airline only has about 2 seats on each flight available to use a voucher on. Needless to say, it was nearly impossible to book flights with them to popular destinations (we tried 8 months ahead of time for flights from RDU to LAS with no luck) This was on US Air. Had we gotten the $150 or $200 vouchers (can%26#39;t remember how much they were offering) we could have used them toward any flight.

';They were offering $500 vouchers for anyone willing to take the next flight which was only 3 hours later. My husband and I wanted to jump at that deal BUT we had the MOTHER IN LAW (his mother) with us and she flat out refused!!! She said this was going to be her last trip and she didn%26#39;t need the voucher.';

Maybe if you had explained it a little differently and out of earshot of hubby....

';Look Granny....this just might be your LAST trip if you don%26#39;t work with us.';

One tip: you can volunteer to bump when you check in. Just ask the agent if the flight is full, then let them you%26#39;d be willing to be bumped for compensation. If they need to bump someone, they%26#39;ll call you up to the gate desk. Airlines like this method, because it is more discreet than announcing to all the passengers that the flight is overbooked.

Pros: you%26#39;ll be first pick to get bumped and comped.

Cons: you may not get the best comp. I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ve noticed, the airline will increase the value of the comp until they get a taker if no one volunteers.