Delta Air Lines Wants Overbooked Passengers to Bid for Compensation

Delta Air Lines has introduced a system that travelers can use to auction their seats to the airline if they are willing to get bumped from an overbooked service. In a blog posting outlining the new deal, the carrier said that, as soon as travelers say they are interested, they will ask them how much they would like to receive in travel vouchers for giving up their seat.

Customers will be able to enter the amount of money they want in vouchers for giving up their seat as soon as they check-in. Delta gave an example of bidding $200, but customers can suggest a higher amount than that with the risk of another passengers undercutting them.

When airlines overbook flights, passengers stand the chance of getting bumped from that service. This is common in the industry and is aimed to make sure planes meet their maximum capacity. They base the practice on the assumption that some travelers will miss a flight, which would leave empty seats for customers on stand-by. When there aren’t any empty seats, carriers ask for volunteers to give up their seats for vouchers, but some passengers can be involuntarily bumped as a last resort.

Delta Air Lines gives passengers that are involuntarily bumped $400 in vouchers for domestic delays of 1-2 hours or international delays of 1-4 hours. If the delay for another flight is more than that, the customers are given $800 in vouchers. The airline says that their intention with this new program is to seek volunteers early so that nobody is inconvenienced.