THE ART OF GETTING BUMPED AND OTHER WAYS TO GAIN 100'S OF $$$ IN AIRLINE TRAVEL VOUCHERS

Fly on Fridays or other days that have usually heavy traffic.

Check out the gate area for overcrowding, offer your seat to the gate agents early!

Take advantage of situations where flights have been canceled due to weather, to help fellow travelers out, and gain FREE flights.

Winter's the best time, weather delays and tourists headed South hoping to arrive on time for their Cruise Ship departures.

Summer is good, too,
as more folks are traveling then. Any time that flights are full, there will be opportunities to give up your seat for an Airline Voucher.

Major Airlines tend to overbook more.

The more people they need to give up seats, the more money they will offer.

Travel with hand carries only, so baggage claim is not an issue.

Be flexible with the time you can arrive at your destination.

If your destination is a resort area you have a better chance of being bumped, as large groups of people may be traveling together and want to stay together.

After flying a short hop on what should have been a comfortable ride, turned out to be horrible, due to the poor condition of the seat, I wrote a note on one of their "HOW ARE WE DOING" cards.  I received a very nice note back with a $50 voucher enclosed for my troubles.  This is a good PR tool on the part of the Airlines, as I probably won't use it, but it does make me feel warm and fuzzy toward them. 

You can not combine vouchers, when using them to buy tickets. 

You might want to ask before you offer your seat, what denomination voucher they are giving, to make sure it is worth your time.

You can be bumped on a FREE, award ticket that was purchased with bonus miles. This happened to me from DC to Paris a few years ago. But, I didn't have to miss my flight. I was called to the desk, told I was wanted in the "Red Carpet Room" and there was told that I was being upgraded to Business class on a 777.  I had the use of the room and then had a delightful flight. When I reached Paris, I checked at the United ticket office to find out why this happened. The explanation was that they had overbooked and since they didn't want to pay me for my FREE seat,  they decided to bump me up. I like that kind of bumping the best!

Be careful to monitor your vouchers, getting bumped can be addictive and so you will need to be aware of each vouchers expiration date, so you don't miss a chance to fly for FREE. 

               "BUMPED" 

How to Get Bumped for Fun and Profit 

Make money when you travel. 

Get Vouchers from Airlines that you can use to buy FREE  and almost FREE flights. 

Learn how to get paid for your seat. 

Turn your paid ticket into a money making machine.

Sounds too good to be true?  Sometimes, things that sound too good, really ARE GOOD!
Getting bumped is not something that I normally do. In fact, it is so beyond the realm of my strategies for Flying for FREE, that it is not even mentioned in my book. It did however, turn out to be a little gold mine this past year, as I tried it, just to be able to report to you about how easy or difficult it would be to get the Airlines to pay me. As many of you already know, a lot of the traveling I do, I do to learn new things so I can share them with you.

Once I decided to take advantage of those opportunities where I could volunteer to be bumped, they just found me. Before I knew it, I had more vouchers than I have time to use them. In the last twelve months I have received exactly $1000 in Airline vouchers, that I can use just like cash to buy more Airline tickets.  Now, you have to know that I am perfectly happy flying all over the World for FREE, and did not go out of my way to do this.   But, in the interest of research for my Readers to learn how to do this consistently, I have documented my year, so that you can learn from my experiences.  There is obviously some luck involved (if you can call flying where there is bad weather in other parts of the country and folks who missed their flights luck?) And you have to be flying on a paid ticket, but with a little effort and determination, I am sure that many of you will be able to do what I did and make the best of those situations.  When the Airlines are calling for volunteers to give up their seats, you just have to go for it. 

First, I work for a company that sends me to different parts of the US, about four times a year, on trips that involve traveling on Mondays and Fridays.  I don't even count these trips as Flying for FREE, even though I don't pay.  The reason I don't count them, is they are not vacations, I am working. But, they are perfect for getting bumped because I am flying on a paid ticket.

I found that these trips can be quite "rewarding", if you find yourself in a position to offer your ticket back to the Airline to help them out of a tight spot.  Airlines are so grateful to people who give up their seats, that if you play your cards right, you may even end up getting paid twice in one day, as I did, the last time I flew on a paid ticket.

Here's how it all started
In 1999, I took a trip and was returning on Friday to Ft. Lauderdale.  I was flying out of Washington, DC and there had been a weather delay around the country and the flight before mine had not arrived.  When my flight finally arrived at the gate there were not only all the people from my flight, waiting to get on, but a whole bunch of folks from the earlier flight, wanting to leave DC, too.  As soon as I saw how many people were in the gate area, I went to the gate check-in desk and asked if they needed my seat.  They said if the flight didn't arrive from Chicago soon, that they would definitely need my ticket.  They put my name on a list. Sure enough, since I was one of the first to offer my seat, they called me, just prior to departure of my flight and gave me a $300 voucher for my troubles.  No trouble really, I ended up walking two gates away, took the next flight which left one hour later and went to West Palm Beach.  At West Palm we (the family of five, that just made $1500 for giving up their seats) and I were met and given a free shuttle ride to Ft. Lauderdale.  I ended up getting home one and a half hours later than I would have, but $300 closer to my next flight. 

Flying for $40
The next time I was traveling on a paid ticket it was good fun.  Because my paid ticket only cost me $40, as I used the last $300 voucher to buy it.  Here I was on my $40 ticket arriving in Atlanta to make my connection back to Miami and found a waiting area full of frantic travelers trying to get to Miami on a Friday, to be there before their Cruise Ship sailed off without them. These people were really panicked. So of course, I offered to give up my seat. I guess you could say I enjoy getting FREE travel.  The Airline was desperate to find 15 people who were willing to give up their seats on that flight. Before I knew that they were offering $400, I found myself up at the gate's counter offering my seat.  I figured since I was on my way home, an hour or two would not hurt me.  After all, I was traveling on a ticket that I bought with my last voucher, worth $300, if this one came close it would be worth the extra time.  When do you get paid $300 an hour?  Little did I know that by the end of that day, I would have two vouchers worth a total of $650 and had a great time doing it. 

Two Vouchers in One Day:
After I volunteered to give up my seat for the 1 PM flight, I had to wait there until the flight was departing, at that point the airline knew for sure that they would need my seat and were ready to "cough up the dough", slang for give me the $400 voucher. Wow! the highest one I had been given, so far.  I was really excited to get this one, but now it was in my blood, it was like being in Vegas, I wanted to do it again, as soon as possible.  I was also very lucky because I was told that because I had given up my seat I was guaranteed a seat on the next flight to Miami. This was music to my ears, as I realized that my new seat assignment was another saleable commodity. 

My mind was whirling as I thought of the possibilities.  Because I was a Scientist and then a Science teacher years ago, my brain has been trained to ask questions about anything and everything. Especially when there is a chance to gain FREE travel.  One of the burning questions that I put to the gate agent was, "If there are so many people that still need seats to Miami, how can they assure me of a guaranteed seat on the next flight?" 

When he answered, it was as if  I really was in Vegas, because I  heard the sound that  slot machines makes, just as all the fruits are lining up, just before all the money comes spilling out. He said, "Because to get you a seat on the next flight, they will have to bump someone else."  That's all I had to hear.....  I raced to my new gate, where people where already queuing up for the next flight at 3 o'clock.  There, I asked my next burning question to a new gate agent. 

With my special seat slip still clutched tightly in my hand, I said to her, "I hear you may be asking for volunteers to give up seats for this flight."  "Since I have a seat, can I volunteer to give it up, so no one else will be bumped for that seat? "  She just smiled a knowing smile, probably having seen that glazed look in other traveler's eyes when they know they are about to score another voucher and said, "Sure". 

So there I was, giving up the seat I had just been given for being bumped, only to get bumped again.  This time I was given a voucher worth $250, as it turned out that they only needed a few people to be bumped. During the time between the two flights I took myself to the best restaurant in the Airport, did some shopping and even had time to make a few phone calls to brag about how much money I was making enjoying myself. (just kidding about the last one) If you are wondering what time I arrived at Miami, it was around 7 o'clock only four short hours after I was originally scheduled to be there. 

If you have been doing the math, you know that I was now up to $950 in Airline Vouchers for the 12 month period.  But there is another way I found to get vouchers.  So, my last voucher of $50 put me up to the $1000 mark. Please read the left side for how you can get vouchers, if you have a legitimate complaint.

Hope you have enjoyed my stories, but I have another, even better one. It happened to my husband on his way to Seattle.  He heard them asking for volunteers, so he offered his seat. When he went to get his voucher of $300, it turned out that to guarantee him on the next flight, they had to upgrade him to business class, and if that weren't enough good fortune, it turned out the next flight was leaving ten minutes later. By volunteering to give up his seat, not only was he upgraded but arrived in Seattle ahead his original flight.  It just goes to show, with a little sense of adventure you never know what good things are in store for you.

It reinforces my theory that the more open and flexible you are when you travel, the better chance you have of really experiencing things and getting the most out of it.  Everyone travels for different reasons, but if you approach a trip as an adventure you have a better chance of not being disappointed.  When we travel we should only allow the best in ourselves to come along, that way we will truly be free to experience the best in others.   

Happy Traveling!

Vicki Mills

 E-mail us  to share your best "Bumped" or Travel story. 
If we use it, we will send you a travel gift.