 |
SAVVY TRAVELER By
Irene Croft Jr.
|
Nearly 56,000 airline passengers were involuntarily bumped (denied boarding) in 2006, and with record numbers of passengers in the air, this year's total is expected to be much higher.
Why does this happen? Airlines routinely oversell their flights to balance the expectation of a certain number of no-shows. Sometimes their projections are inaccurate. Compensation for passengers denied boarding costs the airlines less than a no-show, so airlines continue to overbook flights, despite the inconvenience and irritation the practice causes passengers and front-line airline employees.
Over the years, voluntary bumping has solved most of the overbooking problems. Through the first half of 2006, the number of involuntary bumpings was recorded at 1.21 per 10,000 passengers. However, that number, according to the Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report, has increased by nearly 10 percent in the first half of 2007.
Overbooking is not illegal. When an oversale (don't you love the euphemism?) occurs, DOT requires airlines to ask people to give up their seats voluntarily, in exchange for compensation. Those passengers denied boarding against their will are, with a few exceptions, entitled to recompense.
VOLUNTARY BUMPING
Current rules require airlines to seek out people who are willing to give up their seats for some compensation before bumping anyone involuntarily. At the check-in or boarding area, airline employees will ask for volunteers when it appears that the flight has been oversold. They will offer a varying degree of inducements.
Before you commit to anything, ask the airline representative details of the next flight on which the airline can immediately confirm your seat. Ask a commitment for the airline to provide, if a flight delay warrants, other amenities such as complimentary meals, a hotel room, phone calls or ground transportation.
Determine the precise nature of the monetary or free ticket compensation offered. Carriers are permitted by DOT to negotiate with their passengers for a mutually acceptable amount of money or perhaps a free trip or other benefits. If money is dangled, make sure it's a check or cash and not a credit voucher that you may never use. If a free ticket is proffered, inquire about all the restrictions that are important to you, such as class of service, validity dates, blackout periods, positive space with normal advance reservations, geographical limitations, and the like.
INVOLUNTARY BUMPING
The DOT requires each airline to give all passengers who are bumped involuntarily a written statement describing their rights and explaining how the carrier decides who gets on an oversold flight and who doesn't. Those travelers denied boarding are frequently entitled to an on-the-spot payment. The amount depends on the price of their ticket and the length of the delay. The current regulations are:
You may keep your original ticket and use it on another flight. If you choose to make your own arrangements, you can request an "involuntary refund" for the price of the ticket covering the flight you were bumped from.
Like all rules, however, there are a few conditions and exceptions for compensation eligibility. A passenger must: have a confirmed reservation, purchase the ticket by the airline's deadline and check-in for a flight prior to the the individual airline's deadline. Otherwise, you have forfeited your right to payment and perks for denied boarding.
Official compensation rules do not apply when an airline substitutes a smaller plane for the one it originally planned to use and people are bumped as a result. The rules do not apply to charter flights, or to scheduled flights operated with planes that hold 60 or fewer passengers. They don't apply to international flights inbound to the U.S., although some airlines on these routes may follow them voluntarily.
The most effective way to reduce the risk of being bumped is to get to the airport early. On oversold flights, the last passengers to check in are usually the first to be bumped, even if they have met the ticket purchase and check-in deadlines.
The DOT is considering a long-overdue increase in the mandatory compensation requirement for involuntarily bumped air travelers, and you're encouraged to comment through Sept. 10. This is a rare opportunity to participate directly in an issue of significance to all air travelers, so just do it.
For particulars, log on to the DOT docket Web site, dms.dot.gov, click Open Dockets, then scroll down under Agency in the left-hand column to the OST entries, and click Docket OST-2001-9325, the Air Transport Association Petition for Rulemaking. Submit your comments online at that site or by mail to Docket Management System, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Room W12-140, Washington, D.C. 20590.
Irene Croft Jr. of Kailua, Kona, is a travel writer and 40-year veteran globetrotter. Her column is published in this section every other week.
