What’s your time worth? I always have a hard time answering that question. I am a computer programmer by trade, and even when I was a contractor and actually BILLING BY THE HOUR, it always didn’t feel like I had a great answer to that question. It’s not like if I wasn’t at work, there was someone who was going to give me my hourly rate just to sit around.
I have written before about the rules for voluntary denied boarding (VDB or “the bump”) on Southwest, though normally they are asking for volunteers, so the compensation may vary
(SEE ALSO: This is how I got $1000 from a Delta Airlines bump)
(SEE ALSO: Woman got a $10,000 United voucher – this is how she spent it)
In case a real-life example would be helpful, I thought I’d share an experience I had awhile ago. My wife and I were flying from Indianapolis to Las Vegas to attend a conference. At the time, I had the Southwest Companion pass, which made flying on Southwest super attractive (since my companion would fly free), so we drove from Cincinnati to Indy (Southwest didn’t fly out of Cincinnati – this was awhile ago).
Our flight left at 1:55 pm (Central time) and was scheduled to arrive at 2:50 pm (Pacific). We followed all the bumping “rules” by not checking any bags, and arriving at the airport early.
At the IND airport
When we got there, I went up to the gate agent and asked if the flight was oversold. The agent said she thought we’d be okay. I stopped by as we got closer to the scheduled departure time, and a different agent said that they thought we might need 1. I gave her my information and she said that since she only needed 1, they could accommodate 2, but would only compensate 1.
There were several other flights going to Las Vegas that afternoon
Unfortunately, the agent wouldn’t put me on any of the flights until the one connecting in ATL, arriving at 11:30 p.m. She said that all of the other flights were already full. I had heard stories of people that continued getting bumped and bumped on several different flights throughout the day, so I don’t know if that’s ever possible or if this is standard procedure.
Mrs. PWaC shuts down the bump
I put my name on the list, but after talking it over with Carolyn, we decided that we didn’t want to do this. With a limited-time on our kid-free getaway, we decided we didn’t want to spend another 5 hours in the airport plus an extra 4 hours or so in the air (since the flight was connecting, and connecting the wrong way). That’s not to mention the fact that we would be getting in at 2:30 in the morning our time. That would have made me extra cranky when the hotel shuttle took an hour to show up!!
I wasn’t clear as to whether or not they eventually would have needed a 2nd person (that stuff changes all the time), nor what the exact compensation would be, but I was estimating it at close to $1000, if maybe a little less
The Bottom Line – would it have been worth it?
But back to the beginning of the story – what would you do? As I re-edit this story (it originally happened and ran several years ago), I started to think more about what I might have done. A few factors make it more likely I’d be willing to take the bump
- If I’m traveling alone – if I’m with family or kids, I’m less likely to want to bump
- Lounge access – if I’m in Dallas and can spend time in the sweet Capital One DFW lounge then maybe I don’t mind as much
- What else is going on – will I miss something important by not making it to my destination earlier?
In this case, everything was going against me (traveling with the wife, no accessible lounge at the time and I would have missed out on a few conference events in Vegas by not arriving earlier in the day. But other times it has worked out for me, like when I took $1000 for a bump from Delta when I was traveling alone
What about you? Would you take $1000 for a 9 hour delay?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I generally feel that if I am travelling by myself and don’t mind getting somewhere later than planned, I would take the bump. Travelling with a partner or family could make the extra time or late arrival a nightmare. Plus, if you have lounge access and decent Wifi, you can pass the time pretty easily.
Yup that’s how I felt – we just didn’t want to spend our (short) time alone in the airport. If it had been $1000 cash that might have been a different story though…
I have turned down similar compensation going to aruba last year. Had it not been a short getaway with my wife, I would have taken it. It wasn’t with losing a day of vacation.
Yup – that’s EXACTLY how I felt. If it had been just me, or if we had unlimited time, we’d have done it. But this was a Thursday afternoon and we had to be back Sunday morning. We wanted to spend our time together not at the airport…
I still want to figure out a way to play the “bump” game at the airport one day…. but this just wasn’t that day
Was with my boyfriend (now husband) flying Philly to Quebec City on American Airlines and they needed to bump 2. We got to the gate a few minutes after the suggested boarding time and they were at $1200pp. I’m the 3 minutes it took to verify we could rent a car, it went to $1600pp in vouchers and grabbed it.
The car was almost $300 one way, paid $25 to upgrade to a convertible from a midsize, and netted almost $3000 in profit to give up an evening in Quebec. Loved every second driving up in the convertible.
So we’re they offering $1,000 per person (you had mentioned them only needing one) or was it $500 per person? That is a really big bump bonus for a domestic flight (I mean, if it was $1,000 per person)!
No – it was somewhere around $500 / person. We never got down to what the actual compensation was, but based on Southwest’s policies, it would have been somewhere around $1000 total.It probably would have been a little less, and maybe a lot less, depending on if they only needed 1 or 2 VDBs
The compensation is whatever you paid for your ticket plus the $100 or $300. I’m not sure they would compensate a free CP ticket anything more than the $100 or $300. Last year I needed to fight to get the correct compensation for a flight because it was paid in points. Eventually I did get it, so I got $440 for giving up a badly delayed flight for a flight the next day. Southwest also provided a room and a meal voucher.
Yup.
Next question?
If I’m traveling with my family, there is absolutely no chance that I would ever take an offer at any price. (Okay, maybe not ANY price, but I am 100% confident that enough other people on the flight would take the offer before anything close to what I’d consider.)
I’m the opposite from you in that I’m willing to take a bump myself pretty readily but the more people in my group the more difficult and complex bumping becomes. Also I’m generally more willing to take a bump if I’m returning home from a trip than missing a day of vacation or work related events (with possible hotel penalties) on the outbound.