THE GAME OF OVERBOOKING FLIGHTS

Posted on 12/30/2015

When Delta overbooks a flight, they let their passengers decide how much getting bumped is worth. I discovered this last week when I checked in online for my flight from Minneapolis to Philadelphia. What was the minimum I was willing to accept in travel vouchers to take a later flight — $500, $300, $200, less?

After doing some rough mental calculations, I bid $300. High enough to cover most of a ticket to Mexico and low enough to be competitive without feeling exploited. No deal. I boarded my flight on time and arrived in Philadelphia five minutes ahead of schedule.