Getting Bumped by a Foreign Airline, Voluntary or Involuntary?

Sometimes you can work the deal to the extreme. A few years back, AF offered us a voluntary bump. The deal was X in cash or 2X in vouchers (plus meals and hotels in either case). We took the 2X deal that morning, again in the afternoon, twice the next day, twice the next, then in the morining of the next. Finally my wife said she just had to get back to work. I forget what X was, but the boil-down was that we got six or seven round trips to europe each, plus one each to either asia or africa. Plus we got one more each since we were building ff miles on their dime. We actually had to cash out what would have been the last trip since the vouchers expired in two years and we had no more time to travel. Somewhere in there, we got another freebie round trip each, but we couldn't steam roll it. We also go a free lunch from Delta once.

That sounds like a good deal to me. At Gatwick we were offered 250 pounds each in VOUCHERS and a hotel room, food, etc for an overnight delay. No way would we accept that, but $750 in cash would have been different to us. Looks like you had a win - win situation.

So, did the businessman get more than you? Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, and if you were happy with it that is all that matters. You could have been greedy and held out for something more and gotten nothing. As far as the rules I have heard they changed recently and am unclear myself, but I take as many bumps as I can and would have been happy to get your offer!

I don't know Ed. I guess what I'm asking is did we get ripped off? This guy was saying something about the distance of the trip, and like 3 or 4 times the cost of one leg minus taxes in Euros. 4 times the cost? IDK. But. we did get to see Matt Lauer on the Today Show in our stayover in New York, though, and we have a picture of me and Cindy kissing in front of Bar Vitelli in Savoca, Sicily, from the Godfather movies. Went out to the island of Favignana. Incredible. We have slept all day, hard to deal with the depression of going back to work. Can you help us there?

And thanks Terry, we thought so too. He kept saying something about 1,200.00 euros a leg. I hate being in a situation not knowing what the law is. We had a great time in New York and the hotel shower, was one of the most coolest things we had ever seen. It was huge, with glass doors. Both of us fit in easy at the same time. We walked to the Today Show in ten minutes. Went to the Rum Bar on East 6th Street for a rum sampler. Great. Made 1,500 bucks and cruised New York.

Sounds like a good deal to me. As Ed mentioned, sometimes airlines will offer the option of cash or twice that amount in vouchers. For the average traveler accepting cash is usually a better deal as the vouchers often comes with lots of restrictions, making them hard to redeem.

I think that the rules only apply to an involuntary bump... if you are going by choice then its your option to take the compensation or take the flight. I was recently involuntarily bumped and only got $100 more than the people who volunteered (it was domestic, no international) I am going to Europe in a few weeks and would happily take your offer.... better yet Ed, I'll take yours....
Can't help on the back to reality though...its never fun. All you can do is start planning your next trip.

Pretty good deal, I'd say. Here's a calculation that'll make you feel instantly better: price out the actual value of the business class seats that you used coming back. Add the plus value of these seats to the $$ compensation and in-kind hotel voucher. That amount should make you feel better. The deal clincher for me would have been the business-class seats for the return leg, in addition to the cash comp. Business class upgrades are now pretty impossible for the sardine class to get. I used to get them occasionally as a common mortal years back, but now these upgrades are reserved for their frequent flyers. You've done well!

Thanks folks. I guess we are just feeling blue. We have 10 and 3/4's months wait until the next vacation. I must say the drive down the entire east coast of Italy was tremendous! We made numerous forays inland to small villages and towns, and found a half a dozen "Cinque Terre-like" places. When we turned in the rental car, it smelled like a Italian deli. from picnic'ing. Are the involuntary bump rules written down anywhere on a website? Foreign and U.S.?

As Terry kathryn said there is a difference between an invountary bump versus a voluntary, as the old saying goes "a deals a deal" and you took it, when it comes to airline travel and money it's different for everyone. By that I mean you said you purchased your tickets 4 months earlier pretty cheaply, whereas the person sitting next to you probably paid more (or less) but probably not the same. At this point I don't think it's really worth the effort to dwell on it but then again what have you got to lose, have you contacted the airline and ask them what their policy is for voluntary bumping?