Passengers offered £8,200 to fly the next day – here’s how you could get it
PASSENGERS on a recently overbooked flight were offered a whopping $10,000 (£8,200) if they went on to a later flight.
The Delta flight was due to travel from Gerald R. Ford airport in Michigan, travelling to Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport on Monday.
However, due to being overbooked, the airline was forced to offer a huge incentive to persuade six passengers to come off the flight.
Passenger Jason Aten, who was onboard, tweeted : "On @Delta flight from GRR to MSP and they just offered $10,000 for people to give up their seats.… Ten. Thousand. Dollars."
He added: "They apparently started at $5k and were offering $7,500 during boarding.
"Then came offered $10k once most people had boarded.";
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He added that it wasn't even vouchers, but were offering to pay people via "Apple Pay on the spot".
Another passenger also on the flight chimed in: "Unfortunately, I could not take advance the offer, as I was flying with my wife who has very limited eyesight. She has to have me nearby when traveling."
The reason many didn't take it was because passengers couldn't be on a flight that day, according to Jason.
It's not even the first time - a woman in 2018 said she was given a $10,000 travel voucher when she was due to it being overbooked.
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Airlines in the US are known for overbooking flights, leading to people having to be bumped off.
Since the 2017 Dr Dao incident which saw a passenger dragged off a plane, airlines such as Delta have upped their maximum compensation to $10,000.
While this high amount is rare, airlines will often offer at least a few thousand - and have to keep going up if no one takes it.
Passengers often refuse to take it if they have to be somewhere urgently or if they can't fly for another few days.
This is primarily in the US - in the UK, passengers are often offered much less.
Attorney and personal finance expert Erika Kullberg revealed exactly what you should ask for when an airline bumps you from a flight.
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She said not only can people get paid cash, but they can also ask for hotel rooms, transfers and free meals.
Overbooked flights are less frequent in the UK - although one couple recently said they were taken off their TUI flight to Greece because it was overbooked.
