Better than Vegas
I am currently in a town near Philadelphia, PA for work. I flew in from Chicago yesterday. My trip over was slightly more eventful than usual.
I was scheduled to take the 3:00 flight from O'Hare to Philadelphia, arriving around 6:20. The flight was oversold, so the agent offered a free roundtrip ticket in exchange for a "bump" to an alternate flight arrangement. Instead, I'd leave O'Hare around 4, and I'd fly to Washington National and then to Philadelphia, arriving in PHL at about 9:30 p.m. I'd have to wait a bunch and take two planes instead of one, but I'm happy to do that for a free ticket. I accepted the offer and waited for the agent to issue me new boarding passes.
SURPRISE #1: The agent secures us passage on a non-stop ORD-PHL flight leaving at 4:15. Hey, works for me -- I arrive an hour or so later than I originally planned. Not bad!
SURPRISE #2: The 4:15 flight is also oversold. I have no idea why they bumped me from one oversold flight to another, but I won't complain.
So, this flight also has a "bump" option, and the agent offers alternate flights through Washington National. By this point, I've met up with another person who has done the exact same thing as me. We get boarding passes on the Washington flight and e-ticket receipts for the US Air flight that gets us to Philadelphia. We are asked to hurry to the gate and board the plane for Washington. Each of us now has TWO free roundtrip tickets.
SURPRISE #3: As we walk down the jetway, we notice that the US Air flight leaves Washington BEFORE our scheduled arrival. We talk to an agent at the front of the plane who advises us to stay in Chicago -- our chances of getting to Philadelphia before midnight are best if we try to get on a later non-stop flight from O'Hare.
We go back to the agent who originally booked us on the Washington flight. To make a long story short, I get booked on the 7:00 p.m. flight to Philadelphia. The person with me got a seat on the 4:15 flight that opened up at the last minute. She had to drive to New Jersey after landing in Philadelphia, so it was a no-brainer to let her have that seat rather than draw for it.
SURPRISE #4: The 7:00 flight was also oversold, and the agent was offering a really sweet deal -- hotel accommodations, meal vouchers, and a FIRST CLASS seat on a non-stop ORD-PHL flight leaving at noon the next day. I had to get here for my class this morning, so I couldn't take them up. But I would have loved three free roundtrip tickets in two days.
I arrived in Philadelphia around 10:00 p.m. local time, and I got to the hotel with no further surprises.
I have no idea how United can make money doing things like this, but I wonder if anyone could ever get in a situation in which they were bumped ad infinitum, receiving one free ticket after another.
The class lunch break is ending, but feel free to post comments if you have questions about my joyride yesterday. :)
I was scheduled to take the 3:00 flight from O'Hare to Philadelphia, arriving around 6:20. The flight was oversold, so the agent offered a free roundtrip ticket in exchange for a "bump" to an alternate flight arrangement. Instead, I'd leave O'Hare around 4, and I'd fly to Washington National and then to Philadelphia, arriving in PHL at about 9:30 p.m. I'd have to wait a bunch and take two planes instead of one, but I'm happy to do that for a free ticket. I accepted the offer and waited for the agent to issue me new boarding passes.
SURPRISE #1: The agent secures us passage on a non-stop ORD-PHL flight leaving at 4:15. Hey, works for me -- I arrive an hour or so later than I originally planned. Not bad!
SURPRISE #2: The 4:15 flight is also oversold. I have no idea why they bumped me from one oversold flight to another, but I won't complain.
So, this flight also has a "bump" option, and the agent offers alternate flights through Washington National. By this point, I've met up with another person who has done the exact same thing as me. We get boarding passes on the Washington flight and e-ticket receipts for the US Air flight that gets us to Philadelphia. We are asked to hurry to the gate and board the plane for Washington. Each of us now has TWO free roundtrip tickets.
SURPRISE #3: As we walk down the jetway, we notice that the US Air flight leaves Washington BEFORE our scheduled arrival. We talk to an agent at the front of the plane who advises us to stay in Chicago -- our chances of getting to Philadelphia before midnight are best if we try to get on a later non-stop flight from O'Hare.
We go back to the agent who originally booked us on the Washington flight. To make a long story short, I get booked on the 7:00 p.m. flight to Philadelphia. The person with me got a seat on the 4:15 flight that opened up at the last minute. She had to drive to New Jersey after landing in Philadelphia, so it was a no-brainer to let her have that seat rather than draw for it.
SURPRISE #4: The 7:00 flight was also oversold, and the agent was offering a really sweet deal -- hotel accommodations, meal vouchers, and a FIRST CLASS seat on a non-stop ORD-PHL flight leaving at noon the next day. I had to get here for my class this morning, so I couldn't take them up. But I would have loved three free roundtrip tickets in two days.
I arrived in Philadelphia around 10:00 p.m. local time, and I got to the hotel with no further surprises.
I have no idea how United can make money doing things like this, but I wonder if anyone could ever get in a situation in which they were bumped ad infinitum, receiving one free ticket after another.
The class lunch break is ending, but feel free to post comments if you have questions about my joyride yesterday. :)
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