Have you ever been bumped from a flight? If you have never experienced this extreme inconvenience—brace yourself—travel experts say if you plan to fly somewhere this summer the chances that you may be denied boarding is sky high.
As if the headache-inducing delays and thousands of pieces of lost and damaged luggage wasn’t enough to contend with, now we have packed-to-the-max planes to stress us out. Frankly, I’m not surprised that the likelihood of passengers getting bumped is rising. After all, the number of fliers is steadily increasing (a lesson I learned the hard way just a few months ago). Don’t believe me? Consider these statistics provided by the International Civil Aviation Organization (the group establishes all of the technical standards for the aviation industry)—around 1.67 billion passengers flew worldwide in 2000. In 2006, the organization estimated the number increased to 2.1 billion people.
Even more startling are these numbers from the Air Travel Consumer Report from the U.S. Department of Transportation. According to the report, nearly 56,000 passengers were denied boarding on U.S. airlines in 2006, compared with around 45,500 in 2005. And, travelers take note: Atlantic Southeast, the Atlanta-based subsidiary of SkyWest, had the highest rate of passengers bumped, followed by Delta Air Lines subsidiary Comair and ATA Airlines. JetBlue bumped the fewest number of passengers.
So what can you do to avoid being bumped?
Aviation consultants say your best line of defense is to secure a seat when you buy your ticket. Not having a definite seat assignment can increase your chances of getting bumped if your flight is full. Keep in mind that airlines have a habit of overbooking flights to cover the passengers who change or miss their flights. Expect your flight to be overbooked and get a seat assignment before you fork over your money. If a seat isn’t available when you’re buying a ticket, don’t book that flight.
Another tip: find a computer (if you don’t have one) and print out your boarding pass 24 hours before you depart. Experts say this counts as being checked in and decreases your odds of being bumped. You can also decrease your chances of getting bumped if you travel earlier in the day when planes are less crowded. And, it goes without saying that avoiding travel around the holidays will also help you keep your seat.
I also find traveling with a fussy baby often helps one keep one’s seat.
In fairness to the airlines, I have run into some airline employees who have done everything possibly to prevent passengers from getting purposefully bumped. In all of my experiences if a plane was overbooked the airlines offered attractive incentives like free tickets to people willing to get on a different flight.
Have you ever been bumped?