New Policies For Overbooked Flights

We won’t get everything airline passenger rights groups pushed for when new federal consumer protection regulations take effect in a couple of days, but many of the changes are significant, and there’s much more to come.

This is what changes as of Tuesday:

Bumping. It happens. You have a confirmed flight reservation, paid for months in advance, then you get to the gate and find out the flight is overbooked.

Gate agents initially offer incentives to get folks to voluntarily give up their seats. One of the very best deals I remember is saying yes to be bumped off an Alaska Airlines flight from Medford, Oregon to Seattle. My spouse and I snagged credit vouchers worth $300 each.

When all else fails, and there are still more individuals than seats, airlines can “involuntarily” bump travelers, usually starting with those who check in last.

New regulations adopted by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) boost the amount airlines must pay for all of these “involuntary bumps.”

 

 

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