Delta Pays $4,000 to Bump a Passenger by Just 9 Hours
US airlines have become rather sqeamish about involuntarily bumping passengers ever since United Airlines was lambasted by the public after the Chicago police dragged a semi-conscious passenger off one of its planes earlier this year so that the airline could instead puts its own employees in the seats. However, on Friday, Delta took being cautious to the next level when it paid $4,000 in compensation to get a single passenger to give up her seat on a flight less than two hours long, all while still making it to her destination later the same night.
Delta Flight 874 was scheduled to depart at 9:45am from Atlanta (ATL) to South Bend, Indiana (SBN). At first blush that might not seem like a terribly popular route, but this weekend the Georgia Bulldogs will play football against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for only the second time ever. Which means for certain University of Georgia fans, right now it's either South Bend or bust.
The aircraft, an MD-88 with 149 total seats, was overbooked by one passenger, and so Delta began asking for volunteers and offering compensation. After the United incident in April, Delta changed its policy so that front line agents can offer up to $2,000 in compensation to volunteers. But when a supervisor gets involved, the limit is as high as $9,950.
So according to Zach Klein, the Sports Director of WSB-TV in Atlanta (who was also on the flight), when no one wanted to get off the plane, the price quickly climbed...
And climbed...
And climbed...
Until Delta finally hit the magic number for one Tracy Jarvis Smith, who will still get into South Bend nearly 24 hours before kickoff but with her purse just a wee bit heavier than before...
Fortunately for Ms. Smith, "last call" in the great state of Indiana is 3am, so she'll still be able to squeeze in at least six hours of... well, let's call it "pregame prep" before catching some sleep. Congratulations to Ms. Smith, and of course, the first round of drinks is on her.
H/T: View From The Wing
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Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month