Traveling is always hectic — especially around the holidays. One thing I will never understand is why airlines continuously overbook their flights. If you know you only have a certain number of seats, only sell that many! Yet every time, without fail, they will double sell a certain number of seats. This leaves you with the awkward announcement "We have an incredibly full flight, would anyone volunteer to give up their seat...." followed by some form of compensation. Well this time, the compensation was pretty good. This Delta passenger got offered thousands of dollars to get off the plane and take a different flight home instead.
Delta Passenger Gets Offered Thousands Of Dollars To Get Off The Plane
Shutterstock Image
The Delta passenger took to Reddit to share the details of the event. They started the post by saying, " I was booked on a Delta flight from Chicago O'Hare to Seattle, 7:50 AM departure. Monday after Easter—aka a max-capacity travel kinda day." We have all been there, travel during or right after a holiday is no fun. So, when the gate agent came onto the plane and made the announcement that they needed someone to give up their seat it made sense.
However, the announcement was no big to-do. In fact, the Reddit user described the scenario almost as a secretive op mission. They wrote, "Then a gate agent walks up to the front of first class—no mic, no big announcement—and casually drops what sounded like a travel myth." That travel myth was the offer of $3,000. The passenger shared the agent said, "We're looking for two volunteers to deplane due to fuel rebalancing issues. Compensation is $3,000."
This Delta passenger's hand shot up, almost without their consent. All they knew was that they were not letting someone else beat them out on this incredible deal.
Why They Needed To DeBoard
According to the post, the airline needed passengers to de-board due to "fuel rebalancing issues." Those two passengers who volunteered to get off of the plane were each offered $3,000. Apparently Delta cannot issue checks for larger than $2,000, so each person got "One $2,000 credit ? One $1,000 credit." The best part is that those credits are not just limited to Delta Airlines.
The post read, "The credits are loaded into their Choice Benefits portal, where you can convert them to gift cards (Amazon, Airbnb, etc.) (beware not to choose Visa due to expiration date and fees/limitations) or Delta flight credit. So yeah...basically $3,000 for taking a later flight and working from home with family." All in all, this passenger was very happy with their choice. All they had to do was take a later flight and they walked away with $3,000, seems like a no-brainer.
As the infamous passenger said, "No delays. No drama. Just a perfectly-timed raised hand."
