Steve Robinson

Being Bumped Soon to be More Rewarding

Travelers flying on cheap airplane tickets and staying at discount hotel rooms are usually eager to get to their destinations.  Now the Department of Transportation has issued new rules making it more expensive for airlines to involuntarily bump passengers.

In 2010 65,000 passengers (0.01 percent of all fliers) were bumped against their will from flights operated by U.S. airlines.  Those passengers were entitled to receive cash equal to the value of their one way ticket, with a cap of $400.  Those having to wait over two hours were entitled to double the value of their one way ticket up to $800.

Under the Department of Transportation new rule concerning bumping passengers arriving within two hours of their originally scheduled arrival time will get double the value of their ticket up to $650.  If the delay is over two hours passengers will be entitle to receive four times the value of the one way ticket up to $1,300.  The new rule will take effect by the end of this summer.

The reason that the Department of Transportation does not forbid airlines from selling more tickets than they have seats is because overbooking allows airlines to offer sell more tickets at lower fares according to the airlines.

If overbooking was no longer allowed, then either ticket prices would increase and/or flights would be cut back to eliminate unprofitable ones.

Currently JetBlue is the only U.S. airline that does not overbook its flights.

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