AKGAZ

This 22.15 flight was notified as running some 2 hours late out of ORD. I happened to bag drop at 17.00 in ORD (early flight to ORD) and was advised I had been bumped as flight oversold - bumped onto the 18.05 AA flight to LHR.

Not happy at a middle seat on the full AA flight until I learned from the ‘BA’ desk supervisor that there had been an equipment swap from a 787-10 to 787-8 and ‘39 BA passengers who check in later will not be leaving Chicago for two nights as all flights are full”.

Was most grateful to arrive at LHR early April 18!

Interested if BA really made those people stay two nights in Chicago - surely they could be flown to other connecting airports?

Swanhunter

That was probably said as encouragement for you to take the AA flight

corporate-wage-slave

A 78X can take 54 more passengers than a 788 so the numbers make sense. There's no First on a 788 and it's just WTP which is the similar size. I imagine some CW were downgraded to WTP however.

As for 2 nights in ORD - it probably is happening to some people though probably just a handful, it's the easiest to arrange if flights are full, and indeed flights are usually full on a Friday over the Atlantic (and ORD-LHR today does look full). Usually it will be those on staff tickets that have to stay the longest, but there may be some frail passengers for whom transfers won't be easy. Plus the systems that agents use often don't bring up all options into account, so for example there are 2 spare WT seats on CVG-LHR which are currently unfilled.

chriswiles

When my flight out of IAH was cancelled, BA booked me on a flight out of ORD instead and scheduled two days after my cancelled flight. As I was a day trip to Austin and close by, I called and said "why not AUS?" and it was switched to AUS.

Some of the cancellations decisions BA makes are odd. Who puts people on a flight out of Chicago when their flight from Houston is cancelled? And why two days after you were supposed to return?

BarneyMcGrew

Why do I never get 'bumped'?

As a now retired person, travelling for leisure and never really in any rush to get anywhere, a couple of days/nights at the ORD Hilton at BA's expense would be quite welcome. More so if EU261 compensation was inolved as well.I would enjoy a night at the Opera in Chicago.

Despite my 4 or 5 trips per annum to the USA over recent years, I have never been bumped (nor even had a sniff of it)!

DeathSlam

I think it helps if you checkin at the airport as early as you can while they are still looking for volunteers. Not a very FT thing to do. Most have an electronic boarding pass and no luggage so never get a chance to talk to the nice checkin staff.

percysmith

Isn't bumping in the US controlled by a basis https://www.transportation.gov/indiv...ping-oversales (not usually who gets to airport first or who doesn't see the desk)?

DeathSlam

I guess I was referring to the section

Voluntarily Giving Up Your Seat

Because they often look for volunteers before they actually start bumping people, but the terms are often still pretty good (free food, accommodation, upgraded travel, cash\avios compensation etc)

xenole

I've not see any volunteers being required since we'll before Covid. Used to get a few $200-$500 transportation vouchers for catching another flight etc.

Duck1981

My AA DFW-LHR flight on the 10th of April offered between $600 and 900 in travel credit for Y pax willing to stay another night.

Flying Doctor

Have to say that the team at ORD in my opinion are quite on the money with handling Irrops.
I was there previously when an A380 departed late (as in several hours late) from LHR thereby delaying the return.
They were all over rebooking and rerouting everyone as much as they could and did seem to be pretty good at getting everyone an alternative plan and it was not quite as bad as everything full but there were full flights etc so it was not completely straightforward...
FD.

crazy8534

Flying with BA and being BA Gold would also put you quite far down the list of people who might be involuntarily bumped.

corporate-wage-slave

It is fair to point out that ORD has thanks to its "unique" brand of weather and BA irrops, has a unique ability to get through irrops. It certainly has had plenty of experience.

I'm contemplating these points. Actually on the rare occasions that I've been able to intervene and say "oh you can bump me, I can go later", the general reply is that the computer says no. The painful reality is that it's the occasional, sometimes rather nervous travellers, that draw the short straw here, whereas BA simply prioritises irrops by frequent flyer status. Silvers are in a much better place than someone visiting family once in 2 years. Which is mad really - the occasional traveller has a lot at stake, emotionally, for their limited access to travel and family reunions; Whereas many of us are able to work virtually, have families and dogs that are quite used to us turning up a day late (insofar as they notice), are in jobs where flexible working means it's ok to be AWOL for a bit, or indeed retired, semi-retired. I well recall getting a phone call from BA wanting to get a school group to Chambéry and therefore asking if I could go another day - I said I'd go to GVA or LYS so long as they picked up the taxi fare, but the agent said "oh you're Gold". [Yes, I suppose that is true]. She then said she had called me in error since she could not negotiate with BA's best customers!

But yes in that mystical and mythical world where BA's IT is all singing and all dancing, there could be a little flag to say "this trip is not critical", "I can sit by the pool at your expense", "just gimme the TPs and you can do whatever you like".

crazy8534

A friend of mine spent an extra 10 days in Thailand after the Icelandic volcano eruption until eventually someone at the airport phoned him whilst he was lying on the beach and said "you are going home today, Sir!".

wrp96

Several years ago I got several extra days in south Florida in February instead of being cold at home thanks to an AA overbooked flight and some drama caused by other passengers. Because I was so nice and accommodating after the drama was escorted out of the terminal, the agents put me on the list for every oversold flight for days, gave me the compensation for each, put me up in a hotel, and said just let us know when you're ready to go home. I could've and would've stayed longer alas remote work wasn't a possibility at the time. I didn't have to pay for flights out of pocket for quite awhile after that trip.