NOLAnwGOLD

My boyfriend got an automated message on Tuesday saying that his flight on Sunday (of Thanksgiving weekend) was overbooked and was looking for volunteers to change their flight. He talked to the CSR and got either 10,000 miles or $100 TCV for a minimal change (which actually had a better flight time and now mainline instead of CRJ).

fromYXU

How do you agree? Do you have to call the desk to rebook?

slippahs

Wow... so what did he choose, the 10k or the $100?

aloha

Standby4321

Kind of a nice little bonus and convenient, too. We picked one of these up in February for an early April flight; same M.O., but we weren't offered an option of miles or a voucher. It was a straight $200 pp. The $$$ vouchers arrived in the mail a few days after our trip. I keep hoping it will happen again some time, but it hasn't so far.

NOLAnwGOLD

So the automated message said something like press zero if you were interested. He didn't have time to deal with it at the time but called back later and the silver line sent him through to correct department.

FYI, He took the voucher since we both fly out of our own pocket.

The NWA kid

Sounds like a nice deal. NW never calls me

wldtrvlr

THey have never called me either. I think it is because we are platinum. I used to get bumped somewhat often, but after I got platinum I had a hard time getting them even after I would volunteer. I addressed it in an e-mail with Beth one day and her reply was that as a Platinum the agents training tell them to make sure the Platinums get on the flight. They assume that we chose the flight we are booked on because it was the best one for our schedule and they are to get us on the plane if at all possible. She told me that I should explain to the gate agent that I really do want to take a bump and that it is OK for them to bump me. I am sure that the automated thing is programmed to call the platinums last.That should reduce our chances at the airport even more if they are taking care of it prior to the gate!

NOLAnwGOLD

FYI my boyfriend is Silver (so to be GOLD!)

mot29

Excellent pro-active move by NW.
And may explain why, although I booked a 5 flight itinerary coming IST-ONT T'giving Sunday, hoping for a bump, I couldn't get one.
Cheaper to offer them in advance, keeps the customers happier.
As a shareholder, a great move; as a passenger hoping for a bump -- ugh!
tom

jiburi

I agree. They seem to call the non-elite people for advanced bumps. For gate bumps though, I do often tell them that I prefer the bumps rather than being on the scheduled flight. I also tell them that I have all of my baggage with me. That seems to be the single most important reasons why I got bumped four times this year.

Jiburi

NOLAnwGOLD

Yeah, "NBC" (no bags checked) makes the gate agents happy. Also my boyfriend was hoping for another bump flying on that weekend, but alas, no. I'm glad that they do advance bumps since it's proactive and makes the day of travel much easier on the whole system. Glad to see that they have good yield management. Cheers to nwa again!

MsEverywhere

I was disappointed when I first read this thread. I dearly love to get bumped, and I'm flying NW on 12/30 and 1/2, was hoping for a bump.

What about this - if it shows 0 avail or close to 0 a few days before the flight, could the pax call NW and volunteer for a bump? Can't both sides play at the proactive bump game?

MsEverywhere

I called and found out that NW 439 TPA - MSP on 12/30 is oversold. I asked the agent if she could put me on the volunteer list.

She put a note in my PNR that I wanted to volunteer, but she explained that it's an automated system that calls people prior to flight to offer to reroute them. So I don't think the note she added will do anything to help me get into this automated system.

slippahs

I still don't think this is something to be disappointed about. Even if NW fielded all bumps before hand, there's no telling what might happen until you get to the gate... aircraft change, a surge of non-revs that need to get to destination X, etc. Therefore, it's still always a good idea to put yourself on the volunteer list even if there is the slightest chance that the flight may be oversold. GAs never really know if they need you or not until 30 minutes prior to departure when everyone that should be checked in is checked in.

aloha