Travel vouchers when you get bumped from a flight

[Jeff F. In Louisiana]

We were in Newark this weekend when they announced that they needed volunteers to be bumped, and they offered an enticing $700 voucher to sweeten the deal. My wife and I had to get back to work, so we didn't volunteer, but it sure was tempting.

Today someone told me that he'd seen news stories showing that the airlines give you a hard time when you try to redeem the vouchers. They're generous in handing them out, but they'll do anything to keep you from using them, he said.

Anyone heard this, or have any experience with these vouchers?

[djs]

My understanding is that a voucher for a specific $ amount is a much better thing to get then one for one-way or r/t travel as $ vouchers tend to have less restrictions.

[gruntlumber]

I've had vouchers from American and had no problem redeeming them. I don't think there were any restrictions. They worked as good as cash. Even had some $$ leftover and they reissued the difference on a new voucher for use at a later date.

[dc3]

Determine the conditions and redemption process before you consider volunteering. AmericaWest gave me one that could not be redeemed for an on-line booking and I had to go to the airport to purchase the ticket. When they merged with US Airways, the rules got a bit better for the existing HP vouchers. On the other hand, Continental gives you a redeemable on-line coupon which is used as a method of payment - as good as a cash credit. Air Canada asks you to submit the eticket and boarding pass after the trip and they give a refund of the amount of the "MCO". If the alternative routing takes a longer time, get meal and phone vouchers.

[duchy]

It varies from airline to airline. American I too have found very good. We volunteered for a bump from New York to London-We were offered $400 each in vouchers and accomadated on the next flight 2 hours later. I had no problem using the vouchers for our next trip and in fact as I used them in conjunction with some miles ended up flying for no cash cost from London to Vegas return.

Some carriers offer a free flight rather than a dollar value amount. I've heard these are more difficult to redeem.

[thenewbie]

One other advantage to a $ voucher is that you can usually earn FF miles on your 'free' flight, since you normally do not earn FF miles on a free r/t voucher.

[mbstone]

The Dept of Transportation is considering a substantial increase in the IDB voucher amounts and is soliciting public comments, search for the thread in Flyertalk or search Google.

[Robintexas]

Some airlines are stricter on not allowing you to keep the residual amount from a voucher.

I really like NW's system now - my voucher was electronically linked to my FF account - so even if I had lost it, I would have been able to use it as stored value. They also allow residual.

As mentioned above, normally a $$ voucher is better than a "Free Flight" voucher (counter-intuitive) as a free flight voucher comes often from the limited seat availability for award flights.

[zbenye]

Are agents able to offer rewards other than $ voucher or free flight? For example, could I ask for a system upgrade certificate and would they have the ability to grant such? A system upgrade would be much more valuable to me than a free ticket or a few hundreds of Dollars.

[powerplantop]

It depends upon the airline. Delta agents are very limited as to what they can do for you. If a seat is open they can put you in First on the same trip but they can not give you upgrade certificate.