Bumped Flights: Overbooking Compensation Explained

Written By Joanna Teljeur

Last Updated: November 27, 2024

According to the US Department of Transportation, the bumped passenger rate in the 3rd Quarter of 2023 was 0.35 per 10,000 passengers. That’s a pretty small number, so chances are, you won’t get bumped off a flight. Nonetheless, this is small consolation if you’re one of the passengers who are prevented from boarding because your flight was oversold.

In this article, we’re going to look closely at what causes overbooked flights, why the practice is legal, and most importantly, what you can get in compensation if you were bumped..

Eager to start the compensation claim process? All you have to do is enter your flight information in the link below, and you’ll see how much money you’re owed. It’s fast, free, and easy! Click below to begin.

What Does It Mean to Be Bumped

To start, it’s important to understand what we mean by a ‘bumped flight’. Basically, it means you’ve been involuntarily denied boarding. Passengers can be denied boarding for many reasons, but being ‘bumped’ usually refers to situations where you are prevented from boarding an overbooked flight.

What is Flight Overbooking?

Overbooking or overselling flights is a profit-enhancing tactic for airlines around the world. They sell more tickets than seats available on a given aircraft as a way of ensuring a full flight.

This practice is commonplace and also legal because airlines realise that for every flight, there is a good chance some passengers will cancel at the last minute, fail to show up, or miss their flight because of prior delays or cancellations. This leads to empty seats which reduces the profitability for the flight.

Bumped flight?You might have a right to compensation - up to €600.Check Your Flight

Why Airlines Overbook Flights

To ensure that the aircraft will fly at full capacity and to maximize profits, airlines will frequently oversell flights. They can do this by using complex calculations and statistics that show which flights and how many seats to oversell, but, occasionally all the passengers show up for an oversold flight, and this leads to denied boarding.

Volunteering Your Seat

Once the airline realizes that the flight is overbooked, they will call for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for agreed-upon benefits. However, if a carrier calls for volunteers, and an insufficient number of passengers offer to give up their seats, then some passengers will inevitably be bumped.

If you have voluntarily surrendered your seat, then the airline is required to provide you with:

• A rebooking on the next available flight to your destination OR
• An alternate booking at a later date OR
• A refund for the full cost of the unused ticket.

Passengers who voluntarily give up their seat can usually enjoy other benefits offered by the airline like extra points or miles, vouchers, and other perks. Sometimes, the amount you get from the airline can be surprising!

In 2022, INC. described a situation where eight passengers on an oversold Delta flight were offered $10,000 per person to give up their seat and those who had ApplePay were issued the money immediately.

JetBlue has been known to offer between $500 and $1,000 in travel vouchers for passengers who come forward to volunteer their seats. Meanwhile, United Airlines has given volunteers as much as $2,000 in vouchers for surrendering their seat. 

So, giving up your seat is something worth considering.

Combining Compensation with Airline Offers 

Many passengers wonder if you can accept an offer from the airline in exchange for volunteering your seat. Unfortunately, the two are mutually exclusive. If you agree to what the airline offers you to voluntarily offer your seat, you cannot get regulated compensation as well. 

For this reason, it’s very important to carefully examine the offers being presented to you. Usually, you will forgo your right to regulated compensation by accepting a package deal from the airline in exchange for volunteering your seat.

Don’t accept airline vouchers

Let AirAdvisor help your case.

Check Your Flight

Bumped Flight Compensation in the United States

Although US air passenger rights are not as well protected as they are in the EU and UK, a passenger who has been denied boarding can actually receive more money in compensation than the amounts offered in other areas.

The amount of compensation you receive depends on the following conditions:

• Whether you were booked on a US domestic flight or an international flight
• The length of your delay at the final destination (if you chose to be rebooked)
• How much you paid for your ticket

If you decide to make your own arrangements, then you’ll simply be refunded the full cost of your ticket including taxes and associated fees.

If your flight is delayed at your final destination for at least an hour past your originally scheduled arrival time then you’ll be compensated as follows:

Compensation for Overbooking in the European Union

Thanks to the EU’s Regulation 261/2004, you can claim compensation for denied boarding if your flight was scheduled to depart in the EU or if it was arriving in the EU on a EU based carrier.

If you were bumped from an overbooked flight, you have the right to cash compensation and care & assistance while you wait for your rebooked flight’s departure. This consists of refreshments, meals, hotel room, transport between the airport and place of accommodation, two free telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails.

Passengers can also choose ticket cost reimbursement within seven days or a return flight to the first point of departure or re-routing (or replacement flight) to their final destination.

To help alleviate the inconvenience caused by your denied boarding incident, you are also eligible to receive cash compensation if your rebooking causes you to arrive at least 3 hours past your originally scheduled arrival time.

• €250 for all flights of 1,500km or less;
• €400 for flights between 1,500 and 3,500km
• €600 for flights more than 3,500km

Also, if your seat was downgraded, then the airline will reimburse you between 30-75% of your original ticket price.

Overbooked Flight Compensation in the United Kingdom

Up until 2020, passengers who were denied boarding in the UK were covered by the laws in the EU. After Brexit, the British government adopted the same air passenger rights into a new set of regulations that is commonly known as UK 261. Under these regulations, you are entitled to following compensation for denied boarding:

• £220 for short flights (under 1,500 km)
• £350 for medium flights (between 1,500 and 3,500 km)
• £520 for long flights (over 3,500 km)

Canada’s Compensation Policy

Canada’s regulations require airlines to assist passengers who are denied boarding by providing them with alternate flights as well as with care and assistance at the airport. The Canadian Transportation Agency also requires large airlines to compensate bumped passengers for the inconvenience based on the number of hours you arrived late to your destination.

Canadian law also says that the carrier must issue compensation immediately, or at very least, give you a written statement of how much you will be owed.

Again, these compensation amounts only apply to passengers who were denied boarding because of overbooking. If you arrived late to the gate, didn’t check in on time, or were posing a safety or security concern, then you will not be eligible for cash compensation.

Find out if you are owed compensation for a bumped flight.Check Your Flight

What to Do When You’re Bumped From a Flight 

It’s one of the most exasperating experiences of air travel, so it’s understandable if you’re annoyed. So, when you find yourself involuntarily denied boarding because your flight was overbooked, it’s important to take the following steps.

1. Ask the airline staff why you were denied boarding if you aren’t sure. They should give you written confirmation that you were bumped because of an oversold flight. This is important because if you need to submit a compensation claim, you’ll need this information to support your case.
2. Learn about your air passenger rights for the region in which you’re travelling. The EU, UK, Canada, and the United States each have their own rules for bumped flights, so it’s vital to know what you’re entitled to.
3. Request assistance. Remember, you are entitled to an alternate flight as well as to meals, refreshments, and hotel accommodation if you have to wait overnight for your rescheduled flight. 
4. Collect all relevant travel documents. Begin gathering copies of your boarding pass, the document stating why you were bumped, receipts for any out-of-pocket expenses, and anything else that helps document your bumped flight situation. If you choose to file a compensation claim, you’ll need to be able to access this info.
5. Check to see how much compensation you can get. Because passenger rights regulations can be different depending upon where you’re travelling, it can be tricky to figure out exactly how much you’re owed. 

To make it easy for you, we created the compensation calculator. All you have to do is enter your flight details and you’ll see how much you’re eligible to receive from the airline.

How to Claim Compensation for Overbooking

So, if you’ve been involuntarily bumped from a flight because of overbooking, and you weren’t given your compensation right away, you might have to file a compensation claim in order to get the airline to comply.

You can do this by submitting a letter to the airline describing what happened in detail including your departure and arrival times, locations, and basic booking information along with supporting documents like statements from the airline, boarding passes, and booking receipts. Just look for the contact section on your carrier’s website and submit this information either by email or via the web form provided on the site.

You can also let our legal professionals here at AirAdvisor do all the work for you! We eliminate all the hassle and inconvenience of the claims process. Just provide us with your flight details and information, and we’ll handle the rest!

Why Trust AirAdvisor

Join over 370,000 passengers who have trusted us with their compensation claims. We’ve been protecting air passenger rights since 2017, and we have an outstanding 98% win rate. The best part? We only get paid when we win your case and deliver the compensation to your bank. It’s that easy! Get started with your claim today!

Claim with AirAdvisor and get up to €600 compensation for overbooking. Find out how much you’re owed today.Check Your Flight