Here is a recap of the DOT denied boarding rules today.
Note the exceptions to these rules. Passengers must meet the required check-in times. No compensation is needed. Passengers should check the airline’s “boarding priority.” Passengers should know the rules that specify which passenger gets bumped first in case there are not enough voluntary bumpees. Plus, if a passenger is bumped “involuntarily,” they can receive cash compensation, not airline scrip or vouchers. However, now airlines may provide compensation with credit card credits.
When a passenger volunteers to be bumped, compensation is determined by the airline and the passenger. It is a bargaining situation. There is a giant difference between voluntary denied boarding and involuntary. One passenger ended up with $10,000! Make sure you know the rules before negotiating with the gate agents.
Voluntary Bumping
Almost any planeload of airline passengers includes some people with urgent travel needs and others who may be more concerned about the cost of their tickets than about getting to their destination on time. DOT rules require airlines to seek out people willing to give up their seats for compensation before involuntarily bumping anyone.
Here’s how this works. At the check-in or boarding area, airline employees will look for volunteers when it appears that the flight has been oversold. If you’re not in a rush to arrive at your next destination, you can give your reservation back to the airline in exchange for compensation and a later flight. But before you do this, you may want to get answers to these important questions:
- When is the next flight on which the airline can confirm your seat? The alternate flight may be just as acceptable to you. On the other hand, if the airline offers to put you on standby on another flight that’s full, you could be stranded.
- Will the airline provide other amenities such as free meals, a hotel room, transfers between the hotel and a phone card? If not, you might have to spend the money it offers you on food or lodging while you wait for the next flight.
- How long is the ticket or voucher good for?
- Is the ticket or voucher unusable during holiday periods when you might want to use it?
- Can it be used for international flights?
DOT has not mandated the form or amount of compensation that airlines offer to volunteers.
DOT does require airlines to advise any volunteer whether he or she might be involuntarily bumped, and if that were to occur, the amount of compensation that would be due. Carriers can negotiate with their passengers for mutually acceptable compensation. Airlines generally offer a free trip or other transportation benefits to prospective volunteers. The airlines give employees guidelines for bargaining with passengers, and they may select those volunteers willing to sell back their reservations for the lowest price.
If the airline offers you a free ticket or a transportation voucher in a specific dollar amount, ask about restrictions. How long is the ticket or voucher good for? Is it “blacked out” during holiday periods when you might want to use it? Can it be used for international flights?
Involuntary Bumping
DOT requires each airline to give all passengers who are bumped involuntarily a written statement describing their rights. It must explain how the carrier decides who gets on an oversold flight and who doesn’t. Those travelers who don’t get to fly are frequently entitled to denied boarding compensation in the form of a check or cash. The minimum amount depends on the traveler’s ticket price and the delay’s length.
DOT’s requirements are as follows.
These are the minimum, but airlines may choose to provide a higher amount.
- If you are bumped involuntarily and the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to get you to your final destination (including later connections) within one hour of your original scheduled arrival time, there is no compensation.
- If the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to arrive at your destination between one and two hours after your original arrival time (between one and four hours on international flights), the airline must pay you, at a minimum, an amount equal to 200 percent of your one-way fare to your final destination that day, or $775, whichever amount is lower.
- If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the minimum compensation doubles (400 percent of your one-way fare, or $1,550, whichever amount is lower).
- If your ticket does not show a fare (for example, a frequent-flyer award ticket or a ticket issued by a consolidator), your denied boarding compensation is based on the lowest cash, check or credit card payment charged for a ticket in the same class of service (e.g., coach, first class) on that flight.
- You always get to keep your original ticket and use it on another flight. If you choose to make your own arrangements, you can request an “involuntary refund” for the ticket for the flight you were bumped from. The denied boarding compensation is essentially a payment for your inconvenience.
- If you paid for optional services on your original flight (e.g., seat selection, checked baggage) and did not receive those services on your substitute flight or were required to pay the airline that bumped you mustyments a second time, refund those pa.
Like all rules, however, there are a few conditions and exceptions:
- To be eligible for compensation, you must have a confirmed written reservation. A confirmation issued by the airline or an authorized agent qualifies you for a seat on the plane.
- Each airline has a check-in deadline, which is the amount of time before scheduled departure you must be at the gate. For domestic flights, most carriers require you to be at the departure gate between 10 minutes and 30 minutes before scheduled departure. But some deadlines can be an hour or longer.
- International flight check-in deadlines can be three hours before the scheduled departure time. Some airlines may require you to be at the ticket/baggage counter by this time. Most, however, require that you get all the way to the boarding area. Some may have deadlines at both locations. If you miss the check-in deadline, you may have lost your reservation and your right to compensation if the flight is oversold.
As noted above, no compensation is due if the airline arranges substitute transportation which is scheduled to arrive at your destination within one hour of your originally scheduled arrival time.
- If the airline must substitute a smaller plane for the one it originally planned to use, the carrier isn’t required to pay people who are bumped as a result. In addition, on flights using aircraft with 30 through 60 passenger seats, compensation is not required if you were bumped due to safety-related aircraft weight or balance constraints.
- The rules do not apply to charter flights, or to scheduled flights operated with planes that hold fewer than 30 passengers. They don’t apply to international flights inbound to the United States, although some airlines on these routes may follow them voluntarily. Also, if you are flying between two foreign cities — Paris to Rome, for example — these rules will not apply. The European Commission has a rule on bumpings that occur in an EC country; ask the airline for details, or go to http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passengers/air/air_en.htm.
- Airlines set their own “boarding priorities” — the order in which they will bump different categories of passengers in an oversale situation. When a flight is oversold and there are not enough volunteers, some airlines bump passengers with the lowest fares first. Others bump the last passengers to check in. Once you have purchased your ticket, the most effective way to reduce the risk of being bumped is to get to the airport early. For passengers in the same fare class, the last passengers to check in are usually the first to be bumped, even if they have met the check-in deadline. Allow extra time; assume that the roads are backed up, the parking lot is full, and there is a long line at the check-in counter.
Airlines may offer free tickets or dollar-amount vouchers for future flights in place of a check for denied boarding compensation.
However, if you are bumped involuntarily you have the right to insist on a check if that is your preference. Once you cash the check (or accept the free flight), you will probably lose the ability to pursue more money from the airline later on. However, if being bumped costs you more money than the airline will pay you at the airport, you can try to negotiate a higher settlement with their complaint department.
You usually have 30 days from the date on the check to decide if you want to accept the amount of the check.
You are always free to decline the check (e.g., not cash it) and take the airline to court to try to obtain more compensation. DOT’s denied boarding regulation spells out the airlines’ minimum obligation to people they bump involuntarily. Finally, don’t be a “no-show.” If you are holding confirmed reservations you don’t plan to use, notify the airline. If you don’t, they will cancel all onward or return reservations on your trip.
Often airlines determine that one or more passengers will be involuntarily bumped because the flight is oversold. The airline generally selects those passengers at the gate area before they are accepted to board the flight. Airlines are not permitted to require a passenger to deplane. If the removal of the passenger is required for safety, security, or health reasons, or the removal is due to the passenger’s unlawful behavior, the airlines can bend the rules.
Situations when bumped passengers ARE eligible for compensation:
- Following a bumping incident, airlines must offer passengers compensation at the airport on the same day.
- Sometimes, the airline provides substitute transportation that leaves the airport before the airline can pay the passenger. The airline must pay the passenger within 24 hours of the bumping incident.If passengers are not bumped from a flight for one of the reasons above, they qualify for involuntary denied boarding compensation if an airline requires them to give up their seat on an oversold flight and:
- They have a confirmed reservation,
- Traveler checked in to their flight on time,
- Passengers arrived at the departure gate on time.
- The airline cannot get passengers to their destination within one hour of the flight’s original arrival time.
If I am entitled to compensation, how is the amount of compensation calculated?
- Passengers denied boarding involuntarily due to oversales are entitled to compensation set by DOT. It is based on the ticket price and the time the passengers are delayed getting to their destination because they are denied boarding. Whether their flight is a domestic flight or an international flight, leaving from the United States makes a difference. This is called “denied boarding compensation,” or “DBC” for short.
- Most bumped passengers who experience short delays on flights will receive compensation. Compensation for short delays is doubled from the previous period to $775 and increases based on the change in the cost-of-living index every two years. Passengers experiencing longer flight delays will receive payments of four times the one-way value of the flight they were bumped from, up to $1,550. Please see the tables below.
Domestic – Denied Boarding Compensation (DBC)
Domestic – Denied Boarding Compensation (DBC) Length of Delay Compensation 0 to 1 hour arrival delay No compensation 1 to 2 hour arrival delay 200% of one-way fare (but no more than $775) Over 2 hour arrival delay 400% of one-way fare (but no more than $1,550) International – Denied Boarding Compensation (DBC)
International – Denied Boarding Compensation (DBC) Length of Delay Compensation 0 to 1 hour arrival delay No compensation 1 to 4 hour arrival delay 200% of one-way fare (but no more than $775) Over 4 hour arrival delay 400% of one-way fare (but no more than $1,550)
- When will I receive compensation if I am eligible to receive it?
- Following a bumping incident, airlines must offer passengers compensation at the airport on the same day.
- If the airline provides substitute transportation that leaves the airport before the airline can pay the passenger, the airline must pay the passenger within 24 hours of the bumping incident.
Is there is a limit on how much money airlines are allowed to give me when I am involuntarily bumped?
- No. Although airlines are required to give you a certain amount of money by law, airlines may give more money than is required.
Other reasons you may be removed from a flight
An airline can refuse to transport a passenger for the reasons listed in its contract of carriage, a legal agreement between the passenger and airline, so long as the refusal is not discriminatory, such as:
- Being intoxicated or under the influence of illegal drugs.
- Attempting to interfere with the duties of a flight crew member.
- Disrupting flight operations or engaging in unruly behavior.
- Having an offensive odor that is not caused by a disability or illness.
FAA regulations state that “no person may assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crew member in the performance of the crewmember’s duties aboard an aircraft being operated.”
To read the federal regulation implementing involuntary denied boarding rules, click here.
READ MORE:
United Airlines allows free family seating — the first major network carrier to do so
Sky-high business class airfares — monopolies or greed, or both?
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.