Brian
Here’s a life hack: if you’re bumped from a flight, you can get paid. Quite a bit, actually.
This tip comes from TikToker Erika Kullberg (@erikakullberg), a lawyer who also gives personal finance advice. (Scroll to the end for the full video.)
If you’re wondering, “bumping,” or not being allowed to get on your flight, happens when there are more passengers scheduled to fly than there are available seats on a plane.
It’s rare, but it happens because airlines regularly oversell their flights to compensate for passengers who don’t show up.
But if you ever get bumped from a flight, the airline actually owes you money.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, if you’re bumped from a flight, you can qualify for something called “involuntary denied boarding compensation.”
If the delay is more than two hours, your compensation is four times the one-way value of the flight you’re bumped from. The airline can limit it to a maximum of $1,550, but that’s still a lot of money.
In a hypothetical scenario that Kullberg posted, she was bumped from her flight and there wasn’t another one for three more hours.
In that case, given that her ticket cost $250, she’d be eligible for a $1,000 check from the airline.
Not bad for a few hours of lost time!
Commenters were impressed and shared their own travel horror stories.
Some had their doubts, though.
This holiday travel season has been a disaster for airline passengers.
Southwest Airlines recently canceled 70 percent of its flights, stranding thousands of people in airports across the U.S.
Now, these are canceled flights, which is different from getting bumped, but it’s all annoying if you’re the one affected.
Here’s the video so you can learn this hack if you’re ever bumped from a flight.
h/t: Distractify
