Spanish flag carrier Iberia is currently running a survey in which it is asking passengers whether they would be willing to voluntarily give up their seat on an overbooked flight in exchange for being able to use the premium airport lounge or an inflight upgrade.
Within Europe, airlines are heavily regulated when it comes to denying passengers boarding due to an overbooking situation. That’s not to say airlines can’t overbook flights or involuntarily bump passengers, but they have to offer passengers cash compensation and provide assistance like refreshments and accommodation.
Under the so-called EC261 denied boarding regulations, passengers who find themselves bumped from an oversold flight are entitled to between €250 and €600 in compensation depending on the flight distance, along with the option to be booked on the next available flight – even if it’s with a rival airline.
Those generous compensation rules, however, do not apply if a passenger has volunteered to be bumped.
Nearly all airlines overbook flights because they know that on specific routes and days, not everyone will make it to the airport in time or that a connecting flight will arrive late. In most cases, passengers are none the wiser that their flight was oversold but when the airline gets it wrong, it can prove to be an expensive mistake.
Like many other airlines, Iberia is trying to find the sweet spot in which it can convince passengers to voluntarily give up their seats for an offer less than what it would be forced to pay under EC261 regulations.
For example, the survey imagines a situation in which Iberia has identified an overbooked flight, which it now anticipates everyone will turn up for, and some passengers will have to be bumped.
When this happens, Iberia would automatically send an email, SMS, or in-app notification with an offer to be rebooked onto the next available flight in exchange for compensation. Rather than a cash payout, however, the compensation could take the form of frequent flyer miles or a voucher for a future flight.
The airline also asks whether other factors would make it more likely for someone to voluntarily give up their seat – such as being able to use a premium airport lounge or an inflight cabin upgrade.
Interestingly, Iberia then asks how much cash compensation you would be willing to accept to be bumped from a long-haul flight, with the cash offer starting at €300 (remember, European denied boarding regulations stipulate that denied boarding under these circumstances results in a €600 cash payout).
If, however, you say that €300 isn’t enough, Iberia then asks whether €400 would persuade you to give up your seat. Still no? How about €500?
It sure looks like Iberia is doing its best to save compensation payouts for bumped passengers by finding just the right payout figure, along with sweeteners like lounge access, to convince people to voluntarily give up their seats.
That being said, this kind of offer can really suit some people who might be on a flexible itinerary and see it as an easy way to make some cash with little hardship involved.
Involuntary bumping works slightly differently in the United States because if an airline can get you to your intended destination within an hour of your scheduled arrival time, then you aren’t entitled to any compensation whatsoever.
Some US airlines are, however, reluctant to involuntarily bump passengers following the infamous Dr David Dao incident aboard a United Airlines plane at Chicago O’Hare in 2017, and this can sometimes lead to some pretty wild compensation offers.
In 2022, for example, Delta Air Lines reportedly offered eight passengers up to $10,000 each to give up their seats on an oversold domestic flight between Michigan and Minnesota.
According to the latest data from the Department of Transportation (DOT), American Airlines is most likely to involuntarily bump passengers from oversold flights, having done so to nearly 4,000 passengers between July and September 2024.
In contrast, Delta didn’t involuntarily bump a single passenger during the same period, while United only involuntarily bumped 201 passengers.
