Friday, January 18, 2013

Planning for Bumps!

Think, rethink. Evaluate, reevaluate.

I've known that when a flight is oversold, the airlines will often offer a free ticket to anyone who is willing to be bumped to the next available flight. I've sat in airports and wished I could take their offer, but I was always following a structured itinerary and wasn't willing to change plans.

So.... why not plan for a bump? The original idea came from a friend of mine - a suggestion to take advantage of more of those offers. Immersed in this month of travel hacking, it dawned on me that I should plan for a bump. In other words, schedule my flights to allow for potential bumps and even choose flights that are nearly full or that overbook often. Brilliant! Why not spend a few extra hours in an airport, reading a wonderful book, in order to gain a new travel voucher?

Whenever possible, I should also arrive to the gate earlier and volunteer to be bumped should the flight be oversold or overweight.

Easy travel hacking strategy - the only cost is a few extra hours at an airport with a great book!