Volunteering to give up your seat on a plane is a neat little “hack” that can earn you a voucher or, in some cases, cash. This opportunity presents itself when an airline overbooks a flight, meaning there are more booked passengers than seats available, and needs to bump people to a different flight. While airlines are allowed to give up your plane seat if this happens, gate agents will typically request volunteers, offering an incentive, before they start booting random passengers. Some people have reported getting serious cash out of this deal, with one Delta passenger sharing they volunteered their seat twice in one day and received a grand total of $5,000. It’s one of the very few free things you might not realize you can get from airlines.
This move seems like a no-brainer, especially if you’re running on a flexible schedule, but may not be as simple as it seems. For example, some Frontier Airlines customers tried to take advantage of this deal but ended up frustrated. One shared their story on a Reddit thread saying they and a few others voluntarily gave up their seats in exchange for $1000 in cash. They said they followed the gate agent’s instructions to write down their confirmation codes and emails but were left to wait for three hours with no update.
When they called Frontier, a representative told them their flight actually hadn’t been overbooked and refused their compensation. In the end, they were left with no seat and no cash. Some commenters in the thread expressed they had dealt with a similar situation. Other Frontier customers have taken to the internet with similar stories. From these experiences, it seems Frontier doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to holding up their end of the deal, so if you’re traveling on an overbooked flight with them, you might want to think twice before voluntarily giving up your seat.
Gate agents may not have followed standard procedures
A common thread among many of these stories, beside customers not receiving confirmation, is Frontier gate agents having guests write their information on a piece of paper. According to a Frontier spokesperson, that is not the standard procedure.
What the gate agents should have done is find each customer’s reservation on their system, confirm the information is correct, and mark them as having voluntarily denied their boarding. This situation is not always the gate agent’s fault, the representative pointed out, for oftentimes they have been hired by third party companies and aren’t always knowledgeable about the airline’s procedures.
With this information in mind, be extra meticulous if you do decide to voluntarily give up your seat. Be wary of verbal promises and request a receipt or some sort of written evidence of what was agreed to. You can even ask to watch as the agent enters your information and request to take a photo of their screen.
Be aware of the nuances that come with voluntarily giving up your seat
