Volunteer list at online checkin

[georgeg]

Morning all!

I am booked in Y on VS117 tomorrow morning – just went through OLCI and was asked if I would be amenable to joining a ‘volunteers list’ of people who would be willing to be bumped in exchange for VS miles or voucher.

Anyone got any experience with what this likely translates to? I see there is still space in Y on VS5 so imagine this is where we would probably end up.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

I think it’s a load of points or a voucher for a free flight.

Wasn’t there a further link to click on?

[NorthernLass]

If you’re being bumped off your flight, i.e. involuntary denied boarding, EU/UK261 entitles you to specific compensation. I am guessing VS knows this and this is why they are trying to get “volunteers” as what they are offering may not be as good as the statutory requirements demand.

[BJ]

Curious to learn what they’re offering. Even as a student 35 years ago I used to make hundreds of dollars from USA carriers to, from and within USA for volunteering. Often paid much of my summers in USA. I intentionally targted USA carriers and multi-sector itineraries to boost my chances 🙂

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

But the regulation permits asking for volunteers and the making of such offers.

And in addition they still have the right to reroute or cancel and refund.

See Article 4.1

“When an operating air carrier reasonably expects to deny boarding on a flight, it shall first call for volunteers to surrender their reservations in exchange for benefits under conditions to be agreed between the passenger concerned and the operating air carrier. Volunteers shall be assisted in accord-ance with Article 8, such assistance being additional to the benefits mentioned in this paragraph.”

So a volunteer gets a better deal than someone the airline just picks.

[JDB]

VS is required, in the first instance, to seek volunteers and while there is no prescribed compensation for such volunteers, by all accounts VS is very generous. If you are involuntarily denied boarding and choose not to accept the proposal, then you will get the same standard delay/cancellation compensation sums depending on distance. This most likely means you have chosen not to travel at all.

[Andrew.]

BJ wrote:

Curious to learn what they’re offering. Even as a student 35 years ago I used to make hundreds of dollars from USA carriers to, from and within USA for volunteering. Often paid much of my summers in USA. I intentionally targted USA carriers and multi-sector itineraries to boost my chances 🙂

Last year, six x $500 Amex Gift Cards each at Newark on a chaotic Friday evening for our connection to DCA.

We were on a £380 HBO economy ticket.

[JDB]

NorthernLass wrote:

If you’re being bumped off your flight, i.e. involuntary denied boarding, EU/UK261 entitles you to specific compensation. I am guessing VS knows this and this is why they are trying to get “volunteers” as what they are offering may not be as good as the statutory requirements demand.

Virgin is not trying to get out of anything. There will almost invariably be sufficient volunteers that the statutory sums are rarely invoked and volunteers often receive significantly more. There is sufficient superb knowledge on here as demonstrated above that “guess” answers really are not helpful.

[BJ]

Andrew. wrote:

BJ wrote:

Curious to learn what they’re offering. Even as a student 35 years ago I used to make hundreds of dollars from USA carriers to, from and within USA for volunteering. Often paid much of my summers in USA. I intentionally targted USA carriers and multi-sector itineraries to boost my chances 🙂

Last year, six x $500 Amex Gift Cards each at Newark on a chaotic Friday evening for our connection to DCA.

We were on a £380 HBO economy ticket.

Awesome 🙂 Way back then $300 was typical plus usually domestic F on later or rerouted flight.

[georgeg]

Interesting… I will report back with what we are offered – my goal would be a reroute in J – if I got that I’d be happy without any additional £££!

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Well you can ask for that but expect a no!

But please come back and report what the offer is,

[Andrew.]

BJ wrote:

Andrew. wrote:

BJ wrote:

Curious to learn what they’re offering. Even as a student 35 years ago I used to make hundreds of dollars from USA carriers to, from and within USA for volunteering. Often paid much of my summers in USA. I intentionally targted USA carriers and multi-sector itineraries to boost my chances 🙂

Last year, six x $500 Amex Gift Cards each at Newark on a chaotic Friday evening for our connection to DCA.

We were on a £380 HBO economy ticket.

Awesome 🙂 Way back then $300 was typical plus usually domestic F on later or rerouted flight.

When I first moved to England around 1998, BMI check in staff were waving £50s at the queue for the 18:XX on a Friday night.

[AL]

I once volunteered off a VS-coded DL flight for $850. I rebooked on to the flight leaving an hour later. I have volunteered off VS JFK-LHR before, too, during peak school holiday travel dates, and got re-booked the next day and a choice of £500 or, I think, 60,000 VS Points. I took the points and had a night out in NYC with a mate. VS picked the tab up for the hotel.

[JDB]

BJ wrote:

Curious to learn what they’re offering. Even as a student 35 years ago I used to make hundreds of dollars from USA carriers to, from and within USA for volunteering. Often paid much of my summers in USA. I intentionally targted USA carriers and multi-sector itineraries to boost my chances 🙂

It used to be quite a popular game in the US, particularly if you knew someone who worked at the airline who could tip you off re overbooked flights. It was intriguing to watch as you had to know when to fold as they upped the ante at the gate so that early folders got say $100 cash and a seat on the next flight, then others accepted at $200, some still held out and got more but then they said they had enough volunteers so if you held out too long you risked just getting your booked seat. BA used to offer the incentive of a seat on Concorde the next morning, plus decent hotel and dinner for overbooked JFK-LHR club/first.

[SamG]

AL wrote:

I once volunteered off a VS-coded DL flight for $850. I rebooked on to the flight leaving an hour later. I have volunteered off VS JFK-LHR before, too, during peak school holiday travel dates, and got re-booked the next day and a choice of £500 or, I think, 60,000 VS Points. I took the points and had a night out in NYC with a mate. VS picked the tab up for the hotel.

A good friend/colleage of mine and I took a bump off a PE ticket from Newark years ago and got a hotel and a voucher each for a free UC flight. Went to Barbados ! We had to be very flexible on dates though (particularly as the UC cabin on the 747s was tiny out of Gatwick) but I think I read these vouchers are easier to use now. Then on that trip our hotel was closed for renovation so BA Holidays had us moved to something that would have cost far more.

[georgeg]

Sadly by the time we got to the airport they had decided they didn’t need volunteers as they would just op-up people from Y to J. We ended up buying a cash upgrade from Economy Light to Upper as Premium was full for £1099pp. Maybe we’ll have more luck on the way back!

[marks7389]

£1099pp one way upgrade to PE London to New York? Ouch!

I think I’ll stick with miles redemptions in J with a voucher….

[georgeg]

marks7389 wrote:

£1099pp one way upgrade to PE London to New York? Ouch!

I think I’ll stick with miles redemptions in J with a voucher….

£1099 was up to upper – PE was £300-odd each but only one seat available and I figured that leaving my partner in Y would start the holiday off on a bad note!

[Ash]

My wife got upgraded to J at the gate once, she’s a nervous flyer so refused to take it, and by default so was I, having me sat down next to her calms her on the flight…how I don’t know, i fall asleep on the taxi-ing. Funnily enough the couldn’t reverse the upgrade at the gate, so we offered it to swap with the passenger next to her in economy…who was supper happy.

Just curious why you chose to upgrade at the airport for cash or versus booking the J leg from the outset?

[georgeg]

Ash wrote:

My wife got upgraded to J at the gate once, she’s a nervous flyer so refused to take it, and by default so was I, having me sat down next to her calms her on the flight…how I don’t know, i fall asleep on the taxi-ing. Funnily enough the couldn’t reverse the upgrade at the gate, so we offered it to swap with the passenger next to her in economy…who was supper happy.

Just curious why you chose to upgrade at the airport for cash or versus booking the J leg from the outset?

These tickets are Covid-rebooked several times – the original booking was made in Dec 2019 when I was still at university and surviving off of student loans and part time work – I have now graduated and am lucky to find myself in a job where I can happily afford a spur of the moment upgrade to J!