Except if they can somehow argue "act of god." A friend was bumped from a flight because an earlier flight that day was canceled due to weather. He called and complained about it and was told by some gov't agency that in that case his bump was due to weather. Even though my take on it was... he was bumped because the airline decided to give his seat to a more valuable customer.
And the opposite nearly happened... My dad, his wife and my half sister were flying down to meet me in Florida a few months ago. In his case, an earlier flight was canceled due to mechanical breakdown. It looked like they would all 3 be bumped and he was a little pleased over the idea of a $1200 windfall. In the end he got on the plane. I suppose there weren't enough Mileage Plus Elite members on the earlier flight that needed seats.
I suppose there weren't enough Mileage Plus Elite members on the earlier flight that needed seats.
Hah, I've done this before. I was in Orlando and missed my flight back to Chicago, so I had to stand by for the last flight of the day. The list was 100 people long, but since I had the top-tier status, I went to the top. Some family trying to go home from their vacation was stuck in an airport overnight, all because I could not get to the airport in a timely manner. I still feel bad about this.
And the opposite nearly happened... My dad, his wife and my half sister were flying down to meet me in Florida a few months ago. In his case, an earlier flight was canceled due to mechanical breakdown. It looked like they would all 3 be bumped and he was a little pleased over the idea of a $1200 windfall. In the end he got on the plane. I suppose there weren't enough Mileage Plus Elite members on the earlier flight that needed seats.