Airlines overbook flights due to the people who miss them. You can be bumped off a flight voluntarily or involuntarily. If you cannot get another flight in time, the airline will compensate you. The compensation is usually in form of American Airlines credit. You will receive the compensation in your account through the website or app.
How Do I Get Compensated for Getting Bumped off of My American Airlines Flight?
American Airlines is the world's largest airline by fleet size, passengers carried and miles flown by passengers. The airline is based in Fort Worth, Texas.
Many people miss their flights every day and for that reason airlines are legally allowed to overbook their flights. If no one misses the flight, some people will be bumped off the flight.
The airline will often ask for volunteers when they want to bump people off a flight. That is known as voluntarily bumping. When you are bumped off a flight that you want you stay on, it is known as involuntary bumping as is what most people mean when they say bumping.
American Airlines will usually ask you through the app or by phone whether you will voluntarily give up your seat on a flight and if not, how big a voucher you will need to do so. In the past, they would offer a standard amount e.g. $500 for every passenger that was bumped off a flight.
Very recently American Airlines have instituted a policy where passengers can bid on the amount of compensation they desire. They will then reimburse passengers based on their successful bids.
It is a way for the airline to reduce how much it pays in compensation to passengers bumped off their flights.
Receiving Compensation
The American Airlines policy is that they deserve to bump off passengers at their discretion. Therefore, after volunteers have given up their seats, the remaining passengers to be bumped off will do so based on the airline's judgement.
As we have seen above, American Airlines will compensate you more for voluntarily getting bumped off a plane. They will typically offer a voucher which you can only use with the airline.
With the new bidding system, you will have to go to the app or website and place a bid as to what you think is the adequate compensation for getting bumped off the flight. However, just like in earlier times, you will have to activate the voucher or the balance to receive compensation.
If you are bumped off a flight involuntarily, American Airlines will often put you on another flight to the same destination as quickly as they can. That is the most common form of compensation they have.
As long as you were bumped off a flight where you had a confirmed reservation, checked in and were present at the arrival gate on time for your flight you should receive compensation for being involuntarily bumped off a flight. There should also not be any other flight to your destination within an hour of the previous flight's arrival time.
So, if you are bumped off a flight, the next thing you should do is check the American Airline website or mobile app for updates. If you do not see any, you should contact customer service immediately.
If you have been awarded any form of compensation, you should also see it in the website or app.
The process of getting compensated is as follows:
You can also contact American Airlines customer service directly to know how you can receive compensation. You can find their contact information here.
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