What To Do If You've Been Bumped

What To Do If You've Been Bumped

Surely you've seen them before. Surrounded by grease-blotted Sbarro boxes and empty soda cans, these unfortunate folks have been booted from their overbooked flight and left with no choice but to make camp on the airport floor and wait.

Think it can't happen to you? Don't be so certain. Overbooking flights has become standard practice these days for most airlines, and your chances of being booted are higher than ever. But before you resign yourself to a spot on the floor, Airfarewatchdog.com has some advice to offer.

For starters, if you're involuntarily bumped off your flight and the airline can't get you to your destination within an hour of the original arrival time, federal law requires that you be paid the equivalent of your one-way fare up to $200 or $400, depending on the length of the delay.

This compensation is woefully inadequate and hasn't been adjusted for inflation since first introduced into law. (And no, you won't be compensated for the mega business deal you weren't able to close because you weren't there.) Passengers should insist on cold hard cash instead of a travel voucher since they come with restrictions and can be difficult to redeem, according to David Stempler of the Air Travelers Association.

Read more from Yahoo News.

Do you have any plane travel tips? The low-down on getting upgraded? How to score an emergency exit seat? Tell us below in the comments!!

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