So, you want travel credits? - SFO

So, you want travel credits?

Ben Schlappig — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 23:04:28 +0000

With airline capacity down substantially, I've noticed more and more packed flights, many even oversold. With the summer travel season slowly starting, I expect to see more of that. I've gotten at least a handful of emails over the past couple of weeks from people asking about the best way to secure travel credits when…

Continue reading: So, you want travel credits?

Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.

Usf813 — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:20:16 +0000

Nice tips!! I live in Tampa and mainly fly DL, but it's nice to know what to expect if my UA flight is overbooked from BUF this spring.

ellyse — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:26:36 +0000

Just did a UA bump, it was on SAN-SFO on 9th April (Friday). Original flight was at 0756, I asked when I arrived (on ORD-SAN) at 0130 if I could volunteer and be bumped to the earliest, 0618 flight. I got 100 USD in travel credits (don't want DBCFREE, I don't live in the US at all), a sweet 1st-row window seat for SAN-SFO and also my SFO-PVG (to Shanghai) flight, which were both upgraded from Economy to Economy Plus! :D

Darren — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:49:11 +0000

Thanks for clearing that up @FortFun, having never seen a credit voucher, I did not know that.

mommafrica — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:58:58 +0000

Almost got one last month for the 1st time n STL. I approached the agent early while no one else was around would there be any bumps. She put me on the list. One agent later came to me & asked if I were willing to take a $200 voucher & stay overnight. Problem 1) I was w/ my other 1/2 & they only needed 1 so I declined. 2) I probaly would have but the voucher seemed "too low" for an overnighter, but would have loved to gotten hotel pts.Plus she had to work the next day. Later she PA'd the same deal but raised it to $400. A man volunteered but at the end it turned out that they needed no one. I'm feeling that if this were to happen again, I would do it & send my other on her way & negotiate for more than $200 w/ credits(being that she was there). I told the agent that I would have done it if not for the other 1/2 & she kindly said that she understood. If this did play out, what would anyone else have done?

Heather Miller — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:36:25 +0000

@ Darren -- FortFun is spot on. No miles and no upgrades! @ Sam -- Absolutely! Actually, I've gotten VDB'ed a handful of times this year alone from RJ flights. IAD-JFK is actually the route I most commonly get VDB'ed off of. They typically only oversell RJ's by one, but then there are often weight and balance restrictions which require more volunteers.

Scott — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:15:40 +0000

Great advice Lucky! I received travel credits few weeks ago on an oversold UX flight (ORD-SDF). They re-booked me on a flight to CVG 30 minutes later and I wound up with $200 in credits. So to answer your question Sam, yes, they do this for UX flights. The gate agent did not want to give out travel credits at first, but then she called her supervisor and agreed to. She was appreciative of my flexibility and willingness to get bumped as she didn't want to IDB a passenger. I stood back from the podium and let her get the flight out before having her process the credits. She was so nice and friendly about everything I gave her a GTEM cert. Good luck.

FortFun — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:06:04 +0000

@ Darren: biggest reasons are that they don't earn miles and can't be upgraded (by anyone below the Global Services level)

Sam — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:38:21 +0000

dose UAX oversell their planes at all, i've got three RJ flights comming up that's zeroed out, but in my experience, that just means they're sold out. Have you ever gotten a bump on UAX.

Darren — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:44:58 +0000

As a not-too-often United Flyer, what are the reasons for not taking the free flight option?