Travelers can now receive up to $400 if they are involuntarily bumped and rebooked on another flight within two hours after their original domestic flight time and within four hours for international. They are eligible for up to $800 in cash if they are not rerouted by then. The final amount depends on the length of the flight and the price paid for the ticket.

Even stricter rules apply in Europe, where compensation ranges from 125 euros (about $185) to 600 euros (about $888), depending on the length of the flight and the amount of time the passenger will be delayed.

Compensation must be paid immediately in cash, or with a voucher if the passenger accepts it, and the airline must offer a choice of a refund, a return flight to their departure city or an alternative flight. Volunteers also receive compensation, which they negotiate with the airline.

Passengers are learning, however, that if an airline does not get enough volunteers at a lower figure, they might be able to bid up the offer, and also obtain sweeteners that include vouchers for meals, hotels, transportation and even plane tickets.

Baiting the bump is a proud tradition for many thrifty travelers. If negotiating provides a cathartic prelude to vacation, read our guide for getting bumped.

If your trip can't wait for vouchers and cash, we also have a handy guide for holding onto your seat.

As Overbooked Flights Rise, So Do Payoffs for Those Who Are Bumped [The New York Times]
(Photo: Getty)

I was on Jetblue flight 324 that left Las Vegas Christmas night and arrived in Washington DC this morning.

I fell asleep and slept through most of the flight. I remember waking up as I heard the captain announce that we were close to Washington DC.

Around then a short blonde female crewmember with a nasal voice (didn't catch her name) began loudly arguing with a lady in the row across from me. The crewmember kept yelling at the lady to put up her young son's seat, and the lady was trying, but the seat wouldn't budge. The crewmember repeated her request to put the seat up several times, and the woman struggled with her seat, arguing that it wouldn't move.

The crewmember said that she was putting in a "warning card" and that the woman and her kids would be met by airport security on the ground.

The crewmember went to the front of the plane, then came back and started yelling at the woman again. At this point, the woman asked the crewmember to try putting up the seat herself. The crewmember struggled with it, admitted that the spring was broken, but said that since the woman was so rude, security would still be meeting her.

About then, the plane touched down. I looked down and noticed I wasn't wearing a seatbelt and that none of my stuff was stowed. I had swapped seats with someone so I could have an empty seat next to me and my carry on bag was on that seat.

I was really confused. The crewmember seemed to have really overreacted to that woman's kid's seat being back an inch or so, but she hadn't even noticed that my stuff wasn't stowed. (I would have stowed it if she'd reminded me about it, I just went from being asleep to watching the argument to feeling the plane set down.)

As I left the plane, I was mentioning my confusion to a man who had been sitting near me. I couldn't imagine why the crewmember was so quick to get the woman in trouble while not even noticing me. He supplied the answer. Apparently, the crewmember had been loudly talking during the night and her voice kept waking up the woman's kids. (The woman, her kids and I were in the last row of the plane, and the blonde crewmember was in the back.)

So the woman had complained about the crewmember making so much noise. Twice.

As I left the plane, I saw airport security interrogating the woman as her freaked-out children watched. That image is still bothering me.

I get that air safety is really important and the unruly passengers can cause a lot of problems. But from my perspective, this really looked like the blonde crewmember called the police not because the woman was creating a disturbance, but because the woman had gotten her in trouble earlier in the flight.

I love your airline and have recommended it to my friends. I get that this was an isolated incident and I will fly Jetblue again. Your customer service has been awesome literally every time I've flown with you, except for today.

All that said, I really think this crew member is, to put it bluntly, a whackjob who is better suited to working for one of your more sadistic competitors.

At the very least, she needs a talking to.

Thanks

(Photo: Getty Images)

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— BEN POPKEN

Looking backward: Airlines considering alternating forward and rear-facing seats [Upgrade: Travel Better]

SeatGuru [Via BoingBoing]