A WOMAN managed to snag a $750 profit after being booted off her flight thanks to this unintentional travel hack.
Cameron Frank, 30, was able to make lemons out of lemonade after her flight was overbooked by accepting compensation from Delta Airlines worth $1,000.
Cameron Frank was bumped from a Delta Airlines flight and given a $1,000 compensation[/caption]
But Frank wanted to see if she still could make it to her destination that same day — but she had to act fast.
She shared a clip of her airport experiment on Instagram, where she has nearly 5,200 followers.
“All right, so here’s what we’re about to do,” Frank said in the video.
“We took the thousand dollars from Delta to get bumped off my flight, and now I’m going to run over to Terminal 3 and see if I can buy this flight on American and still have a $750 come up.”
In the video, Frank is seen briskly moving through the airport as she tries to make it on another flight, which was leaving in just a little more than an hour.
Frank was able to secure a ticket on the American Airlines flight, but had to go through security once again.
Thankfully, she made it to her new gate about 11 minutes before boarding and was even able to grab a coffee for her troubles.
To top it off, Frank got a window seat with an empty seat next to her, despite the flight being full.
“Worth it and winning!” she wrote in the video.
Frank’s new flight only cost her $250, meaning she made a $750 profit thanks to the compensation she received from Delta.
She also posted the video to TikTok, where it went viral with more than 1.8 million views and 211,000 likes.
“Ya miss 100% of the free money shots you don’t take,” she wrote in the caption.
“Live dangerously! Take a risk! Make $750 and run through the airport!”
The video received over 1,000 comments from viewers praising her for making the hack work.
Federal regulations require Delta Airlines to sell more tickets for travel than there are seats on the aircraft due to passengers with confirmed reservations frequently failing to show.
Here are some of the ways the airline handles bumped passengers in these cases:
- Letting customers know, upon request, if their flight is overbooked.
- Requesting volunteers for denied boarding, however, if there aren’t enough volunteers, the airline will deny boarding to some passengers.
- Offering compensation through the Delta Choice Gift Card Program to those giving up their seat.
- Rebooking bumped passengers on the first available Delta flight to their ticketed destination.
- Provide complimentary hotel accommodations for passengers inconvenienced overnight.
- If a Delta-contracted hotel isn’t available, Delta will reimburse reasonable costs for a passenger’s hotel room and ground transportation.
Source: Delta
“And THIS is why you never check a bag, people,” wrote one person.
Another person claimed they were bumped from a Delta flight too and were offered $1,200 and had their flight rerouted.
“[They] bumped me up to first class!” the user wrote. “If you have the time, definitely wait to see if Delta can put you on another flight!”
According to the Department of Transportation, passengers who are denied boarding due to overbooking are entitled to compensation based on several conditions, such as the price of their ticket and the length of time that they are delayed.
“Most bumped passengers who experience short delays on flights will receive compensation equal to double the one-way price of the flight they were bumped from, but airlines may limit this amount to up to $1,075,” the department said on its website.
However, travelers experiencing longer delays will receive compensation equal to four times the one-way value of the flight they were bumped from.
