damage for airline denied boarding

[lk1111]

I live in Oregon. The airline denied boarding on my confirmed international flight because they overbooked the flight. I checked in for the flight 2 hrs 15 mins early. I didn't see them call for volunteer before putting me on a waitlist (denied boarding). I was unable to get on the flight, and the airline rerouted me to the destination a day later than the original date.

My original plan was to get to the destination airport, then wait 6 hrs and take a domestic flight to another city. But this one day delay caused me to forfeit the domestic flight ticket, and having to pay ~$600 to buy another domestic ticket. Not including all other stress and headache of re-booking hotels, cancelling the tour I booked at the final destination city (was gonna be my birthday Penguin tour!). The airline gave me lunch&dinner voucher at transit airports and gave me a hotel room for the long layover, and sent me a check of $1350 (I paid ~$1400 for the ticket). I filed a claim with the airline and they refused to pay for the new domestic ticket (~$600), said it's because it's on a different itinerary.

I'm about to file a small claim, demanding the cost of the new domestic ticket. Is there something else you'd demand for?

Thanks

 

[Taxing Matters]

You likely won't get the $600, let alone anything else. It's no secret that airlines overbook and when they do and they can't get enough volunteers to rebook they then "bump" people off the plane involuntarily. In that circumstance, the law only requires a limited amount of compensation. The maximum amount the law requires an airline to compensate you for this is $1350 — which is what the airline paid you. So you won't get a penny more than what the airline has already provided unless the terms and conditions of your ticket say you are entitled to more. While there might be a carrier out there that does provide more, I'm not aware of one. All the major carriers simply adopt the federal minimums into their contracts. See the U.S. Department of Transportation page Bumping and Oversales that explains the federal rules on bumping.

 

[lk1111]

by law, the airline is supposed to ask for volunteer to give up seat before bumping someone out of the flight. But in my case, I didn't see them do that before putting me on a waitlist (bumping me out). Does this look like I have a case?

 

[Taxing Matters]

by law, the airline is supposed to ask for volunteer to give up seat before bumping someone out of the flight. But in my case, I didn't see them do that before putting me on a waitlist (bumping me out). Does this look like I have a case?

That you didn't see them asking for volunteers doesn't mean that they didn't try. On a lot of the flights I take I don't pay much attention to the call out for volunteers, yet I know they do that even though I didn't hear it. Airlines have an incentive to get volunteers. Doing that makes for happier customers and they often can get by with a bit less compensation overall than if they resort to bumping. In any event, I see nothing in the applicable federal regulation that says that you are entitled to get more than the $1,350 you already got even if the airline didn't ask for volunteers before bumping. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) can take enforcement action against a carrier who violates the rules, however.