I just heard about a very bad bumping incident when I asked an acquaintance about her trip to Turkey, which had been scheduled to begin two days after I'd last seen her. I've never heard of a a bumping done this way.

Her family of four was headed to Turkey June 12. They'd made reservations with Continental by phone and had paper tickets. They were to fly from Newark to Paris, and then take a connecting flight from Paris to Istanbul. When they arrived at Newark airport, they learned that three of them were among 27 people bumped from their flight. (One of them was not bumped, but since this was a family trip, they gave up that one ticket.) NO ALTERNATIVE FLIGHTS WERE OFFERED, and the airline personnel did not try to help them find alternatives. They were told that the earliest they could be offered another flight to Paris would be two days later, but that there would be no connecting flights to Istanbul. Apparently the 27 people were arbitrarily picked to be bumped. The airline did not first ask for volunteers to give up a seat in exchange for compensation. They are waiting for a refund.

Is this "normal"?

I'd ask about this on Flyertalk also (probably in the TravelBuzz forum).

I heard such things can happen if you check in later than the airline tells you to. I don't see how that would matter here.

I doubt you have the full story. FAA regulations require the airlines to compensate involuntary bumpings, and these people can complain to the FAA, write to the New York Times, etc. CO's not so stupid to let that happen.

Sounds totally bogus to me - FAA requires they get compensated.

It does sound like they were late checking in, that part of the story is missing (how long before the flight they checked in). I think you can be bumped with no alternative flights offered (except the next Continental one, which I guess was two days later) if you don't check in on time.

Otherwise, I don't think that is possible unless there are other things missing -- such as they requested a refund of the fare and to give up their tickets when they were told they were bumped. I did that once because I preferred to drive rather than wait for the airline to put me on an alternative flight later that day (my trip was only 450 miles). I got no compensation, either, just a ticket refund.

The person who told me this story has never been on Fodors. I gave her the url and suggested she register and post here. I re-told her story as accurately as I could, based on my recollection of her account just a few hours ago, but it would be better for her to fill in the relevant details re check-in time, etc. As for it being "bogus," I hope you're not accusing ME of lying, or suggesting that this woman fabricated some false story.

Tell her to find an attorney, not waste time on this forum. She's in line for a big check from CO for that treatment if that's what happened. Expenses for the trip, emotional distress, etc etc...

Posts that start out with the words.."I just heard..." are always dubious and about as bad as ones that start out "What should I wear...?" Sorry...

cmt is a long time poster who has always provided good info in the past.

Hi cmt,

This does sound as if something has been left out.

Not by you, by your informant.

Taking it at face value, CO would have performed as poorly as any airline I've ever heard of, barring crashes.

Again, just at face value, I'd agree that they should be after compensation greater than the value of the tickets. Getting to the airport and finding out CO refuses to find a way to get them to their destination? Maybe to the next day, but beyond that, there are other airlines and other routes that will get you from A to B. Especially if you're right on NYC's doorstep.

Possible costs and problems not covered by a refund - booked hotels, other flights, cars, house sitters, pet sitters, vacation time lost, utilites and home services suspended... what a mess that would be.

Actually, this has happened to me on a flight (United) from JFK to Hong Kong. I was bumped, being told that the flight was CANCELED. It was not canceled, the airlined LIED to me. I only found out that the flight was not canceled because my limo driver called me to ask why I wasn't on the plane when he came to pick me up at Chap Lap Kok.

The airline did put me on another flight, 13 hours later, to Hong Kong via Cathay Air. They put me up at the JFK Radisson Hotel and gave me $30 in meal vouchers, until my flight left JFK.

When I realized what had happened when I arrive in HK, I filed a complaint with the airline. I received a $200 voucher good for any flight on United within the contiguous US.

Getting bumped without compensation IS AGAINST THE LAW. I think the law is called Article 24 or 74.

I must say that this was the only time I was ever bumped from a flight and IT WAS THE ONLY TIME I HAD NEVER CONFIRMED MY FLIGHT BY TELEPHONE 72 HOURS BEFOREHAND. I always confirm ALL of my flights now, I don't care if the ticket says otherwise.

Lesson learned.

TG--I'll bet you were furious! Did United admit that they'd lied? Or was it a generic, "That's too bad that you're upset, here's a voucher, now go away"? I wonder if this is their (and/or other airlines') MO.

It does not sound right. Check out the US Dept. of Transportation's overview of rights and regulations regarding oversold flights at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publi...m#-Overbooking

The little Fodor's smiley face program messed with the link because it turned # and "o" in the link code into a face like this .

Try this: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publi...flyrights.htm# and go to the overbooking link a little down on the page.

Jocelyn, United admitted to NOTHING. I received a cursory appology and the voucher. I was furious with United for at least two years. However, I have flown them recently to Buenos Aires and Bangkok without a hitch.

The funny thing about this anecdote is that the man who sat next to me on my Cathay flight to HK told me that he was stuck at JFK for 2 DAYS because of thunder storms. It was only later, when I sorted everything out, that I realized United had an obvious backlog of travelers that they had to accomodate. My seat must have been given to someone who had been stuck for two days at the airport.