I've tried to get bumped a few times, to no avail...anyone have any idea about my chances of getting bumped from the following flight: Delta--departing Monday Aug. 14 from Atlanta at 9:38pm Eastern time, arriving in Portland at 11:42pm Pacific Time...I also have an earlier flight departing Providence, arriving in Atlanta, but that flight seems less likely to be full/bumpable?...Thanks much.

As of today, there are still 33 seats available on that flight--so no bumps at this time. Here's how to check: go to delta.com as if you are purchasing a seat on that flight ("make reservation"). When the flight pops up, click "view seats" to see how many seats are still available. It's primitive, but will give you an idea of how many seats have been sold and/or are still available.

I think that it's easier to get bumped from Friday evening and Sunday evening flights - folks want to get away for the weekend, and folks want to get home after the weekend. We had a Friday evening flight to Costa Rica and they had to up the premium 4 times before anyone bit!

Friday-Sunday bumps often have more to do with business travelers wanting to get home/needing to get out than with people wanting to get away for the weekend.

Also midweek afternoon flights around 4-6pm tend to be overbooked because of business traveleers trying to get home.

I seem to get on full flights with bump offers all the time, but sure things seem to be all flights to and from Florida during Easter and spring break. But holiday flights are generally overbooked... this week it's fourth of July, but you could try Labor Day...

The only one I've taken advantage of was a Sunday evening from LGA to PIT.

My brother in law, his wife and three kids live on a teacher's salary and fly all over the place soley on bump credits. Their spring break is always the week before Easter and they always go to Florida. They leave on Friday out of O'Hare. They ALWAYS get bumped at least once. One year they let themselves get bumped twice and could have been bumped a third time but they decided it was time to get to Florida. They always book an Easter afternoon/evening return and ALWAYS get bumped on the return, too. It's not a way to travel that I'd choose, but that is how they can afford to take the vacations they take.

The odds of getting bumped on a Monday night flight out of Atl to Portland are slim. Business travelers left on Sun. night or Mon. morning. Also, not many leisure travelers are likely to be going to Portland on a Monday night.

The sole time I was personally offered a "bump" I was flying AA first class FRA-DFW. I laughed out loud at the ludicrous compensation.
M

Forgot to mention, AA seemed to have lots of senior folks about that morning.
All wanted the front seats.
M

I'm a teacher too and one of my coworkers and her husband were bumped three times on the way home from a Caribbean cruise at Spring Break.

They ended up in airports they weren't originally scheduled for and finally ended up getting driven home in a taxi from Dayton to Indianapolis.

Well worth it for them as they now have three vacations planned for next year that they otherwise wouldn't have taken.

I'm not certain the seating charts on airline websites show accurately seats available. I thought airlines often held some back for their own use from the website booking?

As of right now, there are still 34 unassigned coach seats and 20 unassigned first class seats. Before anyone gets IDBd, they'd upgrade Delta FF elites out of coach into FC. However I think the chances of 54 more people signing up between now and then are - how to say - slim?

The PVD flight, BTW, is around 40% empty.