If an airline bumps you from an oversold flight against your will, US Department of Transportation (DOT) rules usually entitle you to compensation paid in money, set as a percentage of your one-way fare, with the percentage depending on how late your replacement flight gets you to your destination. On flights covered by the EU's Regulation 261/2004 (EU261), compensation is set by flight distance instead. In both systems the rights apply only when you are bumped involuntarily. If you volunteer to give up your seat, you get whatever you negotiate with the airline and nothing more.
Voluntary vs involuntary bumping
When a flight is oversold, DOT requires the airline to ask for volunteers first. Volunteers trade their seat for whatever the airline offers, often a travel voucher, a later flight and sometimes a meal or hotel. There is no legal minimum for volunteers, so the offer is a negotiation. Before you accept, ask:
- When is the confirmed replacement flight, and is a seat actually held for you, or are you on standby?
- Does the voucher expire, and does it carry blackout dates or other restrictions?
- Will the airline pay for a meal or a hotel if the new flight is the next day?
If not enough people volunteer and the airline denies you boarding anyway, you are involuntarily bumped, and the DOT compensation rules below apply.
DOT compensation tiers for involuntary bumping
DOT rules (14 CFR Part 250) tie compensation to how late the airline's substitute travel gets you to your destination, compared with your original planned arrival:
Domestic flights within the US
- Arrival within one hour of your original arrival time: no compensation is owed.
- Arrival one to two hours late: 200 percent of your one-way fare, up to a cap set in the rule.
- Arrival more than two hours late, or the airline makes no substitute arrangement: 400 percent of your one-way fare, up to a higher cap.
International flights departing the US
- Arrival within one hour: no compensation.
- Arrival one to four hours late: 200 percent of your one-way fare, up to the cap.
- Arrival more than four hours late: 400 percent of your one-way fare, up to the higher cap.
The caps are adjusted for inflation from time to time, so we do not repeat the figures here. Check the current numbers on DOT's Bumping and Oversales page or in the eCFR text of 14 CFR 250.5. The caps limit what an airline is required to pay, not what it may choose to offer.
The fare used for the calculation includes the mandatory taxes and fees on your ticket for that segment. The delay is measured to your destination, or to your first stopover if your trip has one, not to a connecting airport where you only change planes.
Cash, not just vouchers
When you are involuntarily bumped and compensation is owed, you are entitled to payment in cash or by check, normally on the day and at the airport where you were bumped. An airline may offer free or discounted travel, such as a voucher, instead, but it must tell you the restrictions first, and you can refuse it and insist on cash or check. Read any voucher's terms before saying yes.
The airline must also give you a written statement describing your rights and how it decides who gets bumped. You keep your original ticket: you can use it on another flight or ask for a refund of it if you make your own plans. Optional fees you paid and could not use, such as a seat assignment or a checked bag on the flight you were removed from, should be refunded too.
When DOT compensation does not apply
The rules have exceptions. The most common ones:
- You did not meet the check-in deadline. Each airline sets a deadline for checking in and for being at the gate. Miss it and you can lose both your seat and your right to compensation.
- The airline substituted a smaller aircraft for operational or safety reasons.
- Small aircraft. Planes with fewer than 30 seats are not covered, and on planes with 30 to 60 seats a passenger removed for weight and balance reasons is not owed compensation.
- Charter flights and international flights into the US from abroad, on any airline, fall outside Part 250. Its international rules cover only flights departing a US airport.
- You were moved to another seat or class on the same flight. If you are downgraded, the airline owes you a refund of the fare difference instead.
Being removed for reasons other than oversales, such as a safety concern, a missing travel document or disruptive behavior, is not "bumping" under these rules.
EU261: when European rules cover you
EU261 applies to flights that depart from an airport in the EU on any airline, and to flights that arrive in the EU from outside it when the airline is an EU carrier. A flight from New York to Paris on a European airline is covered. The same route on a US airline is not covered under EU261, but the return trip from Paris is, because it departs the EU.
Under EU261, a passenger denied boarding against their will, who checked in on time with a valid reservation and travel documents, is entitled to three things:
- Compensation by distance. There are three distance bands: up to 1,500 km; intra-EU flights over 1,500 km and other flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km; and flights over 3,500 km. Most US-Europe flights are in the longest band. If the airline reroutes you and you arrive within a set number of hours of your original arrival (two, three or four hours, depending on the band), the compensation can be halved. The EU's Your Europe passenger rights page lists the current amounts.
- A choice of refund or rerouting. You choose between a refund of your ticket (plus a flight back to your first departure point if you were mid-journey), rerouting at the earliest opportunity, or rerouting later at a date that suits you, subject to seats.
- Care while you wait. Meals and refreshments in proportion to the wait, a hotel and transport to it if you must stay overnight, and two free phone calls or emails. If the airline does not provide these, keep receipts and claim reasonable costs back.
As with DOT rules, volunteers fall outside these entitlements and get what they agree with the airline. On a flight into the EU from outside it, EU261 may not apply if you already received benefits or compensation for the same problem under the law of the country you departed from.
What to do at the gate if you are bumped
- Ask whether the denial is voluntary or involuntary. Do not accept a voucher until you know which one you are in.
- Get the replacement flight confirmed and note its arrival time, because the arrival delay sets your compensation tier.
- Ask for the written statement of denied-boarding rights. The airline is required to give it to you.
- Ask for payment in cash or by check if you do not want a voucher.
- Keep your boarding pass, receipts and a record of the times and names. If the airline does not pay, file a complaint with the airline first, then with DOT (or the national enforcement body of the EU country where the flight departed, for EU261).
If the problem is a delay or cancellation rather than an oversold flight, different rules apply: see our guide to what you are owed when a flight is delayed or cancelled, and our guide on what to do after a missed connection.
How to lower your chances of being bumped
Checking in as early as your airline allows, getting a seat assignment, and arriving at the gate before the boarding deadline all help, because passengers without seats and late check-ins are often the first affected. Some airlines' cheapest fares come without a seat assignment until check-in; our explainer on what you give up with basic economy covers this. On a busy holiday travel day, building a longer connection also gives you a buffer if you do get moved to a later flight.
When you are ready to compare options, you can search flights on Way4Fly and pick departures with a comfortable connection time.
