A plane passenger recently revealed that a popular airline offered him $3,000 (approximately Rs 256,000) to change flights. Taking to Reddit, the user, who goes by bag_o on the social media platform, shared what exactly happened. He said that the incident took place on Monday on a Delta flight from Chicago O'Hare to Seattle. "I was booked on a Delta flight from Chicago O'Hare to Seattle, 7:50 AM departure. Monday after Easter - aka a max-capacity travel kinda day," he wrote.
The user explained that he had already completed Zone 2 boarding when a gate agent popped in quietly and asked for two volunteers to deplane with a $3,000 voucher. "No mic, no big announcement - and casually drops what sounded like a travel myth: 'We're looking for two volunteers to deplane due to fuel rebalancing issues. Compensation is $3,000," he wrote.
Delta offered $3,000 to get off a flight after boarding. I didn't even think—I just threw my hand up!
byu/bag_o indelta
Seconds after the announcement, two passengers quickly accepted the offer. "I barely even processed it before my hand was in the air. No hesitation. I wasn't letting anyone else beat me to it. Another passenger raised theirs right after," the flier added.
He revealed that the two passengers were handing two vouchers - one $2,000 (approximately Rs 1,71,000) and one $1,000 (approximately Rs 85,000). "Apparently Delta can't issue more than $2K in one go, so they split it," the Redditor explained.
According to the New York Post, the two vouchers are redeemable through the airline's Choice Benefits portal. Travellers can convert these into flight credits or gift cards for Amazon, Airbnb and other platforms. So, the passengers were thrilled to be $3,000 richer. But that wasn't the only twist.
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While the man thought they were the only ones of two lucky people on that flight, it turned out that an equipment change had happened earlier that day, in which Delta offered $1,700 to 22 passengers who voluntarily got off that same flight.
"I always thought once you board, you're locked in and done. But apparently, if Delta hits an operational issue (like fuel balancing) and still needs volunteers? That window reopens - and if you're quick, you can win big," the traveller further explained on Reddit.
"Shout out to the Delta Red Coats holding it down at ORD at 5am. Smoothest offload I've ever seen during a hectic travel day," the user said.
"Shout out to the Delta Red Coats holding it down at ORD at 5AM. Smoothest offload I've ever seen during a hectic travel day," the user said. "No delays. No drama. Just a perfectly timed raised hand," he added. They also attached a picture of their Delta-issued voucher as proof.
Meanwhile, in the comments section, users shared their similar experiences. "Saw it once at DTW (Detroit's airport), they started at around $500, I think. Jumped to $1000 right before boarding. Got on and they offered $1500 for one more, dude behind yelled $1800 and they took him for $1800," one user shared.
"I was offered $3k. I forget which card(s) I got, but one of them allows you to use it for PayPal. So I set them as my PayPal info and paid my wife, who then deposited it into our bank account. There was a fee to do so, but of the $3k we pocketed like $2,950, so I was fine with it," commented another.
