Airlines don’t like to bump passengers, but if it happens, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division has rules on how travelers must be compensated. The details are laid out in “Fly-Rights: A Consumer Guide to Air Travel,” available at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publications/flyrights.htm.
Here are some key points for people with confirmed reservations, who have met check-in deadlines, who are “involuntarily bumped”:
• If the carrier makes arrangements that get you to your destination within an hour of your original scheduled arrival time, there is no compensation.
• If the airline gets you to a domestic destination no more than two hours after your original arrival time (four hours for international flights), you must be paid an amount equal to your one-way fare but no more than $400.
• If the airline gets you to a domestic destination more than two hours after your original arrival time (four hours for international), or if the carrier does not make substitute travel arrangements for you, compensation doubles, maximum of $800.
