Passenger shocked after crew offered him thousands to get off the plane
A passenger on a recent Delta flight is laughing all the way to the bank.
Traveling before or after a holiday weekend is always hectic for both flyers and airlines. However, one traveler was in the right place at the right time when the popular airline offered him $3,000 to change flights.
Here's what happened, as shared on Reddit: 'I was booked on a Delta flight from Chicago O'Hare to Seattle' at 7:50 on the morning after Easter Sunday — meaning 'a max-capacity travel kinda day,' the user wrote.
The poster continued, 'I boarded with Zone 2, grabbed my seat in Row 10, and settled in.'
'Then a gate agent walks up to the front of first class — 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.''
It sounds almost too good to be true — but Delta was serious.
'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 flyer added.
He wrote that Delta gave him two vouchers — one for a $2,000 credit and the other for $1,000, since the airline 'apparently … can't issue more than $2K in one go.'
The credit isn't limited to just Delta flights — it could also be converted to gift cards to major retailers. The passenger was obviously thrilled to be $3,000 richer, and got to spend more time with his family before catching another flight home.
While this person thought he was one of only two lucky people on that flight, it turns out that an equipment change happened earlier that day on the same plane, in which Delta offered $1,700 to 22 passengers who voluntarily got off that flight.
If you do the math, that's $43,400 that Delta shelled out due to issues on their plane.
'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 excited traveler further explained on Reddit.
Some commenters in the thread shared their similar experiences.
'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,' read one helpful comment.
'Saw it once at [the 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,' chimed in another commenter.
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