The Voucher Hustle
Take past tickets and blur them out to make it look like vouchers with info blurred. While sitting in the airport, randomly film customer service agents making announcements, then dub over audio asking for volunteers. Each time I “get a voucher”, hold it up for the camera, and in the corner of the video, have a ching ching sound with the cumulative total. Then explain that you have the right to cancel the original itinerary because the current schedule will no longer work with your plans.
Use this link as a guide for touchpoints and things to mention when explaining voucher hustle tips and tricks:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2019/01/03/how-to-make-thousands-of-dollars-off-the-airlines-a-guide-to-getting-bumped/?sh=463dc588342f
Get friends to record “boarding announcements” of oversold flights and needing seat volunteers, and run it through Sb to make it sound like airport speakers
Explain when planning which route to book in the first place, check the seat map to find out which flights are the most full. Most importantly, DO NOT book basic economy. Also, MAKE SURE you assign yourself a seat, that way you will have a seat to volunteer in the first place. (demonstrate on the United app how to bring up seat maps for flights, and how to choose a seat when booking).
TONS of timelapse footage of airport boarding areas, and United Club
Mention that it’s 150% worth it to pay the $60 for a United club pass to kill time in the club between flights, or mention that you get two free per year with the united credit cards.
SCRIPT
[For intro, have news footage of Southwest winter 2022 meltdown, other news footage of stranded passengers, overlay and multi-screen clips like Zeitgeist, and then cutaway to me in baggage claim area of IAD, looking right into camera]
[INTRO MUSIC - Charlie Steinmann 'It is such a good night']
Sometimes… flying SUCKS. And around the holidays, flying REALLY sucks. Pretty much everybody knows flying around thanksgiving is the busiest and absolute worst time to fly. Cancellations, delays, overbooked flights, being stranded all day waiting for a flight with a seat so you can finally get to wherever you’re going after spending all day in the airport… it… SUCKS
[ZOOM IN ON MY FACE WITH SPLICE CUTS FOR "‘IT’ AND ‘SUCKS’ ; HAVE THE SINGING BEGIN AT THE TITLE SCREEN]
And that’s exactly why I’m here- to take advantage of one of my most useful ways to kick the airlines in the nuts and rack up tons of free flights. It’s a little something I’ve been doing for years that I like to call “the Voucher Hustle”
[FILMED SOMEWHERE QUIET IN A BOARDING AREA SEAT]
So I first started working for United Airlines when I got out of college, I started as a customer service rep. You know the gate agents that are there to take tickets, answer questions, board flights and handle the terminals? Yeah that was me. Believe it or not, we spend WEEKS of training to actually be allowed to work the gates, and most of that training is learning the ticketing and reservation system and how the airlines operate. We know all the rules, all the ins and outs of the entire system. Mainly, flight management and the whole operation, but most importantly, what happens when flights cancel and get delayed, and how to deal with it. So here’s how it works, and this is important, so listen up:
Airlines intentionally overbook their flights whenever possible to make sure every seat gets filled. See, lets say the plane holds 150 people, and they only sold 150 seats, it’s pretty much guaranteed that seats are going to go empty. People missing their connecting flights, people who show up late and miss their flights, people who just don’t show up at all.. trust me it all happens, ALL the time. Knowing that, the airlines intentionally sell up to 20% more seats than the plane has room for, to make extra sure even when people don’t show up, there’s someone else to take their place and every seat goes out full. That’s where the term “oversold” comes from. So what happens when everybody DOES show up?
So it gets complicated. But to try and keep things simple, the airlines will ask for volunteers to give up their seat in exchange for a seat on the next flight, AND they will give you compensation, because they really care about their customers. (Lean in) SIKE! They’re required to by law. But here’s where it gets fun. Usually, you have two options of what compensation you get. Either a future flight credit or ETC (put on screen ETC in big letters and Electronic Travel Certificate), or airline miles. Soooometimes… SOOOOOMETIMES… you’ll get cash. By law, they are required to give you twice the one way value of the flight you are being bumped from. For example if you’re flying from Houston to Denver, and you get bumped off that flight, they will give you twice the value for whatever it would cost to buy a one way ticket from Houston to Denver. They will also offer you frequent flyer miles instead, if you want. So question #1- how do you know which one to take? Well, every airline is different, [SHOW FOOTAGE OF ME GOOGLING “HOW MUCH ARE UNITED MILES WORTH”]
but a quick Google Search will show that United miles are worth about 1 cent each. So basically 1,000 miles is worth about $10. So if they offer you 5,000 miles, or a $200 voucher, they’re basically giving you the choice between $50 worth of miles, or a $200 flight voucher. In this case, I would take the voucher, because obviously, it’s worth more. And the vouchers are treated like cash with the airlines, so you can use them for tickets, seat upgrades, baggage fees, and when you redeem the voucher, you even earn award miles for taking the flight, AND PQP that count toward your premier status. I have over 300,000 miles in my account that I haven’t even touched in months. AND, you can even use these vouchers to book a ticket for someone else. And sometimes, the amount of money they give you is WAY more than you’d expect. There’s a story online about a lady who actually got a voucher for $10,000 because of her volunteering her seat. TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS! (cue price is right clip of $10,000 with horn going WOOT WOOT) So how do you know if you’re eligible for compensation in the first place? (Hold up 4 fingers) 4 things.
You have a confirmed reservation. A confirmation/reservation number. 6 digits.
You checked in to your flight on time (United lets you check in 24 hours prior to departure time, so set a reminder)
You arrived at the departure gate on time. I usually arrive at the gate 30 minutes to an hour ahead of the BOARDING TIME, just in case there is a gate change or an important announcement, and remember- the time listed on your ticket is the departure time NOT the boarding time. When I worked the gates at United EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. we had people showing up at the departure time ready to board, only to find out the plane was long gone, because the departure time is the time the plane physically lifts up off the runway. Usually boarding is 50-60 minutes before the departure time, and 30 minutes for express flights. Rule of thumb, get to your gate at least an hour before the departure time.
The airline cannot get you to your destination within one hour of your flight’s original arrival time. Meaning- if you were supposed to get to Denver at 8pm, and they can’t get you there by 9pm… (give a thumbs up)
BUT before I go ANY further, let me make one thing clear. If you do volunteer your seat, make sure you go see the gate agent and let them know you volunteered. BE-CAUSE, there are stories of people who volunteered their seats thinking they would get the voucher and get bumped to the next flight, only to find that the airline didn’t really bump them. They simply gave up their good seat, and when it came time to filling the empty seats, they got stuck them in a middle seat in the back of the plane, AND even made them check their carry on bag, with no compensation. Because remember, technically, you’re only “volunteering your seat”. SO make sure you tell the gate agent you ONLY want to volunteer your seat if it means you will NOT be getting on that flight. You don’t want to volunteer your seat for someone who wants to change seats, you only want to volunteer if it means catching a later flight. If they can’t guarantee you that, then don’t do it. Another big reason I go to the gate agent is because sometimes on the United app, it will ask you if you want to volunteer your seat, and then it will have you enter a bid for your seat. Basically they’re like auctioning off seats. Everyone can enter in the bid they are willing to accept for compensation in case their seat is selected. If you DO go that route, it’s usually a pretty solid bet to enter nothing over $400 for United Express flights, and nothing over $600 on United flights. But in my experience, it’s better to just go see the gate agent, and tell them you’re willing to give up your seat for a voucher. Then you don’t have to worry with the auction system.
SO It’s the day before thanksgiving, and I’m actually on the first flight out between two very busy airports- Chicago and Washington DC. And here’s my hustle:
United has hubs all over the US- Boston, New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Houston, Denver, San Francisco, and LA. These are where they operate the most flights out of, and they run the highest number of flights BETWEEN hubs. Knowing that hubs receive the most traffic, I know that means the flights are always full. So since I live in Washington DC, I booked the first flight out to Chicago, and of course I volunteered my seat, because I knew the flight would be full. All I have to do to see how full a flight is is to open the united app, click flight status, type in the flight number, and click seat map. See all those greyed out seats? That means they’re taken. I can also see the standby list of people waiting for seats. So knowing that this flight is full, I’m basically guaranteed to get bumped and get my voucher. But here’s where it gets good. The next flight to Chicago leaves 90 minutes from now, and it’s full too. So when they put me on that flight, I will volunteer my seat AGAIN, and get a voucher AGAIN, and get put on the NEXT flight. Lather, rinse, repeat, and I’ll basically just keep rolling to the next flight over and over to rack up as many vouchers as I can.
Now I know what you’re thinking- what happens when eventually I DON’T get bumped and I actually have to take the flight?
Well the law says that if an airline disrupts or changes your travel schedule, they have to allow you to change or cancel your flight free of charge. You may have to pay the difference in the ticket price for changing destinations or what day you’re traveling, but the law says they can’t hit you with a cancellation fee if you do decide to cancel because THEY’RE the reason you’re arriving at your destination at a different time. And even though you’re volunteering to be moved, you’re only being moved because THEY oversold their flight, so it’s considered THEIR fault. So, when I finally get moved to a flight that it looks like I’m going to have to actually board, I’ll just say “oh this new time isn’t going to work for me anymore. There’s no reason for me to go now, I’m just gonna have to reschedule the trip for another time; you can just issue me a voucher for this ticket.” cancel it and get a flight credit for what I paid for the original ticket. So basically I booked a ticket to Chicago, I’m sitting here all day long racking up voucher after voucher, and I have ZERO intention of actually GOING to Chicago at all. Instead, I’m just gonna sit here and see how many flights I can get bumped from, and how many vouchers I can rack up, which means next time I travel, I can bring a friend with me for free! Now I already know what you’re thinking… who the HELL wants to sit in the airport all day surrounded by idiots talking way too loud on their phones, and screaming obnoxious children all day? (with Michael Bear smugness, gay hand over heart), WELL I’m gonna go hang out in the United Club.
So contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a premier or even a frequent flyer to be allowed into the United Club. The United credit cards come with complimentary passes to the club, which is what I’m using, but you can also buy a pass for $60, and especially if you’re going to be here all day, it can be totally worth it. You just scan your boarding pass, and you can come and go as much as you want.
[TOUR OF THE UNITED CLUB, BE SURE TO GET SHOTS OF SCANNING THE BOARDING PASS AND WALKING THROUGH THE DOORS, AND THE UNITED CLUB SIGN]
[THIS IS WHERE THE VARIOUS FOOTAGE OF WAITING IN THE TERMINAL, FOOTAGE OF PEOPLE IN BOARDING AREA, AIRCRAFT ON THE TAXIWAY, GATE AGENTS MAKING ANNOUNCEMENTS]
[GET FOOTAGE OF A PLANE BEING PUSHED BACK, THEN CUT BACK TO ME]
[CUE LYNARD SKYNARD - I KNOW A LITTLE (INSTRUMENTAL)
“Now I know what you’re thinking.. this all SOUNDS good, but does it actually work?”
[CUT AWAY TO PEOPLE CROWDING A BOARDING FLIGHT]
“First one’s in the bag!”
[KILL MUSIC & CUT AWAY TO ME IN UNITED LOUNGE SIPPING COFFEE SARCASTICALLY WITH PINKY]
“2 for 2!”
“Third time’s the charm”
“4! 4 free flights… ah ah ah” (count from Sesame Street")
for #5, make a fan of all the vouchers, and use them to fan yourself sarcastically, and with other hand, hold up 5 fingers
[CUT BACK TO ME IN THE BOARDING AREA WITH MY PHONE]
“So I’ve been bumped from the last 5 flights, and this is the last flight of the night, and I really don’t think I’m going to be bumped this time, because there are 12 open seats, and only 4 people on the standby list. Sooooo I’m just going to go on the United app, cancel my flight, and count my winnings.
[HOLD UP THE VOUCHERS]
5 vouchers for a grand total of $2250. Not bad for a day’s work. And like I said, I can combine all these together and book a first class ticket to somewhere really nice, or I can fly coach and book several tickets for several trips. Maybe I’ll take a friend along on an adventure somewhere for free in first class. Who knows? BUT time to quit while I’m ahead and kiss this casino goodbye.
[VOICEOVER WITH BLURRED AIRPORT FOOTAGE FOR BULLET POINTS]
So remember, if you plan on pulling a voucher hustle of your own,
KNOW THE RULES- airlines are REQUIRED to compensate you for bumping you whether you volunteer or not, and at the very least, they have to rebook your flight for free. If the delay is because of weather, they aren’t required to do anything, because weather is considered “out of their control”. But mechanical delays, overbooked flights, scheduling delays… they’re on the hook for that
YOU CAN GET CASH- Department of Transportation requires that airlines give you cash for denied boarding if you don’t want a voucher. Sometimes it can be way higher than the voucher, but you take a gamble. I’ve always found insisting on cash or at least asking how much the cash option will be, is crucial.
FIND OUT THE DETAILS OF THE VOUCHER- Some vouchers have expiration dates, and blackout dates, so make sure you read the rules so you know how long you have to redeem it, and when you can or can’t redeem it.
USE THE APP TO RESEARCH YOUR FLIGHT- hub to hub flights tend to be the most likely to overbook, AND run the most flights, which means more chances to get bumped. Since I fly with United, here’s how I check seats on the United app…
MAKE CONTACT WITH THE GATE AGENT- let them know you want to volunteer your seat ONLY if it means getting a voucher. You don’t want to volunteer your seat in exchange for a different one. And for the love of God, DON’T tell the gate agent you’re sitting around collecting vouchers all day. They will more than likely put you at the bottom of the list to get bumped, because they know what you’re up to.
ASK FOR EXTRA STUFF- depending on how long you have to wait for the next flight, you can ask for compensation for food, free lounge passes, sometimes even a hotel if the flight isn’t till the next day.
HAVE FUN AND GOOD LUCK! That’s it for me for now. Thanks for watching!