Bumped from an oversold flight? What the airline owes you

By a written priority order the airline sets for itself, which § 250.3 obliges it to establish and to disclose to you on request. The rules differ by carrier, but the factors are consistent: the passenger who paid least, checked in latest, has no seat assignment and holds no elite status goes first. Before anyone is bumped involuntarily, § 250.2b requires the airline to ask for volunteers, so the announcement offering a voucher at the gate is a legal step rather than a courtesy. Asking to see the boarding priority rules is a reasonable request that very few passengers make, and it changes the tone of the conversation.

Off a flight you have already boarded, essentially no — that is the distinction the 2017 United incident turned on, and the airline settled precisely because removing a seated passenger is not what part 250 contemplates. Denied boarding means being refused at the gate before you board, and yes, that can be done without your consent once the airline has sought volunteers. What follows is not discretionary: the compensation under § 250.5 becomes owed automatically, payable on the day under § 250.8, and the airline must give you a written statement of your rights.

The airline moves to involuntary denied boarding, which is the more expensive outcome for it and often the better one for you. Its own volunteer offer is capped by whatever passengers will accept; the involuntary payment is fixed by § 250.5 at 200 or 400 percent of your fare depending on how late the substitute flight arrives. That asymmetry is why gate agents raise their offers as departure approaches, and it is the reason to ask what the involuntary figure would be before accepting a voucher. Holding out is not obstruction — it is choosing the statutory remedy over the negotiated one.

Because no rule forbids it, and the regulatory choice was to price it rather than ban it. Airlines sell more seats than they have because a predictable share of passengers do not turn up, and part 250 exists to make the consequence expensive enough to keep the practice honest — hence compensation of up to 400 percent of the fare, payable the same day. Overbooking is legal; failing to compensate you for it is not. That framing is useful at the gate, where the practice is sometimes presented as an unfortunate accident rather than a commercial decision with a known price.

Work against the priority factors in § 250.3, since they are what decide it. Check in as early as the airline allows and hold a seat assignment rather than leaving one to be issued at the gate, because a passenger without an assigned seat is the easiest to move. Avoid the last flight of the day on a busy route, where being bumped costs you the night rather than an hour. And if you are on the cheapest fare in the cabin with no status, be aware you are near the top of the list — worth knowing before you decide whether to accept an early voluntary offer.

Only if 400% of your fare reaches it. The rule reads "400 percent of the fare ... or $2,150, whichever is lower", so the dollar figures are ceilings rather than awards. A $180 one-way fare in the upper band pays $720. A $120 fare pays $480. The cap matters on expensive tickets and is irrelevant on cheap ones, which is the opposite of how it is usually reported.

No, and this is where most claims go wrong. The band depends on when the substitute transport was planned to arrive at your destination or first stopover, measured against your original flight. Six hours in a terminal followed by a flight that lands 60 minutes late pays nothing under this part. A short wait followed by a flight landing three hours late pays the upper band.

Whatever you negotiated, and nothing under this part. Part 250 covers involuntary denied boarding. Once you accept an offer at the gate you are a volunteer, the statutory bands stop applying, and the voucher you agreed to is the deal. This is worth knowing before you raise your hand — ask what the involuntary payment would be first.

Not unless you agree. § 250.8 requires payment by cash or immediately negotiable check on the day and at the place the denied boarding happens, or by mail within 24 hours where your replacement flight left before payment could be prepared. § 250.5(c) lets a carrier offer free or reduced-rate transportation instead, but you may decline it and take the money.

No. § 250.2 scopes the part to flights originating in the United States, on aircraft with 30 or more seats. A flight from Mexico City to Dallas that bumps you at the Mexican gate is outside part 250 — that is a Mexican consumer-law question under the Ley de Aviación Civil, and the airline's own contract of carriage.

Yes. $1,075 and $2,150 took effect on January 22, 2025 under the final rule at 89 FR 84818, replacing $775 and $1,550. DOT revises them every two years against CPI-U under § 250.5(e). We re-check both figures against the live regulation daily, so if you are reading a page elsewhere that still says $1,550 it predates January 2025.