By popular demand I’ve decided to compile a list of United’s most commonly oversold flights, or more precisely, the flights that (in my experience) require volunteers most often. There’s a big difference, since operational considerations can often play a big part in them needing volunteers. Before I go on, here are a couple of posts I’ve written about volunteering on United in the past:

So, you want travel credits?
So, you’re at the gate and want to VDB….

As  I started to compile the list I realized that I’ve been bumped off of just about every route, and that there aren’t just certain routes that always need volunteers. Nonetheless I’ll do my best, but please keep in mind that these are just observations on my part, and not any fancy compiled statistics.

• IAD-YYZ — I have to be honest. I’ve never flown this route, but every time I walk by the United Express gate for this flight, they’re desperately looking for volunteers. It’s amazing how frequently this flight is weight restricted, and beyond that by how much. I’ve seen days where the 50-seater RJ could only take 35 passengers.
• IAD-JFK — This is the route I’ve gotten bumped off of most frequently. This route also happens to be United’s most international, in my experience. You have passengers connecting to virtually every corner of the world on both ends, and this route seems to be popular with consolidators, since I’ll often see this route zeroed out weeks in advance, yet hardly any seats are assigned. They tend to require more volunteers in the afternoons and evenings, especially in winter. The flight is typically oversold by one or two passengers, although with a weight restriction.
• IAD-DFW — What happens when you fly an RJ on a three hour flight? Well, add a full load of passengers, a fuel load of fuel, and just a bit of weather, and you’re looking at some weight restrictions. Last time I was on this flight they were over by seven people.
• LAX-SFO/SFO-LAX — These have to be the most vulnerable flights in the system. I’ve seen these flights totally empty the night before, only to require 20 volunteers. United loves canceling one flight on this route every day, so if it’s an earlier flight, you might just be in luck.
• JFK-SFO/SFO-JFK — With around 100 seats on their premium service configured planes, there’s not a lot of capacity on this route. Coach and business are almost always full on this flight, so bumps are common.
• Hub-SFO — Yeah, I’m sorry, that’s rather obvious, but it’s true. IAD-SFO, ORD-SFO, and DEN-SFO flights during peak business travel days are packed and often oversold.
• And pardon me for still being obvious, but any flight through ORD in winter. Other people might avoid ORD like the plague in winter, but I fly through there whenever I can. All it takes is a bit of weather and you’re looking at a fun day.

Sorry, this list isn’t quite as “exciting” as many of you had hoped, I’m sure, but it’s the best I could come up with. 

I think it’s also worth noting which flights DON’T commonly need volunteers, despite what common sense (presumably) dictates. For example, flights to Florida during spring break typically don’t need volunteers, in my experience. They only mildly oversell since they know the no show rate is low. Out of all the Tampa flying I’ve done, I’ve only once had the opportunity to volunteer, and I had to turn it down. Booo!

Also, at least in my experience, Thanksgiving is NOT a good time to get bumped. Flights are packed, yes, but the airlines just don’t oversell that much since they know most of the travelers on those days feel that if they don’t get to the airport six hours before departure they’ll miss that darn flight!

So I guess the moral of the story is to stick to business routes and hope for bad weather and weight restrictions. Also, the later in the day the better, since airlines keep “spilling over” passengers from previous flights as the day progresses.

Happy bumps!

Through August 31, Aeroplan is offering 1,000 bonus miles when converting hotel points to anywhere between 5,000 and 19,999 Aeroplan miles, or 5,000 bonus miles when converting hotel points into 20,000 Aeroplan miles. Of course the timing of this couldn’t be worse for me, given that I converted SPG points into Aeroplan miles just last week.

Either way, this is a great deal. 20,000 SPG points, for example, would convert into 30,000 Aeroplan miles (SPG gives you a 5,000 mile bonus and now Aeroplan gives you a 5,000 mile bonus). Aeroplan miles are easily the most valuable miles of any Star Alliance program, between the favorable award chart, generous routing rules, and lack of fuel surcharges on Star Alliance awards.

Registration is required.

I still can’t get over the DOJ’s ridiculous opposition to antitrust immunity for Continental, but as I thought about it, the words sounded all too familiar. Then I remembered an article a reader sent in late last month written by Captain Steve Wallach, United’s top union dog (I refuses to refer to him by his job title, the master chairman of the United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association… what I’d give to see what his business card looks like!). If I didn’t know any better I’d say the DOJ based their opinion exclusively off of Captain Wallach’s article, without giving much consideration to other viewpoints, like the excellent article William Swelbar wrote in response to Captain Wallach’s article.

Anyway, just thought the similarities were worth noting.

It’s time for a reader photo. Thanks to Ed for sending in this one.

Correct Answer: Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica
Winner: FortFun

If you’d like your photo featured, please email it to me at onemileatatime@hotmail.com, along with the correct answer.

PS: Friday will be the 100th picture. Stay tuned for something special.

Both Delta and Northwest unveiled similar promotions on Friday, offering up to 5,000 or 10,000 bonus miles per roundtrip, with a maximum of ten bonuses. Unfortunately for me (and many, many others) the promotions are targeted, and I’m not one of the “chosen” ones. Based on those posting on FlyerTalk, the targeting seems pretty random. Those Northwest flyers that were targeted report seeing the following on their promotions page:

CO Campaign 10000 Bonus Miles

That seems to suggest that Northwest is trying to retain their passengers that flew Continental quite a bit, given that the relationship is ending in October.

Now, it’s time for some grade-A whining. I understand that the airlines use certain private metrics for determining who’s targeted and who isn’t (blah, blah, blah, yeah right), but why the hell am I not one of them? I mean, seriously!

I’m a Northwest Platinum that has about 15,000 EQM’s with them for the year. That means I’m not flying a whole lot with them. I flew Continental this year and credited to Northwest, so (theoretically) I’m one of the passengers they want to convince to not jump ship. Anyway, not that it’s necessarily in Northwest’s best interest, but I’d do ten roundtrips with them in a heartbeat if I had received the 10,000 bonus miles offer. Sometimes I get the feeling that some over-paid guys at WHQ throw darts to determine who’s targeted and who isn’t.

I really have to wonder whether these types of targeted promotion create goodwill in the internet age, where everything is instantly posted online. Those that weren’t targeted are pissed and those that received the 5,000 mile offer feel short changed.

By the way, I expect we’ll see similar promotions from other airlines later in the year. Maybe not quite as good, but they’re coming.

And that’s my gripe to get the week off to a great start!