I fly reasonable amount and try to exclusively use WestJet in recent years because they don't ever overbook and I just want to get there without frustration. In the last ~15 years of adulting I've had Air Canada, Delta or United, Lufthansa vouchers, credit, or cash for volunteering/involuntary bump but have never seen this at a WestJet gate.
(I did have a cancelled WS flight a couple hours prior recently so here is to hoping to get my $1000 eventually.)
> “If you have Apple Pay, you’ll even have the money right now,” the flight attendant said, Aten wrote.
> The crew was looking for eight volunteers to give up their seats on the "apparently oversold" flight, offering them $10,000 each.
I have emphasized the use of “up to” in the previous sentence.
> The crew was looking for eight volunteers to give up their seats on the "apparently oversold" flight, offering them $10,000 each.
I've gotten heavy cash credit in the past, printed as a check at the desk. The only difference here is apple pay, which delta started to heavily market about when I stopped flying so I didn't read that as totally out of the question.
The cash credit thing is quite a lot more common that Internet lore would have you believe. I've seen it hit multiple thousands or more dozens of times, although never $10k personally. Sample size of probably around 1500 flights.
Look at the sentiment in the comments here. Nobody can believe that the airlines will give out $10k. There must be some catch or some loophole they’ll use to avoid paying the $10k.
Airline isn’t stupid and knows this so they have a method for near instant payment.
That's not to say taking the offer would be a bad idea; just because your expected value isn't nearly $10k doesn't mean it's 0 either.