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That does not clarify whether it's $10,000, or up to $10,000.

Back to the article we go:

> 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.

Doesn’t seem to be the case at all. The article is very clear about what was heard:

> The crew was looking for eight volunteers to give up their seats on the "apparently oversold" flight, offering them $10,000 each.