At times, airlines sell out extra tickets on flights to India to make profits. Therefore, travellers planning a holiday to the country must know about some crucial aspects related to flight bumping situations and important tips to avoid them.
A dream holiday destination for many Britons, India amazes the world with incredible offerings that are very hard to compete with! For some, a holiday tour to India is the definitive ride of excitement whereas for others it’s a revitalising sojourn to a heavenly location where even the winds bestow a wonderful feeling!
However, at times a traveller’s blissful dream of a perfect holiday tour to India falls apart due to issues like getting bumped off the plane. Here are some important tips for the travellers who are bumped off from their flights to India or to any other destination.
What Is Bumping?
Getting bumped from a flight means that traveller is denied a seat on a plane even when they have a confirmed reservation. The situation arises when the airlines sell more number of flight tickets than the number of seats available to fill the empty seats that no-show travellers leave behind. Bumping issues happen more often on popular routes. For instance, travellers taking tickets on flights to India may become victim of bumping issues more often considering the popularity of the country around the world.
To tackle with the hassles cropped up due to flight bumping situations, here are some great tips to be followed:
Know About Your Rights
Travellers who face the annoying issues of flight bumping often get upset and become agitated which make the situation even worse. Every airline has set up several rights for the bumped off travellers to lessen their anxiety and save them from feeling like a victim. Some of the common rules of the airlines for bumped travellers are:
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- The airlines are liable to either refund the total flight ticket or re-route the bumped off traveller to his final destination. Most of the airlines provide complementary meals, drinks, and stay near the airport to the bumped off travellers till they board their next scheduled flight.
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- Bumped off travellers who decide not to travel may ask for a refund from the airline within seven days. In case it is a connecting flight and traveller has already made the first leg of the journey but does not want to continue another leg of the journey, the airline is liable to offer him a reimbursement of the total price of the ticket within seven days and a free flight back to the departure point.
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- Bumped off travellers must stay heedful of the fact that if in case their flight ticket does not show a fare (for instance, a frequent-flyer award ticket or a ticket issued by a consolidator), the airline will offer them denied boarding compensation on the basis of the lowest cash, check or credit card payment priced for a ticket in the same class of service on that flight.
- Downgrading : Downgrading is yet another issue that crops due to overbooking of flights. Under downgrading, the travellers are pressurized to travel with a class lower than the one they pay for. Under the circumstances, travellers can contact the airline for reimbursement of their affected leg of the journey. Generally a reimbursement of 30% of the ticket price is given for flights of less than 1,500 km, 50% of the ticket price for flights between 1,500 km and 3,500 km and 75% of the ticket price for the flights over 3,500 km.
Fortunately, there are some useful air travel tips that can save the travellers from getting bumped off their flights and save their efforts put in netting cheap flights to India worthwhile.
Always Confirm Your Seat Assignments
It comes as no surprise that travellers who reach the airport late are the ones who get bumped off from the overbooked flight. Therefore, traveller must check in for their flight online or should get a print of reservation or may have a word with their travel agent or airline to confirm seat assignment. Generally, seat assignments are done 30 minutes prior to the departure for domestic flights and one hour for international flights.
Pick the Best Time to Fly
Picking the best time to fly plays a great role in saving travellers from unfortunate situations of flight overbooking. Booking odd hour flights like early morning or late evenings not only help the travellers in grabbing cheap flights to India but are also less expected to be subject to overbooking difficulties.
Reconfirm Your Flight
Today’s smart travellers always prefer booking their flights beforehand. However, they should not forget to confirm their flight within 30 days of the departure date. On occasions, airlines merge flights or change aircraft depending on the count of passengers due to which it can cancel the seat assignments of the fliers. Therefore, travellers must reconfirm their seats to get a new seat and diminish the chances of their seats being offered to a standby passenger.
