Philadelphia

Well the holiday isn't over yet!

We are now in Philadelphia, staying 2 nights at the Airport Hilton, courtesy of US Air!

This is a deja vu situation, as we volunteered a couple of years ago, to come off a flight from Philly to Manchester, as they were overbooked, & we received meal & hotel vouchers, 1st class flights home the next day, plus free tickets on any US Air flights....which incidentally was what helped us to get to Hawaii!

This time Trev spotted a US Air customer services desk when we arrived at Phoenix airport & went to inquire about us putting our names down to volunteer to come off the Manchester flight again, if necessary.
The lady was very grateful as the flight was actually overbooked, but we wouldn't know if we were chosen till we got to Philly.

However our flight from Phoenix was delayed by an hour & we only had 20 minutes to get to the gate, by which time the flight was closed.....but here's the good bit.....because we'd previously volunteered to come off, we got all the perks again & this time $550 each towards another flight!

The other people who failed to get on, were only offered the hotel & meal vouchers & flights home economy, the next day with American Airlines out of La Guardia, which meant another flight over there in the morning, then hanging around all afternoon till the evening flight.

We asked if we could wait for the next direct flight from Philly to Manchester, which is tomorrow (Sat) & we've got 1st class seats.....Yippee!!
This has also meant 2 nights in the Hilton paid for by US Air + vouchers, & a very pleasant day to tour Philadelphia, then use of the Envoy lounge at the airport tomorrow.......I know.....jammy buggers!!

So a tip for anyone who's not under any pressure to get home.......Volunteer to get bumped off.....it could be well worth it....but do it in advance, as this time we would have been too late if we'd left till we got to Philadelphia.