Anyone get "paid" for their seat on a flight?

[teachbeach]

I did the Peoples Express route a few times (back in the day) from Florida to Newark. Would purposely book a flight I knew would be oversold and wait for the cash and free trip on the next or later flight. Managed several free trips to/from Florida until Peoples left town. Yep, the good old days of customer service from the airlines.

Flying has become the new necessary evil...but I still endure if it beats being on the road for 8 hours.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by teachbeach

I did the Peoples Express route a few times (back in the day) from Florida to Newark. Would purposely book a flight I knew would be oversold and wait for the cash and free trip on the next or later flight. Managed several free trips to/from Florida until Peoples left town. Yep, the good old days of customer service from the airlines.

Flying has become the new necessary evil...but I still endure if it beats being on the road for 8 hours.

Before we wax too poetic about the "good old days" of Peoples Express, let's talk about a coupel of the downsides.

First, there was NOT a lot of customer service. Getting a lot of information from the staff was just not available.

Second, since you paid for the ticket when you were on the plane, there were always several things going on. For example, the couple in front of me had two tickets and two four year old girls who they were claiming were "lap children". Also, some people forgot their method of payment on the plane. Flight attendants would have to deal with the mess.

PE was also the first airline to charge for all beverages and food. The good part was that they did have a lot more food options available but you paid for it.

And of course, there was the rat hole known as the north terminal of Newark Airport.

[Sweet*Tea]

I once got bumped up to 1st class from coach. I was flying back from San Juan to Chicago and had just settled in my seat (I was the only one in a row of three seats) when suddenly there was a woman and kids at the front of the plane yelling and throwing a fit over something. Next thing I knew, the flight attendant was asking me if I minded moving to first class because they needed the 3 seats. What do you think I said?