A Delta airline passenger waited till the price was right to give up her seat on an overbooked flight from Atlanta to South Bend, Indiana.
Mom-of-three, Tracy Jarvis Smith, knew she was willing to give up her seat for $4,000, and knew the airline had to keep rising the lower offers to passengers to switch seats as no one on her flight wanted to budge.
Smith watched as Delta crews negotiated with passengers on the extremely overbooked flight filled with fans from the University of Georgia heading to see their team play against football against Norte Dame.
Savvy. Tracy Jarvis Smith knew Delta had to offer big bucks to any passenger willing to give up their seat on the extremely overbooked flight filled with football fans
Delta was offering passengers around $2,000 but eventually shelled out $4,000 to Smith to change her flight, and she got in just eight hours later than expected
Delta offered to pay one person $2,200, but Smith held out, as she saw no one was willing to risk missing a minute of the action surrounding the game.
The price continued to edge higher, and she finally walked away with $4,000 to give up her seat.
She was able to fly out and land just eight hours later than expected.
Smith was on her way to meet her husband and son at the game, but felt lucky enough to still make it for game time with the extra flight money in her pocket.
So what does a Smith plan to do with the extra money with Delta, she says she’s taking a first class trip to Hawaii with her husband.
The airline industry over the past year has been aggressively offering passengers compensation to give up their seats on overbooked planes in order to avoid public relations nightmares.
All in a days work: Smith says she and her husband are planning a first class getaway to Hawaii with the Delta dollars
The Georgia Bulldogs did not disappoint fans on the flight, as they won 20-19 against the Fighting Irish
Back in April a doctor was physically removed from a United Airlines flight. Pictures of him being forcibly removed and bloodied were a disaster for the airline.
Airlines have been shelling out greater sums of airline dollars to make room on overbooked flights than ever before.
Smith was doubly lucky, the Georgia Bulldogs won over the Fighting Irish 20-19.