When Airlines Overbook

During my most recent trip the airline offered travelers waiting for my flight a sizable travel voucher and other benefits to skip their flight and fly out in the morning.  I was flying with American Airlines, who have apparently scheduled back, reducing the number of transfers they offer in order to maximize the number of passengers on each flight, and had overbooked my flight from Dallas/Fortworth, Texas to Louisville, Kentucky.  

How exciting!  I had no idea such deals existed!  If this had happened to me B.C. (before children, haha) I would have jumped online and reserved a car hire from Dallas/Fortworth airport and explored Texas a bit on the Airline's dime!  American Airlines was offering a $500 travel voucher, meal tickets, overnight in a hotel, and a flight out to Louisville the following morning.  Basically everything you need to have a spur-of-the-moment good time except for your car rental, which you can get online through CarHIreX.com

I love whimsical vacation planning like this, but unfortunately my travel plans these days are a little too complicated to change at the drop of a hat.  Also, I had family waiting for me at the airport in Louisville who were very excited to see me and meet my little girl.  Even though I knew it wasn't possible for me I instantly began to imagine all the trouble I could get into in Texas!  I've only ever gotten to have a proper visit in Houston so I would relish the time in Dallas.

Now that airlines are focused on economical practices and filling every plane you can expect to see deals like this one pop up more often.  Through the three airports of my journey I passed many people who were waiting on stand-by for flights and couldn't seem to catch one with an extra seat!  In instances like these if you have the freedom in your schedule to take a later flight it helps to know where to find the cheapest car rentals on the internet, and that would be CarHIreX.com.