Editor's note: George Hobica is the creator of Airfarewatchdog.com. The site is a division of Expedia.com, which also owns Hotwire.com and TripAdvisor.com.
(CNN) -- When Irfan Baig checked in for a flight from Memphis to Chicago a full 90 minutes before departure, he had no idea it was going to be such a bumpy flight -- or that he'd never take off.
In addition to having checked in well ahead of flight time, Baig had a confirmed seat assignment and was actually sitting in his seat when an American Airlines employee appeared and chose three passengers to boot off the plane.
"When I inquired why I was picked out of the 100-plus passenger list, I was told I was one of the last to check in," the Seattle-based software engineer recalls. "Really? Ninety minutes ahead?"
Worse still, American gave him a $250 travel voucher, when he was entitled to a cash payment.
Oh, airlines.
But there's some good news about the airlines' policies concerning involuntary denied boarding (IDB to airline geeks, getting bumped to you and me).
First, the compensation for being bumped has gone up.
Passengers can now collect up to $1,300 for being bumped from a domestic flight if they arrive at their destination more than two hours later than scheduled, under Department of Transportation rules revised earlier this year. (The previous maximum was $800.)
Passengers can also get as much as $650 (up from $400) if they get to their destination within one to two hours of the scheduled time, according to the new rule.
via www.cnn.com
