Expect Thanksgiving stuffing, but make gravy

Grandma's creamed onions and Uncle Raymond's drinking problem won't be the only thing frazzling your nerves this week. Turkey-trotters can also expect long airport lines and overcrowded planes during the holiday season. According to industry projections, a record 16.2 million Americans are expected to fly during Thanksgiving weekend. Fortunately, although you may feel "squashed" among the hordes of travelers, full flights mean it's possible for you to "turn up" an unexpected treat. Get bumped and your airline might give you money toward your next trip - or even a free ticket.

Most carriers intentionally over-sell their flights, because they know that some travelers won't show up, particularly those who have purchased refundable tickets. And because the airlines' goal is to fill every seat on the plane with travelers paying the highest possible fares, sometimes there are more passengers than there's room for. The result is that some fliers need to be bumped to a later flight. In most cases, the airline takes volunteers, but occasionally, late-arriving passengers will be involuntarily bumped.

Every carrier publishes its rules for denied boarding compensation in its "contract of carriage." American, for example, says that it will pay passengers a maximum of $200 if it arranges alternate transportation that arrives more than an hour after the originally scheduled landing time. In practice, however, most airlines give vouchers for future travel that can be quite lucrative. On a recent flight from Raleigh/Durham to Chicago, American was soliciting volunteers with a $300 voucher. On international trips, the value you'll get for being bumped can be much greater - $500 or more. And of course, that can easily pay for your next ticket.

It's also possible to take your scheduled flight and still get compensation. On a business trip a few years ago, I had upgraded to first class and was "bumped" back to business class. That wasn't much of a problem for me, but American still gave me $200 for my "inconvenience." Another time, I was bumped from a connecting flight to a nonstop flight, arriving an hour earlier than I was supposed to - and I got another $200.

So if you have some flexibility in your travel plans, particularly when you know your flight might be crowded, it's well worth trying for the bump. If that's your intention, the first thing you should do is show up at your departure gate early, and ask the desk agents if they're taking volunteers. Generally, they'll know whether the flight is over-sold or not. And if it is, you definitely want to be the first person on their list.

You should also be prepared to suggest an alternate itinerary. If there's frequent service on your route, like from Chicago to Boston, you'll probably just be placed on the next flight. (However, you'll be flying standby, so if every plane to your destination is full, you could be waiting around a while.) But perhaps your flight has a connection through Atlanta, and if you come prepared, maybe you can suggest an itinerary through Cincinnati that saves you time.

Keep in mind, too, that the compensation you'll get is negotiable. The airlines aren't required to give you a room or meal money if you volunteer to be bumped from the last flight of the day, but you may able to persuade a friendly agent to help you out. (And if not, spending $50 for a cheap hotel room is a small price to pay for a $300 airline voucher.)

My final piece of advice is to watch the traffic patterns if you fly a particular route frequently. The Department of Transportation publishes records of how many passengers are bumped by airline, and you can use that data to increase your odds. (In the third quarter of 2004, for example, America West and US Airways had the highest bump rates.) You may also be able to anticipate which planes are likely to be over-sold, and book those flights with the specific intention of getting bumped. I'll sometimes schedule the second-to-last trip on a Sunday evening, hoping that I'll get bumped to the last flight, which usually has plenty of seats available.

Maybe you don't have that much flexibility with your Thanksgiving plans this year. But if you get lucky with being bumped, you might just be able to afford a trip to a remote island next Thanksgiving. Far away from Grandma and Uncle Raymond.