Bumped on a Flight to Asia: What US Rules Owe You

The US oversales rule protects you on the flight out and stops at the gate on the way back. Everything below comes from the regulation itself, 14 CFR Part 250, not from an airline’s summary of it.

Where the rule applies

Part 250 applies to scheduled flight segments on aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats, in interstate or foreign air transportation, with respect to nonstop flight segments originating at a point within the United States.

• Los Angeles to Tokyo: covered. The segment originates in the United States.
• Tokyo to Los Angeles: not covered.

Same airline, same ticket, same seat, and a different rulebook depending on direction. On the return leg you rely on the carrier’s own contract of carriage and whatever local law applies.

Insurance starts where the rule stops. What the airline owes you is a legal entitlement, and a policy such as SafetyWing covers costs outside it. Before you leave, read a policy’s own wording against the return leg, because no fixed scale applies there.

Compensation tiers, and the four-hour threshold

If you are bumped involuntarily, compensation is a percentage of your fare, capped.

International flights:

• Rerouted to arrive not later than one hour late: no compensation under this section.
• Arriving more than one hour but less than four hours late: at least 200 percent of the fare to your destination or first stopover, or $1,075, whichever is lower.
• Not arriving within four hours: at least 400 percent of the fare, or $2,150, whichever is lower.

Domestic flights have the same tiers, but the second threshold is two hours, not four.

A three-hour delay getting you to Tokyo pays the lower tier. The same three hours on a domestic flight pays the higher one.

The cap is whichever is lower. On a cheap fare the percentage governs. On an expensive one the dollar cap does.

Volunteers come first

Before bumping anyone against their will, the carrier shall request volunteers. On an oversold flight it must ensure that the smallest practicable number of people holding confirmed reserved space are denied boarding involuntarily.

If you volunteer, you get whatever you negotiate. If you are bumped involuntarily, the fixed scale above applies.

You can decline the voucher

Carriers may offer free or reduced-rate air transportation instead of cash, but only on three conditions:

1. The value of the transportation benefit, excluding fees and mandatory charges, must be equal to or greater than the cash payment otherwise required.
2. The carrier must fully inform you of the cash amount that would otherwise be due, and that you may decline the voucher and take the cash instead.
3. The carrier must fully disclose all material restrictions: administrative fees, advance purchase or capacity restrictions, and blackout dates.

If you are offered a voucher and not told the cash figure, the offer does not meet the rule. Ask what the cash payment is, and take it if you prefer.

The written statement

Every carrier must give a passenger denied boarding involuntarily, immediately after the denied boarding occurs, a written statement explaining the terms, conditions and limitations of denied boarding compensation and describing the carrier’s boarding priority rules. The same statement must be available on request at staffed ticket counters and boarding locations.

When you get nothing

Compensation is not owed where, among other exceptions:

• you did not fully comply with the carrier’s contract of carriage on ticketing, reconfirmation, check-in and acceptability for transportation
• the aircraft was substituted for one of lesser capacity for operational or safety reasons
• on aircraft of 60 or fewer seats, you could not be accommodated due to weight and balance restrictions required for operational or safety reasons

The first exception is the one you control. Arrive inside the check-in deadline, especially on an oversold flight.