Delta offered one passenger $500 to take a later flight, but he knew better and instantly pulls an Uno reverse: ‘So it comes to my head’
The price of patience
An airline asking for volunteers to take a later flight can sound like an inconvenience. For one Delta passenger, however, a two-hour wait suddenly started looking much better once money entered the conversation.
The first offer did not impress him. Passengers have walked away with as much as $1,800 for changing a Delta flight, so when the airline started at $300, he was happy to keep his seat. Once the amount climbed, however, he realized he might not have to wait for Delta to name the next number.
According to TikTok creator Max Cohen (@maxcohennn), Delta was looking for someone to give up their seat on his full 7 a.m. flight. The next departure was only around two hours later. After the airline increased its offer to $500 and still had no takers, Cohen started reconsidering. “So it comes to my head, and I’m like, I wonder if I can negotiate,” he recalled.
Apparently, he was serious
Cohen walked up to the counter and asked the Delta employee whether there was “any room for negotiation.” The question apparently caught the employee off guard.
“The man starts laughing, but I was being dead serious,” Cohen recalled. The employee asked what he had in mind, giving Cohen the opportunity to name his price. He offered to switch to the next flight for $1,300.
For Cohen, the delay was manageable. Instead of spending those two hours on the plane, he figured he could stay at the airport and get some work done. “Realistically, I can sit in the airport and just do work and take the next flight in two hours,” he explained.
The employee did not immediately agree. Cohen was told they would see what happened, leaving Delta with some time to find someone willing to accept less. That did not happen.
Around 20 minutes passed, and Cohen claims nobody else volunteered to give up their seat. With the flight still needing a volunteer, Delta ultimately accepted his $1,300 offer. “Thanks, Delta,” Cohen joked at the end of his video.
His experience is hardly the highest offer passengers have encountered. When American Airlines needed volunteers to leave an overbooked flight, the offer eventually reached a staggering $4,000 voucher.
Cohen’s viewers had plenty of their own stories. Several claimed that holding out had earned them four-figure payouts, sometimes for delays that were barely longer than his.
“I got on a flight an hour later and got $1200!!” one person commented. Another had an even bigger payday: “I got $2,500 and a first class ticket on the next flight. Don’t underestimate how much they’ll give you.”
One viewer recalled watching the same thing happen on a United flight. “A guy got 2k out of it and hopped on the next flight later that morning,” they wrote.
Others thought Cohen had landed an especially good deal because his original flight was so early. “That’s a win for sure especially 7 AM so it just puts you back you’re still landing midday,” one person noted.
For some viewers, the biggest lesson had nothing to do with Delta specifically. Cohen had simply asked a question that many passengers might never think to ask. “Doesnt cost to ask!” one commenter wrote.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
Follow The Mary Sue:
