I just flew to La Guardia from O’Hare. It is spring break so the plane was full. The United agent tried to persuade two people to take a later flight. Initially, she offered $300. No-one took the bait. She upped the ante to $400. Still no volunteers. Then, she raised the stakes to $400 plus a first class seat.
Maybe no-one was willing to delay their trip. Or perhaps now the blandishment was ever increasing, people were waiting for the better deal.
Obvious solution is to give insurance: if the deal gets better, the people who bit first get the better deal too.
Cheap Talk 
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March 25, 2013 at 12:32 pm
Jonas Feit
Not clear why people shouldn’t get the incentive they ‘bid’ for. If an airline wants to clear five people off of a flight, and offers $100 and one person takes it, why should they get the, say, $400 it took to get the fifth person off the flight?
March 25, 2013 at 3:12 pm
Anonymous
it is my understanding that they do give you insurance. one day i put my name on the list and they ended up not needing me. I got free drinks during the flight, though.