Man gets ₹2.5 lakh just to get off Delta Airline plane: Here's why
Calling it a ‘travel myth’, the Redditor said he had barely processed the airline's request before his hand was in the air: ‘No hesitation. I wasn’t letting anyone else beat me to it. Another passenger raised their right after.’
A man, aboard an early morning Delta flight on a Monday, was in for a pleasant surprise when the airline offered a whopping ₹2.5 lakh to two lucky passengers just to deboard its “max-capacity” plane.
In a viral Reddit post, the man said, “Delta offered $3,000 to get off a flight after boarding. I didn’t even think—I just threw my hand up!”
The man said he always thought “once you board, you’re locked in and done,” and shared the details of his lucky day.
The Redditor said the “unreal” incident was from April 21, the Monday after Easter. “I was booked on a Delta flight from Chicago O’Hare to Seattle, 7:50 AM departure. Monday after Easter—aka a max-capacity travel kinda day.”
He said he had just boarded the flight and settled in, when a gate agent walked up to the front of first class —no mic, no big announcement—and casually said, “We’re looking for two volunteers to deplane due to fuel rebalancing issues. Compensation is $3,000.”
Calling it a “travel myth”, the Redditor said he had barely processed it before his hand was in the air. “No hesitation. I wasn’t letting anyone else beat me to it. Another passenger raised their right after.”
“We both got off the plane and were handed: • One $2,000 credit • One $1,000 credit,” he said, adding that Delta can’t issue more than $2,000 in one go, so they split it.
“The credits are loaded into their Choice Benefits portal, where you can convert them to gift cards (Amazon, Airbnb, etc.) or Delta flight credit,” he said, while also cautioning others not to choose Visa due to expiration date and fees/limitations.
“So yeah…basically $3,000 for taking a later flight and working from home with family.”
22 more Delta passengers got lucky, but not as much
The Reddit user said there was a change in the plane's equipment, so Delta realised they needed to offload people before they finished boarding. “So they started asking for volunteers at the gate, and 22 passengers took the deal for ₹1,45,146 ($1,700) each.”
He then shared that he wasn't aware of the offer earlier, and had already boarded the flight. “I was literally sitting in my seat, headphones out, when I heard the offer.”
And because he moved fast after boarding, he “walked away with the highest payout on the plane: $3,000.”
He shared that the two “fuel rebalancing deplanes” received $3,000, and everyone else received $1,700 vouchers.
“No delays. No drama. Just a perfectly-timed raised hand.”
Check out the Reddit post here:
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