‘They Stole My Seats’: Distraught Mom’s $1,050 American Airlines ‘Bidding’ Nightmare Is a Warning for All Travelers

Like many air carriers, American Airlines routinely sells more tickets for a flight than it has seats on the plane, but one distraught mom has warned passengers not to put in a bid to move to a different flight voluntarily because the carrier won’t honor the deal.

Although a controversial practice, overselling flights is completely legal, and airlines argue that it’s necessary to make sure that as many seats on any given flight are occupied.

Passengers routinely fail to get to the airport in time, change flights at the last minute, or miss a tight connection, so, in many cases, overselling works out without anyone noticing.

But in some cases, airlines realize that their gamble isn’t going to pay off, and they are going to have to bump passengers.

How American Airlines’ bidding system is meant to work

It’s in the airline’s interest to find passengers who are willing to give up their seats voluntarily in return for compensation, as this is generally going to work out less than the cash compensation that’s legally required for involuntarily bumping someone.

American Airlines operates a bid system, which allows passengers on oversold flights to set their own price at which they are happy to move to another flight. If their bid is accepted, it should be a fairly simple process of turning up at the gate for their original flight and getting the agent to switch them to the new flight.

[ORD] Worst flight experience of my life, looking for advice.
byu/mamastatia inamericanairlines

That’s how the system is meant to work, although a growing number of passengers say the reality is a lot more frustrating.

One passenger who was traveling with her 3-year-old from Chicago O’Hare shared her recent experience on Reddit, explaining how American Airlines initially refused to honor her bid.

“I Felt Like I Was Going to Cry”: The bids were accepted, or were they?

“Yesterday I was scheduled to fly from O’Hare with my 3 year old,” the woman wrote. “The flight was overbooked, on our 3 hour drive to the airport they started to put out bids to move flights.”

“I set ours for $525 each and set preference for a flight 2 hours later, not really expecting anything to come of it, and continued on to the airport.”

“We get bags checked, are making our way through security when I get 2 messages saying that our bids have been accepted and to come to the gate.”

You would have thought that there would be a pretty standard procedure from this point to get mom and toddler moved to their chosen flight, and the compensation paid as agreed. You would, however, be wrong.

“I make it to the gate and start speaking with the agent, who insists right from the jump that I do not understand how the process works,” the woman continued. “I told him that I received a notification that my bid was accepted for both tickets and to come to the gate, and he explains to me over and over (with lots of rolled eyes) that just because I place a bid does not mean I’m entitled to it.”

The woman accepts defeat and decides just to board the flight. But at this point, the gate agent told her that there is now only one seat available on the plane.

“At this point, I’m so frustrated that I feel like I’m going to cry. I remind him that I paid for seats and cannot get on the flight without my toddler.”

A supervisor eventually arrives and also reiterates that the bid wasn’t accepted but that her seats have been given to other passengers. There’s no other choice than to be rebooked on a later flight but the bid the woman placed won’t be honored.

“The System is Designed to Make You Give Up”

There’s no way to resolve the issue at the airport, and she is instead instructed to call customer relations, who in turn tell her that the complaint has to be filed online. The woman does exactly this, but is then told that the department she filed the complaint with can’t help.

The woman explains: “They [American Airlines] offered to buy my seats from me and accepted both of them at $525, then filled those seats and did not pay me for them even though I arrived on time and within 10 minutes of receiving their acceptance message.”

“Now, after being sent in circles by 6 different employees, I’m feeling like this is a very intentional system designed to make it so difficult to find a resolution that you just give up.”

Eventually, however, the woman managed to get hold of someone in AA’s customer relations department who accepted that the airline had screwed up and that she was, indeed, owed the compensation as agreed.

Why Other Passengers Say to AVOID the American Airlines Bid System

It’s only this woman who has had issues with the carrier’s bid system, though. Other commentators warned passengers to avoid placing a bid through the system because it rarely works and could leave you in a far worse position than you were before.

Several passengers shared how they had placed bids only for gate agents, then to give them a different seat on the same flight… and yes, you guessed it, a middle seat at the back of the plane.

When it comes to involuntary bumping, American Airlines is the second-worst airline in the United States. The latest stats from the Department of Transportation reveal that American involuntarily bumped 4,257 passengers between April and June 2025, which is the most recent period for which figures are available.

American Airlines is One of the Worst for Bumping Passengers

In contrast, Delta didn’t involuntarily bump a single passenger in the same period, and United only involuntarily bumped 62 passengers. Overall, American Airlines and its regional subsidiaries were the worst for bumping passengers from oversold flights with the exception of ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier.

In the event of involuntary denied boarding, airlines are only required to pay compensation if the passenger ends up arriving at their destination more than an hour late. Compensation is not required, however, if the oversell situation occurred as a result of a last-minute aircraft change to an airplane with fewer seats than originally scheduled.