GETTING bumped from an overbooked flight can be inconvenient at best and absolute mayhem at worst, as United Airlines showed by dragging a screaming passenger from a plane. But for some travellers it can potentially mean big bucks.

Such was the case for veteran traveller and media commentator Laura Begley Bloom, who made a cool USD$11,000 (AUD$14,660) from volunteering to give up her family’s tickets on an overbooked flight from New York City to Florida last Friday.

“This weekend, my family and I profited from Delta’s travel woes — big time. We made $11k,” Ms Begley Bloom wrote for Forbes.

As a travel editor, Ms Begley Bloom admitted she had always “quietly scoffed” at travellers who would give up a seat on a flight in exchange for a voucher.

“Not my thing,” she said.

As you can probably guess, she is now a convert.

The saga unfolded at New York’s LaGuardia Airport after “epic” storm delays prompted Delta Airlines to offer money for volunteers to give up their tickets, with a whopping 60 standby passengers hoping to get a seat.

When the airline offered $900 a ticket in gift cards, Ms Begley-Bloom’s husband convinced her to at least consider the offer. She thought a gift card incentive was too low to delay their visit to relatives in Florida, but was open to the idea of negotiating — which they did, for $1,350 cash per ticket, for herself, husband and daughter.

“Somehow, when an airline is offering you and your family $4,050, missing a flight doesn’t seem so bad,” Ms Begley Bloom said.

The family were also offered a free hotel room near the airport and complimentary dinner but declined the offer because they live near the airport.

The next day the flight was delayed again and Delta was asking for volunteers to give up their seats — again.

“I turned to my husband and said, ‘Cha-ching!’,” Ms Begley Bloom wrote for Forbes.

“Indeed, when we got to the airport, the airline started offering money to volunteers …$300 …$600 …$900 …$1,000 ...$1,300. Bingo! We took the offer of $1,300 per person.

“The airline also threw in lunch ($15 each) and round-trip taxi fare (worth about $50). Do the math — that’s almost $4,000 for a family of three.”

They had now made about $8,050 from two flight delays.

“I felt a bit guilty making so much money off the situation, but other passengers pointed out that we were freeing up seats for people who really needed to get somewhere. Many passengers actually thanked us for doing this,” Ms Begley Bloom said.

After being told that Delta flights to Florida were overbooked until Tuesday they decided to cancel their trip altogether.

“We were drained, and suddenly our long-weekend trip was looking far less appealing,” Ms Begley Bloom said.

“So when we suggested to the gate agent that we might be open to volunteering our seats again by cancelling the trip altogether, the offer was met with smiles and another $1,000 per person in advance compensation.”

And while they were sad to miss their trip, Ms Begley Bloom said they were “not so sad about the lucrative results” — which in the end totalled $11,000.

“One gate agent confessed that there are people who take the art of bumping very seriously and make thousands upon thousands of dollars. And now, I understand it. I really do,” she said.

“I’m already starting to think about how I can get bumped off other flights. This could be a new career.”

But while some savvy flyers or lucky travellers make a living off overbooked flights, Ms Begley Bloom said she also heard first-hand accounts of how horrific it can be for those passengers not in the position to be able to do so.

The dark side to overbooking also made global headlines this week when a doctor who refused to surrender his seat on an overbooked United Airlines flight in the US was violently dragged off the plane by security.

This practice of overbooking is common — and perfectly legal — in the US, because they assume that some passengers won’t show up. However, it is unlikely to happen in Australia.

“Our consumer laws provide better protection than what is available in the US so it’s highly unlikely we’d see this happen Down Under,” finder.com.au’s travel expert Angus Kidman told news.com.au.

“However, it’s definitely something Australians need to be conscious of when booking US flights.”

So if you’re travelling domestically in the US and find yourself on an overbooked flight, Ms Begley Bloom has offered a few tips on how you can be compensated handsomely.