Q: We’re often seated aboard a flight, and just before take-off, an attendant announces that the flight has been overbooked and asks for passengers to volunteer to get a later flight. The promise is a reward of a free flight, and sometimes another $100. We’ve never volunteered, fearing Murphy’s Law will kick in and the later flight will somehow be delayed or cancelled. What’s your opinion about volunteer “bumping”?

A: Take the offer. If you’re a retiree or otherwise on a loose schedule, bumping usually works in your favor. We’ve done it many times, and never had a problem by taking a later flight. On one recent JFK to LAX flight, we took a bump, earned a free flight and $300 cash each. Apparently there were a bunch of VIPs on stand-by, and the airline was anxious to get them aboard. Laughably, because of delays, our original flight sat on the runway for another two hours, while our new flight actually took off earlier.

Of course, any time you change your schedule, it’s a gamble, but as they say in Las Vegas: toss those dice, baby!