United gives $10,000 travel voucher to 'bumped' passenger

A passenger who was bumped off a full flight has scored the maximum prize - a $10,000 travel voucher.

A spokesman for United Airlines confirmed Friday that a passenger got the big voucher, but he didn't name the person.

In a series of tweets, Allison Preiss of Washington, D.C., said that she was rewarded after being asked to give up her seat.

Preiss said she was trying to fly from Dulles Airport outside Washington to Austin, Texas, for a bachelorette party. A broken seat meant the airline had one too many passengers, but nobody volunteered to leave so United picked her because she was the lowest-paying passenger.

An airline employee offered a $2,000 voucher, but Preiss wanted cash. Then a United agent raised the offer.

"They really do not want to give me cash. They just offered me $10,000 in travel credit. TEN THOUSAND," Preiss tweeted.

She took it. Along with two $10 meal vouchers. United drew the line, however, at letting Preiss into one of its airport lounges, she said.

United raised the amount airport employees could pay a bumped passenger to $10,000 last year after criticism over the violent dragging of a man off a full flight in Chicago.

Some experts doubted that United or Delta, which raised its maximum compensation for bumping passengers to $9,950, would ever pay out the maximum. United did not immediately say if any other passengers have received a $10,000 voucher.