Win / Win
Immediately after receiving an automated email notice that my connecting flight was going to be 100 minutes late, the gate agent announced that my first leg was overbooked. I volunteered for a later flight, arriving in plenty of time for my connection. Delta paid me $400 (in travel vouchers) for the privilege, and they were as happy as I.
(danalan Pretty good, for an amateur., Sat 12 Feb 2011, 9:18, 1 reply)

I had a similar thing with BMIbaby a few months back.
Flying back from Alicante to Cardiff in November last year, 22 of us got denied boarding due to an overloaded plane, sent on an alternative flight to Exeter and a minibus back to Cardiff.

Arrived in Cardiff over 7 hours late. BUT...
1) Everyone who got kicked off the plane had their luggage with them, those who actually flew to Cardiff went without theirs.
2) Only one of the Cardiff minibuses went to the airport, the other was full of people who didn't NEED to go all the way there, and dropped us off wherever was convenient, in my case knocking 20 minutes each way off the airport trek.
3) Got a cheque within a fortnight for £217 due to the denial of boarding, which paid for:-
a) The outbound flight from Cardiff to Murcia
b) The return flight from Alicante to Cardiff Exeter
c) A full tank of fuel for my friends in Spain who did the airport runs out there

All in all, a fortnight's holiday staying with friends for, apart from holiday money, not a lot :-)
( eXOBeX, Sun 13 Feb 2011, 13:57, closed)