Negotiate
Is the airline trying to placate you or induce you to rebook to a later flight? Take it from an "auction king": Never accept the first offer.
While Brown himself has never been bumped, he credits this travel secret to his mother, an experienced flier and negotiator. "She tells me, 'Wait for the second offer -- don't take the first offer,'" he says.
"That's true in business," Brown says. "Nobody ever comes with their first offer right away." Just wait, he says, and they'll go "a little higher."
