Thread: denied boarding as non-rev, then what?

My wife and I were flying AF CDG-JFK one busy summer day as OAL employees. My wife received the last seat on the first flight of the morning and I guy bumped. Instead of getting upset and demanding things, I just rolled with the changes. Every time I got bumped (a total of 4 times), I smiled, politely asked for the gate of the next flight and checked to make sure I rolled over to the next flt. I also quickly became friends with a young German couple in the same situation as me....that helped because they spoke English and French. The smiling, politeness and patience paid off. When the couple and I were cleared, they had upgraded us to Business Class for our 7-hour flight. We toasted the champagne before takeoff and enjoyed the remainder of our flight.A similar event happened to my wife and I when we were bumped off an Air NZ flight from AKL to LAX. Instead of getting upset, we laughed, joked with the agents and even though the next flight was full - they put us on early. Moral of the story is - it pays to be nice - even when the times are tough.