Delta needed someone to give up their seat. A mom held out, and got $4K

Asking a passenger to give up their seat on a plane can be a tricky process.

And a rough one, as one United Airlines passenger discovered earlier this year.

But Delta’s approach is gaining attention online after a flight from Atlanta to South Bend, Ind. last Friday. It held an auction to see who’d be willing to de-plane — and for how much.

Tracy Jarvis Smith, a creative director and mom who was travelling with her husband and teen son, took the airline up on its offer — but not until bidding was well into four figures.

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“It started out as this big auction on the plane and I said to my husband if they get to $4,000, I am pressing the button,” Smith told Inside Edition.

“The number started at $500 and there were no takers right away.”

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The flight was carrying football fans who were on their way to see the University of Georgia play Notre Dame, ABC News reported.

Zach Klein, the sports director at WSB, an Atlanta-based ABC affiliate, recounted the action in a series of tweets.

One of the earliest bids was for $2,200.

With no one convinced, the price was bumped up to $2,800.

At $3,000, still no one was willing to give up their seat.

Then it hit $4,000. And Smith was the “winner.”

The decision to take the money left Tracy without a seat on a busy day at the airport.

But then she made it, saying the experience was “totally worth it.”

Smith told Inside Edition she plans on using the money for a trip to Hawaii.

Delta has a company policy for oversold flights in which passengers are asked if they will volunteer to give up their seats in exchange for “compensation and a seat on a later flight.”

The company used to only offer up to $800 but that was changed to $2,000 for voluntary denied boardings earlier this year, CNBC reported.

Compensation for bumped passengers can go up to $9,950, but approval from senior managers is needed before bids can reach that level.