Why do airlines overbook flights and what happens if you are offloaded?
To some, the practice of selling more tickets than there are available seats on an aircraft appears to be an unacceptable business practice, almost akin to fraud.
Should railway companies be justified in profiteering from the travelling public?
She was turned back from the flight and therefore had to make her way to the concert on foot, via Marseille, following an extremely draining journey.
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They failed to provide the employees with the remuneration they had rightfully earned.
Other UK-based airlines have also been forced to denies requests for people to sit together on scheduled flights. For example, in 2023, easyJet separated a family group travelling from Liverpool to Faro, allowing only seven out of the 10 members to travel as originally booked.
Flogging spare seats on airliners permits airlines to collect more income and run flights with fewer unoccupied seats available. It can also be advantageous to travellers who are able to purchase tickets on what may appear to be fully booked flights.
I'm happy to help you. What would you like to know?
You may have noticed that an airline, which has a limited number of seats available on a flight, can sell more than 200 tickets. This isn't a mistake, as it might seem initially, but rather a result of a common practice in the airline industry.
Airlines are well aware that a significant number of passengers usually fail to turn up for their flights, roughly 5 per cent of them. Changes in the travellers' family or work situations, health issues, or oversleeping due to traffic congestion or mishandling can all be reasons for their absence.
To put it another way, many airlines make a gamble that they will sell more tickets than there are seats available. In most instances, they manage to get away with it. Airlines selling more tickets than they have seats is something we are all likely familiar with, although we might not even notice since they tend to accurately predict how many passengers will not show up for their flights.
A significant number of travellers fail to appear for their flight on any given day. By maximising the number of passengers on our flights, we reduce the number of empty seats, and this helps lower the cost you pay for your journey.
Airlines can significantly boost their revenues by selling the same seats at varying prices: on heavily booked flights, passengers who book at the last minute are often willing to pay substantial sums to secure travel.
There are additional advantages, both for those travelling and the environment.
- Individuals requiring last-minute travel can still book flights, even if they appear fully booked.
- Flights are now leaving the ground with fewer spare seats, which is more environmentally friendly and financially beneficial to the airline.
If an excessive number of individuals check in for a specific flight, what course of action should be taken?
Newark instead of JFK).
Passengers may be asked for volunteers at various points, including bag drop, the entrance to the gate, or while they are boarding the aircraft.
On a voluntary basis, the carrier is to offer incentives until a suitable supply is available. Such inducements may include:
- Cash, which is frequently provided in the form of a prepaid card that you can use to spend money or withdraw cash from.
- Flight voucher, potentially redeemable on future journeys to any available destination served by the airline.
- Upgrading for a later flight and/or access to the airline's lounge
If the subsequent flight is the next day, the airline must provide a hotel accommodation, as well as transportation to get there, along with meals suitable for the duration of the delay.
How might the airline guarantee it will obtain sufficient volunteer passengers?
By simply throwing more money at the issue. It would seem that everyone has a price that can be met. Individuals requiring urgent travel place great importance on an immediate departure, whereas other passengers may not feel the same urgency and therefore can be persuaded to postpone their flight in exchange for financial compensation or the promise of tickets for future travel.
I'm not one of them, but some passengers actively seek out flights that are more likely to be oversold. Typically, this involves trips within the US, and the days that tend to be busiest are Friday and Sunday afternoons and evenings. I have flexible travel plans, which makes me eligible for any potential upgrades or discounts that may become available.
It is a safe bet that the majority of passengers on the "Taylor Swift Express" from Heathrow to Lyon, including the delayed Megan Ridout, were keen to reach the city for the gig. However, it is likely that only a select few had tickets to see Ms Swift, while the rest were open to a suitable bargain. They could be offered:
- Someone particularly fond of London is willing to pay £300 (€350) for the pleasure of a day longer in this great city, under the condition that the second flight would be 10 hours later.
- Someone planning on going to Montelimar, which is situated near the Rhone River, roughly equidistant from Lyon and Marseille, and is open to changing to a flight to Marseille instead.
- Or a UK resident who had retired from a trip and lived nearby could, for instance, alter the trip by negotiating a later inbound flight and return home for a few hours.
Voluntarily offloaded passengers are typically handled efficiently, with carriers raising their incentive offers until they gather a sufficient number of willing participants. However, the real issue lies in the lack of a clear guideline as to what exactly an air carrier must do to persuade passengers to give up their seats. Based on my observations, it appears that airlines often fail to make a concerted effort and end up selecting passengers involuntarily, they refer to these passengers as the "victims".
I've been involuntarily upgraded to an alternative flight. However, I'm keen to honour my existing booking. What potential options do I have?
Demand that the airline seek volunteers. If this is unsuccessful, assert your entitlement to travel to your destination at the earliest possible opportunity.
It should not be necessary to delay booking a seat on a subsequent flight.
The rules grant you the right to "re-routing at the earliest opportunity". This gives you the expectation of being booked on a flight, typically on the same route, as close to your original flight schedule as possible. If another airline can offer an earlier flight, you may also ask to be transferred to that one.
The airports in CDG, Lyon, Frankfurt and Berlin have train stations within the terminals, so casting aside a flight with a quick change in Paris could make a London-Lyon trip by plane and train a viable option. However, the airline that you initially travel with will need to cover all travel expenses.
For flights on UK and EU airlines and departures from UK and European airports, you are required to pay a fee between £220 and £520, contingent on the length of your flight. This fee should be paid in cash unless you opt to settle with a voucher, which is typically more valuable than the cash amount.
But my airline claimed there was no time to call for volunteers?
This is utter rubbish, and they should consider adopting better practices like those used in the US. Passengers are frequently approached before takeoff, offering their seats to the highest bidder, giving airlines a list of willing individuals who will exchange their seat for a suitable price.
As noted earlier, volunteers can sign up once they're already on the plane. I happened to be on a flight from Seattle to Cincinnati when, 10 minutes before departure, they issued a plea for someone to travel at a later time in exchange for a payment of £235.
At peak hours, usually on Fridays and Sundays, the bidding process begins at a higher rate. occasinally airlines discover they have more passengers willing to be bumped in exchange for several times the fare they originally paid.
Aren't there more efficient methods at our disposal to tackle this challenge?
This isn't an example of traditional overbooking, actually. What it allows the carrier to do is move passengers who have paid for the cheaper ticket to less busy flights and sell their original places on the more popular flights at a much higher price.
What are the most common reasons for being refused boarding on a flight and how can I take steps to avoid them?
Even in such scenarios, there is still a small possibility that some passengers may have to be left behind, albeit extremely rarely.
In the case of Ryanair, this might entail a last-minute switch from a Boeing 737 Max to a 737-800, a variation with eight fewer seats.
Just as with any genuine instance of overbooking, the airline should seek out willing volunteers.
Who can be shielded from being overbooked?
There are no cast-iron guarantees. A plane ticket is merely a non-committal statement on the airline’s intent to fly you from point A to point B. The carrier has the discretion to select which passengers it wishes to remove from the flight.
Air travel regulations in the UK and Europe dictate that airlines must provide priority boarding to passengers with mobility issues, any accompanying service dogs, and also to unaccompanied children.
In a situation where BA grounded passengers from Palma to Gatwick, a passenger who was left behind claimed that it seemed business-class travellers and regulars of the BA Executive Club were given precedence.
Passengers with checked-in luggage may be safer, due to the reduced likelihood of struggling to collect their bags, which can waste time. Some individuals also think that pre-booking a specific seat (which typically incurs an additional cost) can lower the risk of being refused permission to board the flight.
On easyJet flights, it seems that the chances of being removed from a plane are greatly reduced if you've previously selected a specific seat through the online check-in process, which can be done up to a month in advance. It's also worth noting that opting for seat selection is entirely free if you're not particular about which seat you sit in.
Booking flights well in advance may be beneficial - it can give you a wider selection of flights and seats, as well as potentially more affordability.
Megan Ridout, the enthusiastic fan of Taylor Swift, reserved her seat over 11 months in advance. Detractors might argue that this made her more likely to be bumped from the flight. She managed to secure her ticket for a discounted price of £91 return, less than a fraction of the potential price that British Airways could have charged.
Is overbooking a common practice in other forms of travel?
Some hotels often deliberately overbook. Typically, the hotel manager sets aside extra rooms in another hotel - from where they can transfer guests unwillingly, normally with a modest payment or a complimentary meal as compensation for the disruption.
It could be caused by a technical glitch.
How do you see the situation regarding travel on roads and railways?
Trains that travel between cities are open to some level of overbooking - particularly those run by independent operators like Lumo. The company, which runs trains from London to Edinburgh, is good at selling out its trains, but I have never been on one that didn't have a few empty seats, which represent lost revenue.
The same principle applies to long-distance coach services,
Korean Railways has a rather clever practice when it comes to overbooking on its trains connecting cities. Once all the seated tickets have been sold out, a specific number of tickets for standing room only are available at approximately half the cost of a full ticket. If any of the seated tickets remain unclaimed, those on foot can occupy those positions.
Any other solutions?
Yes, we should reintroduce standby flights. These were quite popular on domestic and transatlantic routes during the late 20th century.
It aims to boost capacity on its flights by filling previously vacant seats.
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