How do air lines over book?

Question

With computers, fax machines and telephones, how do air lines manage to over book flights?

Answer 1

It's done deliberately. Airlines know that a certain percentage of booked seats will not be occupied. They know the probability on each and every flight. In order to keep as many seats generating income as possible they deliberately over-sell whenever possible. Most of the time it actually works in their favor -- nearly every seat is full and everyone is happy. But once in a while a few "extra" folks show up. Then they have to start bumping.

Voluntary bumping tip: Most airlines will offer you a free round trip ticket or two and a few $$$ for taking the bump. Those tickets are usually difficult to claim, for obvious reasons. Instead, ask for a few "Unrestricted System-Wide Upgrades" to be credited to your frequent flyer account. Most will agree to that (I've never been turned down) and the next time you fly off to some far-flung corner of the planet you can kick yourself up to Business Class or First Class for no extra money. (Don't accept 500 mile upgrade vouchers. Get the unrestricted system-wide ones; you can use them on any flight including international destinations.)

Answer 2

The bottom line of anything is usually money. Same here. On any given flight on any given day you can expect between 5 and 10 percent (and that is a LOW estimate) of "booked" passengers to cancel or be no-shows. If the airlines booked "exact" seats, they would lose money. Every so often, everybody does show up in which case the airline will offer incentives to fly later in the day with a free ticket for use later in the year, etc. My Mom just got a free round-trip to anywhere in the continental U.S. about two months ago by changing to a later flight. And she has a year to use it. They will offer cash sometimes too. Also, they will always ask for volunteers to fly on a later flight first. However, if they don't get any, they can bump you to the later flight anyway and not give you anything. Volunteer and barter. Hope I helped!

Answer 3

They do it intentionally. They know that travellers often miss flights due to mistimed connections and last minutes schedule changes. So the airlines overbook flights so that they can ensure that they aren't flying hlaf-empty airplanes. Back in the '90s, I took a flight on a large passenger plane (probably could fit 75-100 passengers) and there only about 35 people on board. The whole back half of the seating area was empty. I think the airlines are trying to cut down on that waste due to rising fuel prices and the cost of all the added security these days too.

Answer 4

Actually, this is done on purpose. Hotels do this as well. It has been proven over time that not all people who have reservations will show to claim their reserved spot. Since it would be better to fly with a full plane, they over-book, planning that some will not show. Of course, this sometimes backfires and people have to be bumped to the next flight. But as a general rule, this saves you and me money because the plane flies fuller, thus spreading the cost of the flight over more people.
While this can be frustrating, especially over the holidays, it is common, and usually not a problem.

Answer 5

Every airline has problems with people who book flights and then don't show up. They're called 'so shows'. This leaves the airline with empty seats on their planes. To counter-act this trend, most airlines deliberately over-book, in the hope that the overbooking will balance out the 'no shows'. Sometimes it doesn't and too many passengers turn up compared to the number of seats. So it always pays to check-in early.

Answer 6

The reason for this is that they have a percentage of people who cancel thier flight at the last minute,say 4.So on average they will sell 4 extra tickets.I saw a thing on t.v about this not long ago.It may be a pain in the butt fo some but it helps us all on keeping ticket prices lower and those who get bumped can usually bargain for ticket vouchers(free flight anywhere that airline flies)but I have not been lucky enough to get them.

Answer 7

Depending on the flights or destinations, airlines overbook by a certain percentage.
They forecast overbooking according to the "no show" rate.
It doesnt matter if it is by computer, fax, or etc.

Answer 8

It's not a matter of how, but why!
They purposely overbook on a gamble that a certain number of people will not show up for the flight.

Answer 9

They do it on purpose in order to make more income. If their plane holds 180 people, and there are 4 no shows, they would rather book 184 people to increase revenue.

Answer 10

♥ ♥ by booking more seats than they have available because they assume some of them will not show up for one reason or another ♥ ♥