Today I got to Los Angeles Airport early. Plenty of time to hit the American Airlines lounge but the problem was when I checked in my luggage I was told the flight was overbooked by 2 people. As mentioned in yesterday's post I thought this might be a possibility. So I had to make a decision, do I go to the American Airlines lounge and lose out on a chance to be bumped or do I sit right next to the ticket counter and jump in front of everyone the minute I hear the words, "This flight is overbooked"? I chose to sit next to the ticket counter. Wrong choice. The flight left full, not overbooked.
Most people buy plane tickets to get from point A to point B. But some travelers, often business travelers, reserve 2 or 3 seats over several days. This is done so if the business runs longer than usual the person doesn't have to worry about missing their flight. In this case there would be the potential for empty seats. Empty seats don't earn money, thus airlines sell more seats than the plane can accommodate.
Airlines know that people cancel flights, get to the airport late (Remember the August 1, 2012 blog about Kathy?), show up for the wrong flight or the wrong day. Today on our flight to Chicago people somehow got past the gate agent thinking they were on the flight to Las Vegas.
The airlines use software to estimate the number of people who will miss their flight (for whatever reason). The software has numerous factors including weather and time of the flight (people tend to oversleep and miss morning flights). Thus overbooking flights is the best way for airlines to make money.
Have a great weekend!
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