# Let's solve the overbooking problem with a simple plan **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458 "2017-04-14T17:40:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/21 "2017-04-14T20:48:15Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > There is an overbooking problem if overbooking is used. Anywhere. Ever. Somebody is going to be dissapointed. I am not going to be disappointed if I take a voluntary bump in exchange for enough cash to make it worth my while. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/22 "2017-04-14T20:49:00Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I think you’d just be better off upping the voluntary incentive offer, rather than dealing with the lawsuits from the entire plane of passengers that you have violated. Nah, I like my idea better. And it wouldn’t be a breach of contract if they changed the contract before implementing this idea. Since they can do that and all, being a simple contract that THEY create, and not like a real US law or anything. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/23 "2017-04-14T20:54:03Z")
The main cause of oversale situations is NOT the airlines selling more tickets than there are seats. It’s operational problems that occur on the day of travel. Imagine there is a 6AM and a 7AM flight from A to B. By the wee hours of that morning they’ve sold enough tickets to fill the 6AM flight to 3/4ths and the 7AM flight to 95%. So far everybody is happy. Now the 6 AM flight cancels when the airplane breaks. We now have 75%+95%=170% of one planeload of people and only one planeload of seats. Something’s gotta give. What happens if instead of the 6AM cancelling, they finally get it fixed and it leaves at 10AM, 4 hours late? For the people only going to B the answer is they’re 4 hours late and that’s it. For the people connecting at B to travel on to C, D, E, up through Z, well, darn near every one of those people missed their connection. Leaving an empty seat on their planned flight and rightly demanding an additional seat on a later flight. How does the OP’s plan help in this case? It doesn’t. The current system is far from ideal. But, with enough statistical horsepower and suitable incentives and penalties on both sides, it has the flexibility to cope with reality. The OP’s system absolutely could be legislated as mandatory for all US airlines everywhere. It could never be enacted by any single airline on their own; the customers wouldn’t buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/24 "2017-04-14T20:55:23Z")
Re: my claim of people driving dangerously to assure they don’t miss their flight, some people will choose to avoid that situation by arriving at the airport _very_ early. Airport gate areas will be more crowded more often, requiring more seating area. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/25 "2017-04-14T20:58:35Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > There may be some fuel savings (admittedly, fuel ain’t cheap), but the plane still has to go to the next destination; it can’t just take the day off. If all seats are paid and the load is less, the airline makes more money. No one can say they aren’t doing their job. > [@DrCube](#): > > Bad idea, in my opinion. I don’t know what ignorant sheep you may be acquainted with, but in my experience, no one will believe four innocent strangers are the reason they were marched off a plane when it was _clearly_ airline employees in airline uniforms that demanded it of them. Not relevant to this discussion. See the OP. > [@Slash1972](#): > > In those situations, I say they should tell the randomly selected people to get off the plane, and if they don’t get off the plane, ALL the passengers should have to deplane, and then those 4 people just aren’t allowed back on. And they should tell all the passengers they are being held up because of those 4 people. Sounds like the military option. > [@DrCube](#): > > Not sure what is wrong with the current solution. The one that does _not_ include beating the shit out of people who have already boarded. You guys know that’s not part of the plan, right? You know that isn’t relevant to this discussion? > [@Duckster](#): > > At check-in? At the gate? I suggest some refinement is needed in the rules. Like we have now. > [@](#): > > Explain that to the person who arrived on time, only to have a long check-in line caused by insufficient staffing, ignorant travelers ahead of therm in line, etc. Then there’s TSA security to navigate, the time from TSA to gate … Shall I go on? You mean like it is now? > [@Ravenman](#): > > Who decides 15 minutes before a flight that they want to go somewhere? Are you expecting people just to go hang out at the airport in hopes of scoring a last minute seat to an unplanned destination? Some do. I did. I have friends who made a hobby of it. If they could fly cheap or free, they didn’t care where; it was an adventure. Just carry what you need in an overnight bag. Besides, if you are waiting at a gate for available seats, you destination is known in advance. If you don’t want to go there, don’t sign up for standby. > [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Your plan has much less flexibility than the current system, and is economically inefficient. > > \ > > Every seat on a plane that goes empty is wasted cost. You have this backwards. Every empty seat that is paid for represents profit, greater profit that the airline expected. An empty, paid seat – they should be so lucky. They don’t have to haul your sorry, heavy ass through the skies, using precious fuel. Where do you get the idea that airlines need _more_ planes if they have _fewer_ passengers? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/26 "2017-04-14T21:09:26Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Nah, I like my idea better. And it wouldn’t be a breach of contract if they changed the contract before implementing this idea. Since they can do that and all, being a simple contract that THEY create, and not like a real US law or anything. 2 problems with that. First, I am not sure how the contract is written up, but there are regulations on the industry, so they cannot just put whatever they want into it. I do not know that they couldn’t put your idea into the contract, but it wouldn’t be as easy as you think. Second, they are just one airline. Now, when you are a tyrant or a monopoly, you can kinda get away with this sort of thing. When people have choices, you can’t. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/27 "2017-04-14T21:10:21Z")
The OP’s solution will work fine. Airlines shouldn’t be allowed to overbook in the first place, I don’t know why it isn’t considered fraud as it would be in other circumstances. They have no reason to sell seats from no-shows at flight time because they’ve already been paid. If they get greedy and want to resell the seat then they may end up with unfilled planes because people think they can get a seat for a discount price at flight time. Well, that is the price of greed. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/28 "2017-04-14T21:16:48Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > 2 problems with that. > > First, I am not sure how the contract is written up, but there are regulations on the industry, so they cannot just put whatever they want into it. I do not know that they couldn’t put your idea into the contract, but it wouldn’t be as easy as you think. > > Second, they are just one airline. Now, when you are a tyrant or a monopoly, you can kinda get away with this sort of thing. When people have choices, you can’t. Not sure how those are problems. Just bugs to be worked out. Just implement it, and wait to see what happens the first time you deplane all the passengers. Plus, apparently overbooking is a problem with ALL airlines, so they would ALL implement this great idea. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/29 "2017-04-14T21:26:26Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Not sure how those are problems. Just bugs to be worked out. Just implement it, and wait to see what happens the first time you deplane all the passengers. If the federal regulations do not allow them to re-write their contract the way you stipulate, it’s more than a bug to work out. First time you deplane all the passengers is proably going to create as big if not bigger of a backlash as this incident. > [@](#): > > Plus, apparently overbooking is a problem with ALL airlines, so they would ALL implement this great idea. It is not a problem at all airlines, it is simply a thing they do. It is not often that there is a problem that can’t be solved with voluntary bumps, and even involuntaries before boarding isn’t that big a deal. This sort of situation is pretty rare, but it does highlight just how much the airlines are pushing the limit of what is acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/30 "2017-04-14T21:29:00Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > On the contrary, it’s very simple. You pay, you are guaranteed to fly, baring other unforseen events, like equipment breakdown. You cannot be bumped just because more seats are sold than are available, at least not without mutually agreeable compensation. That’s not a refutation of my points. It is both less flexible and less efficient than the current system. I don’t deny that your solution is simple. But so what? That’s not the only consideration, or even the most important consideration. > [@](#): > > You have this backwards. Every empty seat that is paid for represents profit, greater profit that the airline expected. An empty, paid seat – they should be so lucky. They don’t have to haul your sorry, heavy ass through the skies, using precious fuel. Where do you get the idea that airlines need _more_ planes if they have _fewer_ passengers? I don’t have it backwards. You’re not considering the whole system. It’s a cost because efficiency goes down. Designing a system in which, say, 5% of plane seats routinely go unused because the sales policy is too inflexible is a massive economic cost. You have just as many people building planes, staffing airports, selling tickets, etc. But fewer people served. What if we hire airlines to dig ditches and then fill them back in? Profit to the airlines! Yay! But as a _society_ we have lost. We’ve spent good labor accomplishing nothing. Same as when you build a bunch of planes and airports and companies to run them, and then set up sales policies that result in, say, 5% of the seats empty on every flight. You seem to think that setting up restrictive rules under which more planes regularly fly with empty seats is _better_ than a system in which, very rarely, a few people are delayed because all the planes are full, almost all of the delayed people are delayed voluntarily and all are compensated. That’s just nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/31 "2017-04-14T22:31:44Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I don’t have it backwards. You’re not considering the whole system. It’s a cost because efficiency goes down. > > Designing a system in which, say, 5% of plane seats routinely go unused because the sales policy is too inflexible is a massive economic cost. You have just as many people building planes, staffing airports, selling tickets, etc. But fewer people served. > > What if we hire airlines to dig ditches and then fill them back in? Profit to the airlines! Yay! But as a _society_ we have lost. We’ve spent good labor accomplishing nothing. > > Same as when you build a bunch of planes and airports and companies to run them, and then set up sales policies that result in, say, 5% of the seats empty on every flight. > > You seem to think that setting up restrictive rules under which more planes regularly fly with empty seats is _better_ than a system in which, very rarely, a few people are delayed because all the planes are full, almost all of the delayed people are delayed voluntarily and all are compensated. That’s just nonsense. And children in Africa won’t starve if you finish your lima beans. Nothing is lost here except profits the airlines didn’t earn in the first place. If serving the most passengers is important then they can have the people who want to take a no-show pay the original cost of the seat and the original purchaser will get their money back (less some penalty to cover the administrative costs). Everyone gets served, fewer people get ripped off. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/32 "2017-04-14T22:43:20Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > They have no reason to sell seats from no-shows at flight time because they’ve already been paid. No they haven’t, not for that seat. The person didn’t show is now paying for some other seat on a different plane. If that plane fills up, and someone is unable to purchase a ticket for it, then the airline forgoes revenuey the might possibly have been able to gain. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/33 "2017-04-14T23:11:02Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > To speak to your premise that there is an overbooking problem: > > [https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national\_transportation\_statistics/html/table\_01\_64.html](https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_64.html) > > In 2015, less than 1 in 1,000 passengers accepted voluntary compensation to take another flight; less than 1 in 10,000 was involuntarily denied boarding. Which tells me that the current system is mostly fine. The changes I’d make is that compensation needs to be cash (not airline vouchers. Due to restrictions and time limits, those are barely worth the paper they’re printed on), the airline needs to take care of you while you wait for the next flight (meals if it’s mealtime, hotel if necessary). The last time I had to consider whether or not to volunteer to give up my seat, I would have had to fend for myself in an unfamiliar city for a night and would have gotten some airline miles that I wouldn’t have been able to use. That’s not really an incentive. Delta, I believe, lets you bid at check in and say how much you’re willing to get bumped for. That seems like a lower hassle system. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/34 "2017-04-14T23:33:32Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Some do. I did. I have friends who made a hobby of it. If they could fly cheap or free, they didn’t care where; it was an adventure. Just carry what you need in an overnight bag. > > Besides, if you are waiting at a gate for available seats, you destination is known in advance. If you don’t want to go there, don’t sign up for standby. Serious question - did these friends of yours fly standby like within the last decade? Because I’m pretty sure the old “show up at the airport and snag a great deal” is a thing of the past. (Except for those connected to an airline.) > **[What It Means to "Fly Standby" and How to Do It](https://www.shermanstravel.com/2015/how-to-fly-standby-in-2015/)** > > "Flying standby" these days usually refers to making an unconfirmed same-day flight change, which requires a paid ticket that's been purchased in advance. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/35 "2017-04-14T23:44:37Z")
A little history lesson might be in order: The airlines got this system from the railroads. In the railroad era (1830ish-1920ish) you bought a ticket which was a license to travel from A to B at a time of your choosing. The railroad had the obligation to carry you whenever you happened to show up. Net of the total seats plus all the room for standees. You could buy a ticket and jump on the very next train. Or put the ticket in your pocket then show up next week, month, or year as you chose with no notice to the railroad. Just hop on the next train that happened by and away you went. The airlines, many of whom in the early days were partly- or wholly-owned by railroads, adopted the same system. A ticket was a contract to carry you from A to B on some unspecified future flight of your choice. Eventually the idea of a “reservation” was added to the idea of a ticket. A reservation is a _tentantive_ plan made by the customer and told to the airline to take a particular flight on a particular date. If a customer made a reservation and no-showed, the ticket was still good. The seat went empty unless the airline had somebody standing by, and the customers ticket was 100% useable on next flight today, tomorrow, or a month from now. With or without a new reservation. And without penalty to the passenger. Naturally, people began to abuse this system, buying one ticket then making lots of reservations and no-showing all but one. So airlines fought back with more rules. The passengers got sneakier. The airlines began to simply issue more reservations per flight than there were seats. This arms race of cheating in both directions reached it’s zenith (nadir?) in the early deregulated 1980s. Which led to the whole Congressionally-mandated denied boarding compensation scheme, inadequate though it is. And to mandatory reporting which enabled consumers to know which airlines were the easiest to cheat against. Fast forward a bit, add a lot of computers, and the industry invented the vast array of different restrictions and different rules at different price points. You can still buy a ticket that has a fully separable reservation where you can no-show and still use the ticket tomorrow at no cost to you. Or, you can buy a cheaper ticket where no-showing costs you some money. Your choice. In either case if you’re not accommodated per your reservation due to the airline’s, FAA’s, or weather’s fault you pay nothing extra and \*may \*in fact get meal tickets and similar minor accommodation for your hassle. AFAIK nobody sells baseball style tickets where a no-show that’s not the airline’s fault is a 100% forfeit in exchange for a bump-proof seat. I don’t think that’d be a real popular product. Especially not when you consider that only the very cheapest of the cheapest of the tickets ever get involuntarily bumped in the first place. As described in my earlier post, that’s not a magic guarantee your travels won’t be disrupted. When weather sucks, airplanes break, etc., we can’t always conjure up a like-for-like replacement in real time. Which means that sometimes people get bumped. Even people with a “bump-proof” ticket are going to get bumped if there’s no airplane going that day. Physical reality trumps contractual terms every time. IOW, most customers now are both (practically) unbumpable and can also no-show at zero or small penalty. Given that, why would customers choose to buy a ticket with the forfeit penalty attached? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/36 "2017-04-15T00:35:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > No they haven’t, not for that seat. The person didn’t show is now paying for some other seat on a different plane. If that plane fills up, and someone is unable to purchase a ticket for it, then the airline forgoes revenuey the might possibly have been able to gain. Yes, revenue from selling the same seat twice. Try selling the same car to two different people, or the same house to two different people and see what happens to you. Everybody forgoes additional revenue they could obtain through fraud. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/37 "2017-04-15T00:41:08Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > … If I reserve a hotel room and don’t show up in time, does the hotel refund my money? No, even if they sell the same room twice. … Actually yes, and I have it happen. It is quite a bit on the honor system, but having to cancel a non-refundable paid in full reservation I was please to get a call that someone else booked my room and I am getting a refund. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/38 "2017-04-15T01:01:57Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > If the federal regulations do not allow them to re-write their contract the way you stipulate, it’s more than a bug to work out. First time you deplane all the passengers is proably going to create as big if not bigger of a backlash as this incident. Well I say that federal regulations DO allow them to re-write their contract the way I stipulate. And the other airlines will see how awesome the plan is, and how people are gravitating toward the airline that does this because it’s fun to laugh at people being stupid, and then pretty soon ALL airlines will implement this system. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/39 "2017-04-15T03:35:55Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > So here’s my proposal. \*\* Airlines sell seats, and the purchase of a seat is non-refundable.\*\* It does not matter if you show up or not. That way, if 100% of the flight was sold, they have the maximum income possible. > > Set a deadline for arrival to claim your pre-paid seat; let’s say 15 minutes prior to flight time. If you miss that deadline, your seat can be resold. If it is resold, you get a refund (the airline loses nothing, you lose nothing). If it is not resold, you have paid for a flight that you didn’t take. Tough tickets. Here’s the way it works now for a 100 seat plane - airline, because of their algorithms, knows they can usually sell 102 seats for Flight #123 & not have any issue. Further, their statistics tell them that, on average, once every _x_ days they will have an overbook issue; let’s say x = once a week. If the revenue from overbooking every day is greater than the compensation they need to pay out once a week then they come out ahead today. AIU your scenario, they could only sell 100 tix for a given flight; therefore, they end up with less income & more overhead - costs to refund, costs of add’l ticket counter agents to cover the add’l last minute sales, etc. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458/40 "2017-04-15T03:54:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > No they haven’t, not for that seat. The person didn’t show is now paying for some other seat on a different plane. If that plane fills up, and someone is unable to purchase a ticket for it, then the airline forgoes revenuey the might possibly have been able to gain. Not always. When my father passed away, I bought a round trip ticket from Ft. Lauderdale to Pittsburgh. After the funeral my mother gave me his truck, said he would have wanted me to have it. So, I drove the truck back and did not make the return trip on the plane. No refund was forthcoming because I bought a ticket that was “nonrefundable.” The airline was thus able to collect twice for that seat, once by me paying for it, and then re-selling the ticket when I cancelled. Now, it is possible that the plane flew off with one less passenger, which in that case, it was fair not to refund my money. However, if they were able to mitigate damages by reselling the ticket, I should have gotten a refund, IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-solve-the-overbooking-problem-with-a-simple-plan/784458.md?page=3)