Quote:
Originally Posted by Silent Bob
Jim, if the airline oversells their flights, then they have EVERY obligation to the customer. Most if not all airlines, have within their contract what's to be done if a person is in an oversell situation. They have to rebook them on a flight, they have to be given a hotel (if necessary or ground transportation), and they have to give cash compensation maximum $800. So in fact the airlines have EVERY responsibilty to the customer. While I don't agree with everything in an airlines contract, I do agree with this one, in fact I think the amount should be increased so that maybe airlines won't overbook so often.
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And I will add that the fact that the airlines must compensate those who are involuntary denied boarding is an incentive not to overbook by too many people. This is why they keep historical data on flights and set a limit on the number of tickets they will sell for a specific flight. If you were to listen to some "pro-consumer" people on this board you would think that the airlines regularly sell 300 tickets on a 150 seat aircraft. That just doesn't happen. In my experiemce when I have been informed of how many a flight I am on has been oversold by the number is almost always in the single digits. And again (and hopefully this time without snarky accusations) I will relate to you that many times I have put my name on the list because an hour before departure the flight is in an over-sold status only to end up being boarded because of no-shows. The vast majority of the time the system works. Just read the DOT numbers. Airlines are required to report the number of passengers they "bump" every quarter.