Why do airlines seem to overbook flights so often, especially when they end up having to pay extra in rewards to passengers who give up their seats?

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It just seems like it happens so often, and airlines will sometimes offer you three times the price of the ticket just to stay a few extra hours. Seems like it’d be easy to just…stop selling tickets once the plane is full??

In: Economics

26 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because it’s worth it. It’s really that simple.

The airlines have done their homework, they did the math. The amount that they pay to passengers that get bumped is less than the potential revenue lost by having empty seats.

And it’s not like you have much of a choice, either. There are half-a-dozen airlines left, and they don’t all service every city. So you’ll probably have a choice of 2 or 3 airlines at most, who all do the same thing.

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