Did you know you can be sold a plane ticket for a seat that’s already taken? Sure, it sounds like it should be illegal, but it’s not. It turns out, overbooking is pretty common in the airline industry, as airlines often overbook flights because they expect some passengers to not show up and they want their planes as full as possible. But when there aren’t any no-shows, airlines may ask passengers to voluntarily give up their seats, or bump them from the flight.
Some carriers are more guilty of overbooking than others and a new study reveals which ones are most likely to bump passengers.
- Upgraded Points analyzed Department of Transportation data for 10 major U.S. airlines to see the ones you have a higher chance of being bumped from and where people are most willing to voluntarily give up their seats as a result of overbooking.
- Frontier Airlines tops the list by a landslide, they bump over 400% more passengers than the second place carrier, American Airlines.
- The study also finds that Americans say they’d need $599, on average, to voluntarily give up their seat on an overbooked flight.
- But folks in California would need $832 to make up for the inconvenience, Iowans would need $799 and Texans $729.
- For 46% of Americans, the longest delay they’d accept for giving up their seat for a future seat is two to four hours. But 13% would be willing to wait more than seven hours if they had to.
- When they’re traveling makes a difference as half of respondents admit they’d be less likely to give up their seat during peak travel times, like the holidays.
The Airlines Most Likely to Bump You
- Frontier Airlines
- American Airlines
- Spirit Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- JetBlue Airways
Source: Upgraded Points
Scott's Thoughts:
- So maybe I won’t be booking my next flight on Frontier! Actually I have never heard of them.
- I once took a later flight plus a $400 credit. Just meant getting home 6 hours later!
- I only fly like 2 times a year at best.