Overselling flights is a common practice in Europe in which airlines sell tickets to more passengers than there are seats on the plane. This is done to avoid having vacant seats when the plane takes off. Overbooking a flight is perfectly legal in Europe.
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Article 7 — Right to compensationEUR 250 for all flights of 1500 kilometres or less; EUR 400 for all intra-Community flights of more than 1500 kilometres, and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometres; EUR 600 for all flights not falling under (a) or (b).
Article 8Right to reimbursement or re-routing(c)re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.
Sometimes, when an airline asks for volunteers to give up their seats and fly on a different flight, there are not enough volunteers. When this occurs, the airline will select passengers to give up their seats. This is called “involuntary denied boarding” or “bumping.”
Travel experts warn that around 150 tickets are sold for every 100 seats available, so you've undoubtedly been on an overbooked flight. British Airways admits to overselling 500,000 seats in a single year, leading to 24,000 passengers having to be bumped from flights.
Before you travel, please check the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice for your destination. Sometimes airlines book more people onto a flight than there are seats on the plane. This is because people don't always turn up — despite having booked a flight.
Passengers can inquire about overbooking by contacting their respective airlines or using apps that show available seats per cabin. If your flight is overbooked, airlines will usually ask for volunteers to give up their seats and offer compensation in return.
Frontier Airlines bumped the biggest proportion of passengers of the 15 largest US carriers in early 2023. Of every 10,000 Frontier passengers, 3.73 were involuntarily denied boarding due to oversales, the DOT said. Allegiant, Delta, Endeavor, and Hawaiian didn't bump any passengers in the quarter, per the DOT.
The most important thing to do to avoid getting bumped from a flight is to arrive and check in early. Airlines will usually begin the process of overbooking flights once all passengers have checked in. By checking in early, you'll be less likely to be bumped if the flight is overbooked.
The short answer to this is economics: airlines want to make sure that every flight is as full as possible to maximize their profits. The reported reason why airlines routinely oversell their seats is to recover costs the airline incurs for seat cancellations and for travelers who do not show up to take the flight.
“Lufthansa, one of the companies most affected by staff restrictions and strikes, tops the list of airlines with the highest number of cancellations with a total of 2,521 scheduled flights that were cancelled at the last minute in Europe,” a press release on the analysis reads.
In that case, you are covered by EU legislation under European Regulation EU261, which covers passengers who have experienced a flight delay or cancellation or have been denied boarding due to overbooking. If your flight qualifies, an airline may be required to pay up to $700 in compensation under this law.
If your baggage is lost, delayed, or damaged on flights that are covered under EU261, there are protections in place. If your baggage is delayed or lost, you can claim damages up to €1,300 ($1,728 CAD).