Has anyone else noticed that flights are almost always overbooked these days?

[April20]

The flight I took out this morning was overbooked and they were offering $400 in Delta Dollars and a flight out at 4PM if you could bail. Now I''m in the airport trying to fly back home. I tried to get an earlier flight out this afternoon, but it''s oversold as well as the one I''m actually booked on. Just about every time I check in these days, the oversold message pops up on the check in kiosk. I get that with tighter margins and rising costs, they want to make sure that every flight leaves full, but what I''ve seen in the last few months (at least on Delta) is reaching ridiculous levels. I can''t help but wonder if this is our new reality or if this will go back to something approaching normal some day.

Is anyone else noticing this trend? I typically fly only Delta given that I live in Atlanta and they''re the best option for me schedule wise with where I need to travel. Is it the same on other airlines?

 

[TravelingGal]

It hasn''t been too bad on American, but popular flights at peak times are usually overbooked.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

I seldom travel for work now (last flight I took was in May), but recall during my road warrior days that the summer months were naturally the worst for overbooking. I wonder how much worse it''s gotten.

And as TGal noted, some routes are just more prone to it. The LAX-Denver (and return) flight on United was always oversold.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Ha, I am just dealing with this for our upcoming trip to Vegas. It''s spinning me into panic. I got a call from United this evening telling me that our flight has been "moved" to an earlier time departing and a later time coming home. That''s fine. But it''s our guests that have me worried...is the airline going to move them around??? If so, will they all still be on the same flight or scattered? I have a limo picking everyone up...so if they all get moved--what does that mean for their transportation??

I think it''s just part of traveling now. Although I hope it changes. If I book something, and pay for it then I expect it to go smoothly.

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 8/3/2009 10:53:22 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor
Ha, I am just dealing with this for our upcoming trip to Vegas. It''s spinning me into panic. I got a call from United this evening telling me that our flight has been ''moved'' to an earlier time departing and a later time coming home. That''s fine. But it''s our guests that have me worried...is the airline going to move them around??? If so, will they all still be on the same flight or scattered? I have a limo picking everyone up...so if they all get moved--what does that mean for their transportation??

I think it''s just part of traveling now. Although I hope it changes. If I book something, and pay for it then I expect it to go smoothly.

I recently had to coordinate 3 flights coming into the same airport from different locations. The airlines blasted my careful plans to bits with all of the schedule changes. My advice is to not panic. Just have a plan B and a plan C, and realize things are unlikely to be as you want. And, be ready to pay more.

 

[LamborghiniGirl]

I was on an international flight, NY to Tokyo the other day and the airline told everyone the flight was delayed 3 hours, in hopes that some people would show up late and miss it. Flight was on-time, and those people who showed up were able to get on, and it was still packed! Good thing I showed up early just in case. Turns out they had sold 70% more seats than they could accommodate...

 

[DMBFiredancer]

The airlines have to do it to try to make money. I understand why more because my husband works for the airlines. Overbooking REALLY stinks for us travel-wise because we fly for free on standby is there is a seat available. Even as far as 3 years ago, we had a cancel an Australia trip because the flights filled up right before we were ready to leave.
Even to get me to and from the east coast to see my family is a hassle. Most times I just end up buying a round trip ticket in advance to not have to worry about getting a seat. Long gone are the days when I could fly whenever I wanted with plenty of seats to spare and even get a FIRST class seat on standby. Now I am LUCKY to get something...and forget about trying on the weekends.

BUT....it does help the airlines. And the last thing I need is our airline going out of business. We went though one layoff already with United. So, I just see it as a perk that is no longer really a perk for us.

 

[Diva0413]

I had that problem with Sprit Airlines a weekend ago. They were offering a free hotel stay overnight, food voucher, a flight that next day at 4AM

, and a free round-trip ticket to anywhere Spirit Airlines flies. Thanks but no thanks.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 8/4/2009 12:48:39 PM
Author: Diva0413
I had that problem with Sprit Airlines a weekend ago. They were offering a free hotel stay overnight, food voucher, a flight that next day at 4AM

, and a free round-trip ticket to anywhere Spirit Airlines flies. Thanks but no thanks.

Is it bad that if I didn''t have somewhere to be, I would have been all over that offer? LOL!

 

[Patiently_Waiting]

Date: 8/4/2009 12:52:47 PM
Author: geckodani

Date: 8/4/2009 12:48:39 PM
Author: Diva0413
I had that problem with Sprit Airlines a weekend ago. They were offering a free hotel stay overnight, food voucher, a flight that next day at 4AM

, and a free round-trip ticket to anywhere Spirit Airlines flies. Thanks but no thanks.

Is it bad that if I didn''t have somewhere to be, I would have been all over that offer? LOL!

I don''t think so! Years ago, I had a similar situation where I was flying down to FL from the NE-US and Airtran asked for volunteers to bump to a later flight (a few hours later). They offered two free roundtrip flights (each) to wherever they flew. Since my friend and I weren''t in a hurry, we jumped at the opportunity. I even used one voucher to fly to the Bahamas