What Happens When Your Airline Flight’s Overbooked?

It’s an ugly fact of life: airlines are going to continue to overbook airline flights, no matter what consumers do. After the ugly incident that’s now infamous with United Airlines forcibly dragging a man off of a Chicago plane, there’s renewed interest in passengers knowing their rights. If you’re heading to the airport, call a Minneapolis limo service to get you there on time and in luxurious style. Once you’re there, you can find out if your flight is overbooked, but you’ll already know what to do and how to proceed.

Airlines oversell flights to keep your costs down.

Sometimes, obviously, this backfires with catastrophic results. But overbooking is mathematically the smart thing to do – as most of the time, people will not show up for a flight. If you want to find an airline that doesn’t overbook, you might just want to rent a car.

If you have travel flexibility, overbooking can work in your favor.

Think drink tickets, travel vouchers, and free nights in hotels. In fact, one family made a purported $11,000 in travel vouchers in one year because of their travel flexibility. If you think you can re-arrange your traveling itinerary, you might want to check at the gate to see what upgrades and concessions can be made available if you volunteer to bump yourself from the flight.

Learn your airline’s contract of carriage

 Every airline has one, and it’s a set of standards that govern your rights as a passenger when flying. This document will dictate the rules about what will happen next, how that will happen, and in what cases. Know your rights, as this could be the key to avoiding altercations with employees of airlines or other passengers.

Hold out a little bit

If you can wait a bit, don’t be in the first round of passengers to respond when they call for people to give up their seats. If no one (or just a few) people respond when airline employees and gate agents call for volunteers to forego their flights, they sweeten the pot with each announcement. Hold out a little bit, and wait until the second – or maybe even the third! – announcement. That’s when you can really rake in the perks! It’s also okay to bargain with gate agents if you’re the only one giving up your seat. They need you more than you need them, and that puts you in a position of negotiating power.

If you’re heading on a trip soon, be sure to book 1^st Class Transportation for all of your limo and car service needs. We can take you to any destination, and we never overbook! Call or contact us online today for excellent customer service and great prices in Minneapolis and beyond!