Jun
23
Airline passengers are doing the “bump” this summer! and no this isn’t a new dance. Airlines are bumping passengers at record numbers this season due to oversold flights. This is happening every single day! I see it personally and feel bad for the passengers that it happens. It is a customer service business, and I think a lot of airlines are forgetting that. It still blows my mind that airlines are allowed to overbook seats on a flight to inconvenience customers. Here is a news story about the airlines bumping this summer. What do you think about it? Is it happening to you?
Watch the news video of Do The Bump! now!
I’ve seen it first hand too. I can understand why an airline overbooks a flight. Due to no shows. But I think there should be a limit on much an airline overbooks. Like no more then 4%. Also passengers can do more on their part to insure they’re not bumped. Like, checking in early on line, if the airline allows it or show up to the airport on time. Knowing that the cheapest airfare is not always the way to go. Also knowing where you are going, can be helpful. This way you can pick flights that are less likely to overbooked. And knowing your rights!
I last flew in 2000. I had to fly from California to Ohio, and was planning on driving back. I expected to save a little money by getting a one-way ticket (Half the time in the air should translate to roughly half the cost, right?)
Wrong. For some obscure reason, One Way ticket was over twice the cost of a round trip.
Airlines can eliminate a lot of “no-shows” by giving people what they want. If you’re going to charge $400 for a round trip from LAX to CLE and back, and $900 from LAX to CLE, you’re guaranteeing no-shows.
Passengers can fight back by buying fully refundable tickets on flights they never expected to take and then waiting at the airport to get bumped. If you don’t get bumped, get a refund on the ticket. If you do get bumped take the free ticket for some other travel and get a refund on the ticket. The airline would do it to you, do it to them.
The problem is a passenger who pays full fare doesn’t get bumped. It’s the one who pays the lowest fare which is often offered through the airline’s website. All of the airlines try not to piss off those who pay full fare which are the refundable tickets. These days, everybody tries to get the lowest fare and gets upset when the airline screws them over. What could solve this problem is allowing the airline to overbook a flight by no more then 4%, and letting those you could be bumped forwarned. Something like saying, “Since you bought your ticket at our lowest fare, you may or not make this flight. But we will get you on the next flight.” But this would cut into the airlines profits and will never happen. God forbid the CEO’s salaries were based off a precentage of the profits…
Its been a while since I have flown but it used to be that you could put yourself on the list to be bumped at the ticket counter, otherwise they would ask for volunteers. I never noticed any consideration for what kind of ticket you had purchased. Has that changed?