Re:How the Airlines Became Cartels
by rconti on Monday April 17, 2017 @12:44PM
(#14132350)
The irony of the last line is, if the airline DIDN'T jack up the fares just before the flight sold out, it would be even more oversold than the airline that jacks up prices but fails to sell those last couple of seats at high cost. In fact, that high price is one way they keep a flight from being overbooked (or TOO overbooked). (though, on further reflection, if they overbook 5 seats on extremely expensive fares, then 'bump' the lowest-utility (==poorest) passengers for $200 in flight credit, they've managed to raise the fare for already-paid-for-seats)
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Regarding your parenthetical, if the bumping is voluntary then, at least in theory, everyone comes out ahead. The airline makes more money, the person in a hurry who is willing to pay more money gets to his destination more quickly, and the person who isn't in much of a hurry gets to pay even less for their flight than they originally thought. It's like an auction for the seat after the fact.
Of course, this is only a good thing if the airlines are transparent about it, and offer enough compensation to bumped passengers for them to take it voluntarily.