> Because your last minute business traveler who is paying a big chunk of cash doesn't want standby.

So what I'm hearing is that they'd rather be lied to at the airport, than at the time they're buying the ticket.

If you buy a ticket, then there should be no reason for the airline to deny you boarding (excepting safety issues). This is how every other service works.

If I turn up and it turns out so did everyone else who bought a ticket, then the airline should not be bullshitting about overbooking.

It seems a reasonable way to make rules for this would be to only allow airlines to kick off people who chooses so voluntarily.

... and in the vast majority of cases, that's exactly what happens. Involuntary bumps are rare.

Yes -- 0.007 percent of passengers, or about 70 ppm.

That sounds like a very small number, but that equates to about 126 people per day in the US alone. For some this might have been an inconvenience, but for others might be closer to a catastrophe depending on the reasons for their travel.

http://www.tvlon.com/news/how-many-people-get-involuntarily-...

In the US there is also a limit on the amount they can offer of 400% of the ticket price.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/united-bump-overbooking-...

No, that only limits how up they HAVE to go - past that they have no obligation. If you get denied boarding and they have not reached the 400% / $1350 offer, you have legal recourse.

They are absolutely not forbidden from offering more if they choose to - this is actually even explicitly mentioned in the regulations. The legalese is not super easy to parse, but this link makes a decent attempt at explaining it: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/4/11/1652290/-The-Wide...

Edit: The Department of Transportation's own official website also explains it quite clearly here: (https://cms.dot.gov/airconsumer/faq)

Q: Is the amount an airline must offer involuntarily bumped passengers arriving on a substitute flight over 2 hours after their original flight still 400% of the one-way fare, for a maximum of $1,350?

A: Yes, an airline must offer 400% of the one-way fare up to $1350 to involuntarily bumped passengers arriving on a substitute flight over two hours after the planned arrival time of their original domestic flight. Airlines are free to offer involuntarily bumped passengers more money than required.

oh, good to know (and makes more sense)

That's only for passengers bumped involuntarily. If the passenger agrees to be bumped - i.e. it's not involuntary - the compensation can be any amount.

The 400% minimum compensation only applies if the airline chooses not to offer enough for anyone to volunteer.