Overbooking

Woman traveling by plane

When it comes to air travel, one of the frequent problems that travelers often experience is overbooking. This is an authorized legal business practice in the European Union which is regulated by EC Regulation No. 261/2004. However, many passengers are not always clear about what overbooking is, what types exist and what alternatives there are. Next, we discover what compensation you are entitled to if they do not let you get on the plane, what are your rights and how to claim them.

What is overbooking?

It consists of selling more tickets for a flight than there are. Overbooking occurs when the number of passengers with a confirmed reservation who have arrived at the airport on time exceeds the number of seats available on the flight, which forces several passengers to be prevented from boarding.

Why is it overbooked?

The airlines detect that there is a small part of the travelers who cancel their flights or who do not show up for boarding and therefore issue a number of tickets slightly greater than the number of seats available on the aircraft.

What happens if there is overbooking?

Volunteers are normally asked among the passengers who want to agree to give up their place on the plane in exchange for compensation. According to European Union regulations, the airline must always compensate you without excuses as a passenger in cases of overbooking, regardless of whether you agree to waive the flight.

Types of overbooking

Many travelers are unaware of it but there can be two types of overbooking and depending on them some rules or others are established:

  • Non-voluntary overbooking: If you do not volunteer to not board the plane, but the airline does not allow you to access it, it has to reimburse you for the price of your ticket, offer you financial compensation and offer you alternative transportation. This occurs when the number of volunteers is not enough.
  • Voluntary overbooking: in this case, the airline has to offer you alternative transportation, refund your ticket and other benefits such as a business seat on another flight, traveler's checks or cash. In this case, accepting the voluntary overbooking cannot be claimed in the future.

Overbooking compensation

Involuntary overbooking

If you are not allowed to board your flight due to an overbooking and you have not consented to stay on the ground, make sure that everything that happened that day is in writing. Go to the airline counter at the airport or the authorities to request a document proving that you have been overbooked.

In addition, the airline has to offer you free maintenance enough for the waiting time, in addition to two phone calls. If your alternative transport is not going to arrive until the next day, the airline is also obliged to provide you with accommodation and to cover the cost of the transfer from the hotel to the airport.

Not forgetting that you have the right to claim damages and financial compensation in accordance with these amounts depending on the kilometers of your flight.

Voluntary overbooking

If you are a volunteer in an overbooking case, you should know that this will prevent you from claiming compensation and everything agreed must be in writing. You can only claim when you breach the deal.

In the event that you have reached an agreement with the airline to voluntarily give up your seat, keep in mind that the airline has to offer you these options to choose from:

  • Refund within 7 days of the ticket price corresponding to the part of the trip that you have not been able to make, together with a return flight as quickly as possible, if applicable or a refund of the total price of the ticket if the flight no longer makes sense and, if applicable, a flight back to your airport of origin.
  • Transfer to the final destination as soon as possible in transport conditions that are comparable to what you had contracted.
  • Transfer to the destination in comparable transport conditions on the date that suits you best.
  • In addition, in case you are a volunteer in an overbooking case, the airline also has to provide you with travel checks, money or a seat in business.

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