11-20-2007
08:54 PM
5 Loves
Very interesting post about overbooking. Personally, I'm glad that the airlines overbook; it increases my odds of getting a reservation on a "sold out" flight. And it's worked to my favor sometimes, such as the Thanksgiving eve a number of years ago when I volunteered to get bumped off my original flight, plus two other flights on which I was rebooked -- all in the same afternoon! (And I still got where I was going that night, with three free tickets in my pocket.)
My question is, why does Southwest require standby passengers to upgrade to full fare? I would think that standbys would be to Southwest's advantage, and they should encourage the practice. For example, suppose I'm booked on the 4:00 p.m. flight, but I show up in time for the 2:00 p.m. flight. If I'm told I have to pay an extra $100 to upgrade, I'll say "forgot it!" and sit around the airport for an extra two hours. Meanwhile, there goes an empty seat on the 2:00 p.m. flight, gone forever. And the 4:00 p.m. flight might be overbooked, so someone won't get a seat. How much better would it be for me to be given the empty seat on the 2:00 p.m. flight, and then someone else can get the seat on the 4:00 p.m. flight that I vacated.
Thanks for any explanation you can provide.
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