Overbooking, or overbooking, is the practice of airlines to sell more tickets than there are seats available. If the plane is full when you board, the airline may then deny you boarding... And, suddenly, it's a tragedy. Luckily, we're here to get you out of this predicament! Here's everything you need to know to make the most of your overbooking.

A legal practice?

Yes, overbooking is perfectly legal and airlines are fully entitled to practice it. The more you travel during a busy period, the greater the risk of overbooking... But if the majority of airlines practice overbooking, none of them will tell you on the phone if the flight is overbooked, the aim being above all to make the flight as profitable as possible in case of passenger cancellations. Certain periods (departures on holidays, bridge watches or public holidays...) are particularly conducive to overbooking, so you can at least prepare yourself psychologically and make your arrangements

Your rights in case of overbooking

If the plane is full when you board and you are denied boarding because of overbooking, the airline must take care of you and compensate you. It can offer you an alternative flight later, reimbursement of your ticket (if you do not/cannot postpone the flight) and possibly re-routing to your departure city if you have a connecting flight

If you have to wait for the next flight, the company will have to pay for your food, accommodation and telephone calls.

Lump-sum compensation

In the event of denied boarding, the airline must give you a form to fill in and send a request for flat-rate compensation to the airline's customer service department. She must also give you a certificate of denied boarding due to overbooking, which you must enclose with your mail. It must be sent by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt in order to keep a record of this shipment in the event of a subsequent complaint

The amount of the lump-sum compensation is variable. It depends on the distance your flight travels but also on the total delay on arrival.

For all flights up to 1500 km

The compensation is 250 € (125 € if the delay does not exceed 2 hours)

For flights within the European Union of more than 1500 km and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 km

The compensation is 400 € (200 € if the delay does not exceed 3 hours)

For all other flights

The compensation is €600 (€300 if the delay does not exceed 4 hours).

Certain services such as Air indémnité offers to accompany you in your starts in order to obtain repairs from the airline companies

The case of justified denied boarding

You will not be entitled to care and compensation from the airline if you have been "denied boarding for good reason", i.e. if you have been denied boarding for safety, health reasons or if you have lost your identity document after checking in, for example.

Overbooking can also be very profitable!

In the event of overbooking, before denying boarding to passengers due to lack of seats, hostesses must call in the boarding lounge to find volunteers who would be willing to give up their seats on the plane in exchange for a lump-sum compensation, a ticket refund and a free flight postponement

This compensation is often very interesting for the traveller (on average €600 on flights outside the European Union) and can therefore be a small jackpot fallen from the sky for the traveller who has flexible travel dates.

In any case, the company being in demand, do not hesitate to negotiate an increase in the amount of compensation. Of course, if you are 10 volunteers and the company only wants to free up 5 seats on the plane, it won't work because there will always be one passenger to accept the company's offer without negotiating..

Finally, if you are interested in such compensation, head quickly to the boarding counter as soon as the hostess has made her call, as first come, first served, and you may well leave empty-handed because you've been hanging around the Duty Free for too long

Tip

To increase your chances of winning this jackpot, present yourself 2 hours beforehand to the hostesses at the boarding gate and signal yourself as a "candidate for disembarkation" in case of overbooking. They will then call on you if the overbooking is true. If there is no overbooking, you will have lost a few hours, but it's worth it if it works.