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Why do airlines sell too many tickets? - Nina Klietsch

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Have you ever sat in a doctor’s office for hours, despite having an appointment? Has a hotel turned down your reservation because it’s full? Have you been bumped off a flight that you paid for? These are all symptoms of overbooking, a practice where businesses sell or book more than their capacity. So why do they do it? Nina Klietsch explains the math behind this frustrating practice.

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  • Educator Nina Klietsch
  • Director Anton Trofimov
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Should airlines be allowed to overbook flights? What is your opinion?

Comments are closed on this discussion.

Avatar for Roz Miller
Lesson completed

i think airlines should be able to overbook flights as long as they comp the people who get bumped


Avatar for Roman Nesbitt
Lesson completed

I think airlines should be allowed to overlook flights if their calculations are right because it maximizes their profits.. If they are not right I don't think they should be able to overlook flights because it makes customers mad and they lose there whole flight.


Avatar for Kyler Boileau
Lesson in progress

They shouldn't be allowed


Avatar for Ummi Salma Ahmed-Sumaila
Lesson completed

Airlines overbook flights as a calculated move to maximise their revenues. Though this practice brings more profit, it also creates an ethical dilemma where passengers are forced off flights. The challenge for airlines is to have that delicate middle ground where overbooking does not result in customer dissatisfaction to the extent that it chases away their customers in the pursuit of profit.


Avatar for Roda Mwangala
Lesson completed

in response to Pablo Lopez Show comment

I agree.Peope fly for various reasons.Maybe one should be informed that they are in the overbooked list and they should decide if they prefer to proceed with the booking or find other alternatives.


Avatar for Roda Mwangala
Lesson completed

Overbooking is good for the airline and bad for the customer (assuming its not intentional).Booking an extra 2 or 3 people could be acceptable but more is not ethical.


Avatar for Pablo Lopez
Lesson completed

I don't think they should be allowed to overbook flights, because it could cause a very big problem for someone, something that no ammount of money can fix, such as when you need to visit someone who is ill and might not be alive for long.


Avatar for Poyraz Ulku
Lesson in progress

I think they should but not really much just like 97 percent


Avatar for Joe Qiu
Lesson in progress

I think this is a phenomenon of lack of responsibility, a brand should be responsible for consumers. It's easy to arouse conflict between consumers and airlines, and be harmful to flight safety. what's more, there are many other ways to make more revenue.


Avatar for Lorena Gutierrez
Lesson completed

i think always overbooking because it have percentage the pepole don´t asist the fly but different rason

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