An overbooked flight is when an airline sells more tickets on the plane than there are seats. This is a way to avoid empty seats from no-show passengers or missed connections. Overbooked might also be referred to as oversold. Airlines utilize this practice to ensure planes are at capacity and they can maximize profit.

What happens if a flight is overbooked?

Some airlines simply sell enough tickets to fill every seat. ... Before an airline forces a passenger to give up his/her seat due to overbooking, the airline must ask passengers on the flight if they are willing to give up their seat voluntarily in exchange for compensation.

How do they overbook flights?

Most airlines intentionally overbook flights, selling more tickets than available seats for a journey. They do this in anticipation of people "no-showing" on the day of the journey, and the practice is not illegal. Travel experts have warned that as many as 150 tickets are sold for every 100 seats available.