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When discussing IDB why are we so afraid to use the F word?

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When discussing IDB why are we so afraid to use the F word?

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Old May 20, 2016, 2:50 pm
  #46  
 
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Originally Posted by pinniped
The other "societal good" type of argument you could make is that fewer unused seats means more people were able to actually book the flights they wanted. If airlines couldn't oversell at all, you'd see more flights sold out more often.
And those seats that they don't sell would reduce the number of discounted tickets available; not full fare tickets. Situations where you see "Only 3 seats left at this price" now would be a higher price without overbooking.
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Old May 20, 2016, 8:38 pm
  #47  
 
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Originally Posted by LarryJ
And those seats that they don't sell would reduce the number of discounted tickets available; not full fare tickets. Situations where you see "Only 3 seats left at this price" now would be a higher price without overbooking.
Most airlines don't raise the authorization until close to departure for this exact reason. There is no point in taking a few extra APEX fares that are likely to show up. They are only willing to overbook for medium to high yield pax who are less likely to show up.
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Old May 20, 2016, 9:05 pm
  #48  
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Originally Posted by pinniped
I tend to believe you on this one. SLC...was it DL? In both of my IDB's with them, it did not seem like they tried very hard to get VDB. Paltry small voucher offers...and then straight to IDB.
Which is why I feel the IDB compensation is too low. It should be high enough to make airlines make a serious effort to avoid IDBs.
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Old May 21, 2016, 5:21 pm
  #49  
 
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Originally Posted by audio-nut
There is no point in taking a few extra APEX fares that are likely to show up. They are only willing to overbook for medium to high yield pax who are less likely to show up.
APEX passengers are just as likely to misconnect as others, and also to (just) miss flights.

Contrary to what the ticket may say, allowing those on non-changeable tickets who have missed the flight to get the next one, which has spare seats, is still quite widespread. It does vary from carrier to carrier, but airlines, like any other business, know that in a competitive environment if you shaft someone you are unlikely to see them again, while if you are good to them beyond their ticket terms the opposite will apply.
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Old May 22, 2016, 12:00 am
  #50  
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Originally Posted by pinniped
I will say this: as much as we want to bag on airlines when they have IDB...or even when they get stingy on VDB...hotels usually handle this horribly and rental car agencies basically give you the middle finger and tell you to call a cab.

Airlines...most of the time...resolve the situation with a full plane and a few happy VDB recipients. Hotels usually don't attempt any kind of proactive resolution.
+1

I've never been IDB'ed but I was told one time by an Econo Lodge that they were full, and it was my fault because it was 12:30 AM. They also charged my credit card. Unbelievable. The only thing corporate would do (Choice Hotels) was to reverse the charge. Big deal, since I could have just done that myself by disputing the charge. I even had elite status with Choice Hotels. They simply don't care. After I used up my points, I haven't been back.
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Old May 22, 2016, 1:44 pm
  #51  
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Originally Posted by pinniped
I will say this: as much as we want to bag on airlines when they have IDB...or even when they get stingy on VDB...hotels usually handle this horribly and rental car agencies basically give you the middle finger and tell you to call a cab.
Yeah, I just ran into that. The car I had rented wasn't returned, they had nothing to rent me. She did call the one other location that was open at that point (and would have covered the cab fare over there) but they didn't have anything, either. (I was looking for a minivan.) She told me she would call today to tell me if she got anything in--but the phone hasn't rung once. (She was going to call whether she got something or not.)
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Old May 22, 2016, 8:51 pm
  #52  
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I sure the airlines would be happy to stop overselling if they could attach a 100% penalty to no-shows.
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Old May 23, 2016, 7:27 am
  #53  
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Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
Which is why I feel the IDB compensation is too low. It should be high enough to make airlines make a serious effort to avoid IDBs.
Agreed. It's laughably low, although just a couple years ago it was laughably lower.
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Old May 23, 2016, 6:09 pm
  #54  
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Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
Which is why I feel the IDB compensation is too low. It should be high enough to make airlines make a serious effort to avoid IDBs.
Originally Posted by pinniped
Agreed. It's laughably low, although just a couple years ago it was laughably lower.
I think it's high enough now. The airlines already try to avoid IDB. Why would they want to pay anything. Their goal is to fill the seats.

Originally Posted by TravelerMSY
I sure the airlines would be happy to stop overselling if they could attach a 100% penalty to no-shows.
Which is the correct solution but the same people who complain about the airline IDBing people would scream and yell if you made them pay for causing the problem in the first place.
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Old May 23, 2016, 6:36 pm
  #55  
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The people who rant here ought to be permitted to purchase a "guaranteed" seat. That means a seat which is 100% yours, no matter what. It cannot be changed or cancelled and it is held for you until the flight closes, not matter the reason if you no show (including a misconnect). The seat would cost more, but to the people here who claim that the carrier guarantees them a seat come hell or high water, they can have one of them and pay for it too.
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Old May 23, 2016, 10:21 pm
  #56  
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Originally Posted by pinniped
Agreed. It's laughably low, although just a couple years ago it was laughably lower.
I don't know what the true value should be. My yardstick is how hard they hunt for VDBs--if they're not making a serious effort to find VDBs then the IDBs don't bite enough.
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Old May 23, 2016, 10:22 pm
  #57  
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Originally Posted by Often1
The people who rant here ought to be permitted to purchase a "guaranteed" seat. That means a seat which is 100% yours, no matter what. It cannot be changed or cancelled and it is held for you until the flight closes, not matter the reason if you no show (including a misconnect). The seat would cost more, but to the people here who claim that the carrier guarantees them a seat come hell or high water, they can have one of them and pay for it too.
I would think such a seat would be cheaper as the airline is guaranteed to collect the fare.
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Old May 25, 2016, 12:09 am
  #58  
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Originally Posted by Often1
The people who rant here ought to be permitted to purchase a "guaranteed" seat. That means a seat which is 100% yours, no matter what. It cannot be changed or cancelled and it is held for you until the flight closes, not matter the reason if you no show (including a misconnect). The seat would cost more, but to the people here who claim that the carrier guarantees them a seat come hell or high water, they can have one of them and pay for it too.
The IDB priority rules for some airlines make it extremely unlikely that passengers traveling on a FULL Y fare would ever lose their confirmed seat.
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Old May 25, 2016, 12:13 am
  #59  
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Are there any airlines with IDB risk levels that are not what one would expect?

Expected ones would things like:

* Latest check in.
* No assigned seat (on airlines with assigned seats).
* No FF membership > general member > elite member.
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Old May 25, 2016, 12:15 am
  #60  
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Originally Posted by tjl
Are there any airlines with IDB risk levels that are not what one would expect?

Expected ones would things like:

* Latest check in.
* No assigned seat (on airlines with assigned seats).
* No FF membership > general member > elite member.
There are major differences among airlines. For example, IIRC the three criteria you list aren't all used by every USA carrier.
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