Just out of curiosity...

Suppose one passenger checked in early, for example, on his computer from home. Another passenger volunteers for bumping. A third passenger is waiting for a seat assignment having checked in a little later than the volunteer.

As the minutes tick by, the passenger who checked in from home hasn't boarded yet. Actually the airline doesn't know that, unless it has an electronic scanner at the gate, and even so, the passenger who checked in from home might be in the line waiting to board. Whose seat is given to the waiting passenger and when?

(travel tips
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

(Would the scanner at the gate reject a boarding pass if the passenger was late boarding, and the gate agent had "released" the unclaimed seats?)


[This message has been edited by AllanJ (edited 10-24-2003).]