Originally Posted by jjmoore

The "other approach" being the one where they slow down oversale booking (which comes at the sacrifice of revenue as more flights go with open seats as a result).

The second part you didn't follow... I should have explained more clearly.... UA funny munny (i.e. travel credits) is a far more profitable approach than DL giving away AMEX gift cards, Amazon cards, etc. etc. etc.... the reason for this is that even though they give me, let's say, $300 travel credit, UA's cost when I use that ticket is strictly the operating cost to transport me from point A to point B. In many instances, I would use that for a closer-in booking in a more expensive fare class. In this case, UA's operating cost doesn't change, but I have to use the whole voucher... therefore, UA gets my voucher while providing me a fairly minimal service. Though the voucher was worth $300 to me because I would likely have spent money out of pocket otherwise, it is worth far less than $300 to UA.