Originally Posted by DevilBucsFlyer
Rather, I'm thinking of the guy who's wife goes into labor 2 weeks early and he rushes to the airport to get on the next flight.... Only to find out that everything to BZN and anything within 250 miles is sold out until noon tomorrow. In this case, the poor guy is faced with essentially no options.
Not necessarily. First off, can the person afford the ticket? If they can't, it doesn't matter what they charge for it.
Second, they might be able to buy a First or Business Class ticket. Even if the airline shows no availability, don't think for a moment they won't sell the ticket (fares can be anywhere from four to five figures) and then cancel an upgrade, offering the person they cancelled anywhere from nothing (they just return the upgrade cert) to some minor form of compensation (an additional upgrade cert of a voucher for future travel).
And finally, if they're willing to pay the maximum rate, the airline will sell them the ticket, I am sure, even if they have to involuntarily deny someone boarding, as the compensation will be less then the revenue derived from the ticket, I am sure.