Originally Posted by kevinsac
Think about it......you will be bumped only if no seats are available. But, if there is a bus load of tourists trying to fly out on your flight.....bus breaks down, and 50 tourists are stuck on the side of the highway 50 miles away. chances are that there will be seats available to accommodate you.
Also, if the OP is flying a route heavily used by business flyers, there may be a lot of refundable fares involved; many of these folks may not show up for the flight since there is no downside to just missing it (correct me if I'm wrong here!).
To answer another poster's question: "How do you check to see if a flight is full?" You can call UA (most reliable) or you can use an availability tool. KVS is a free one that I use (click
here .
There are other ways as well, both free and for a subscription.