Overbooking First Class
 

This has been discussed here and at the DO's before, and the general understanding has been that F is never intentionally overbooked. Here, though, it looks like I've found at least one example where that's not the case. Check this flight out:

[KVS Availability Tool 3.0.2/Lite - Apollo: ITN/US-ARL]
CO is selling 9 seats out of a possible 8 in first on the 737-500. Does anyone else know of flights that are oversold up front?

I bet it's just a miscommunication between the fleet scheduling department and revenue management regarding what type of airplane will ultimately operate that flight.

I show that it's a 12 seater in FCLass.

Looks like the Apollo data is slightly out-of-sync:

[KVS Availability Tool 3.0.2/Platinum - Sabre: ITN/UK-ASB]

FWIW, I'm not sure what GDS source ExpertFlyer uses, but they were also showing a 735 and A9.

Interestingly, CO.com shows it as a 737-500 with 8 FC seats. Possible it's in the process of being changed, and all the systems haven't been updated yet.

Seatmap data is, generally, always real-time and takes precedence over the A/C type in the availability data:

[KVS Availability Tool 3.0.2/Platinum - Amadeus Seat Map: 28 Feb 2008/CO 821/IAH-JFK/735/F]

just checked shares and the aircraft type is a 737-500 and config is 12fc 112yc. Hope this helps

I wasn't aware that such a config existed in the CO fleet?? 733 maybe?

Its funny I just read effective 31jan06 all 737-500 aircraft have been configured with the new 8/106 seating. who knows?

Correct
 

All of CO's 735s are 8 up front

I still maintain what I wrote in post #2 (or something along those lines). :p

AA used to routinely overbook First by 1 seat on domestic flights.

The 735 is like a cruel joke
 

I would love to see CO jettison the 735 from its fleet entirely. I cannot figure out why they fly those planes from EWR to a market like MIA, I'm really sick of it. 8 seats (2 rows) in FC, and the "bulkhead" is a weird fabric-y contraption, so the second row of FC reclines into the first row of coach. Pitiful.

They're working on it. In process.

Where do you suggest they fly them? They're currently a sizable portion of the fleet, so they have to be flown somewhere! Given that AA owns MIA, CO doesn't need to use equipment with large capacity. Fly to FLL if you want bigger planes with more FC seats...
A lot of airlines have this. I'm not sure why it matters so much. Are the folks in the Y bulkhead that much more prone to kicking your seat back when you're in row 2 compared to, say the folks behind you in FC if you were seated in row 1? Frankly, I like the curtain because it gives that row in Y more legroom which comes in handy to pre-book in case the upgrade doesn't clear...

Hi OptionsCLE, we do not intentionally oversell First Class on our domestic flights. Although our flight 821 is scheduled to be a 737-500 between Houston (IAH) and New York (JFK), it's currently planned to be substituted with a 737-700 on Mar. 1. Our 737-700s have 12 First Class seats, which would explain why you're currently seeing at least 9 seats for sale.