Zeroed out = oversold??
 

So I'm looking at a flight on ITN and it is completely zeroed out in all coach fare classes.

DL.com doesn't show it as an option.

Does this mean that it is not just sold out, but oversold? They always oversell, right?

Thanks.

There may be some isolated exceptions but I think that generally it is a safe bet that it is oversold.

Sounds very good for my chances then next week...my GSO-ATL flight is at Y0 (the only thing left is F7, but A-T is zeroed out) and delta.com is not selling coach seats on that flight. Looks like I should nail the bump.

One question about this though: what exactly will happen if I nail the bump. I'm getting to the airport at 245 pm for a 645 pm flight (hey, I got a friend to give me the ride instead of paying for a cab, which saves me money, and I've got the US Airways Club to hang out in at GSO which is a nice little club). I plan on going straight to the gate and getting on the bump list (the earlier the better) - would they be willing to consider putting me on an earlier flight out (without paying the $25 same day confirmed fee), or would they put me on a later flight (currently, the only 2 available GSO-MHT itineraries that work after mine are both showing Medallion only seating and have a B fare as the lowest), or would they have me overnight somewhere and come back in the morning...

I would prefer option A (since the later flights are all on CRJs and if I'm taking a bump, I at least want to have the chance to upgrade instead of subject myself to ASA and Comair), but if I get some Delta Dollars for mileage runs, then who knows...

Sorry for rambling on...this is what I get for being up at 1:15 am and have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

All zeros doesn't always mean oversold. They often zero out flights when earlier flights are oversold, or cancel, etc., so they can accomodate those displaced passengers. Also, even if they don't 'zero out' the flight manually, and they actually sell all the seats, not all flights are authorized for oversell. Furthermore, if the front cabin isn't zeroed, but the back is, they often accomodate the overflow with op-ups, thus avoiding bumps.

In general, they are very reluctant to bump people before an hour before unless they're way oversold. SMS will usually give you a heads up if you ask if they're that deep in it.

Yup. that's what I'm hoping for. ;)

thanks for all the responses.

In the last 3 out of 4 weeks my Friday afternoon flights from ATL to south Florida were oversold by 12-20 passengers on the days prior to the flights. Each one went out with seats open, including one that was 20 over but went out with 2 empty seats. Last Friday, my flight was 5 oversold 5 hours prior to my flight but when I landed in ATL, they had 20 empty seats.

Bottom line, I don't think that you can guess about being bumped on Delta anymore based on seat availability since many people end up not on their original flights for a variety of reasons, including mechanicals, weather, etc.

Today in the northeast should be interesting since they predict 4-9 inches of snow and started thinning out the flights yesterday, in anticipation.

Good luck! I haven't been successful since August, despite many times submitting my name as soon as the GA arrive!

Oversold flights can still sell seats sometimes if they are authorized to oversell by even more.

Zeroed out means that there are no more tickets left to be booked on the flight for a multitude of reasons. Could be it is 'sold out', which means that all authorized seats/tickets for that flight have been sold or it could mean that the flight no longer exists or is cancelled.

but if you are looking for a flight next week then there's a good chance it's just sold out.

Sometimes seats are held back, even if it's Y0, to offset the overbooking.
So, it's not a sure thing.

...Promising? Yes!
...Definite? No.

Get to the gate EARLY!

There are few occasions when it could mean "cancellation". Those are the worst way an airline might zero things out.

Jiburi

Ahh....this brings back memories of my non-rev days. :)
A flight could show -2/-15 when I called the employee list request line and I wouldn't be worried....somehow I always got on. Really, the numbers can change at a moment's notice for any number of reasons.



I never knew this until last weekend. I couldn't get a seat assignment on one of my flights, which was showing all zeros.
I called in a favor and asked a DL employee to check numbers for me in the system and the flight was actually positive 2/1.

They won't put you on an earlier flight. If something happens later on to cause the flight to be ok again, they wouldn't want to have given you the bump compensation already. What if the flight is later cancelled? Or what if it's delayed and people get frustrated and re-book elsewhere? What if people misconnect, sleep in, get drunk, etc. There are too many variables for the airline to let you bump prior to boarding. I wish it were different though :D

Don't think ITN always has the same numbers as Delta. Go to Delta.com try to book that flight and sometimes you will find inventory ITN says isn't there. Then try to book up to 7 seats if 1 seat is there.

I think you'd get put on a later flight. I've never heard of anyone getting Delta dollars and going on an earlier flight. If your flight is hugely oversold, the agents in GSO may actually put you on an earlier connection, but you won't likely get any compensation, exceppt maybe first class. I used to buy the slightly more expensive ticket on the 4:55 flight because I knew I could get Delta dollars for taking the next flight to Atlanta. I once did it three times in one day. I used to never have to buy tickets because I had so many vouchers saved up.

Hopefully, that flight also had twenty empty seats at the time of takeoff! :eek:

You may get put on the earlier flight at no charge if Delta thinks that doing so will reduce the number of volunteers they need. You will not get bump compensation, though (well, I guess no charge for the change is sort of a $25 compensation).