We all know the experience: you arrive at your boarding gate at the airport and hear an agent announce that the flight has been overbooked—and they’re looking for volunteers to hop on a later flight in exchange for vouchers or another offer.
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Every time, my gut clenches a little bit.
Even if I have no plans of giving up my seat, airlines are still allowed to ‘bump’ passengers. And while I’ve never been selected to wait for a later flight, it’s entirely legal for airlines to overbook their flights and play god with who boards the plane.
In 2025, it almost feels par for the course to hear this announcement at the gate, especially for shorter domestic flights.
The big question… how is this legal? And why does it happen?
Let’s take a closer look at why airlines overbook flights to begin with. Plus, I’m counting down five signs that you might be the perfect candidate to accept the airline’s offer of a later flight, compensation, or both.
How do overbooked flights happen?
Airlines (obviously) want to sell out seats on each flight, but passengers might cancel their plans at the last minute or fail to show up at the gate.
To predict how many no-shows and/or cancellations are likely to happen for a given flight, airlines rely on data-driven algorithms. Using diverse data sets, these programs suggest that airlines overbook flights by a certain number of seats.
If the program suggests that ten passengers are likely to no-show, the airline will sell an additional ten seats. (Yes, this is fully legal. Or, as the DOT puts it, ‘is not illegal’.)
Most of the time, airlines correctly predict the number of no-shows. But when they fail to do so, passengers are bumped to later flights and are offered compensation for the rebooking.
(In some cases, airlines might be required to allow boarding for Federal Air Marshalls, which isn’t caused by overbooking.)
Bumping vs. voluntarily giving up your seat
When flights are overbooked and passengers are accounted for at the gate, agents will first ask ticket-holders to voluntarily give up their seats.
This is different than bumping: bumping is when you are denied boarding even though you really want to get on that flight.
Most often, airlines offer passengers who voluntarily give up their seats to a reduced rate ticket, free ticket, or some type of voucher. This offer almost always includes free rebooking on a later flight or the option to wait on standby on the next flight.
But what happens when no passengers are willing to give up their seats voluntarily?
Every airline has a different approach in how it decides who gets the bump. Factors like check-in time, ticket fare/price, and frequent flyer statuses inform how gate agents make those final cuts.
But if you make it past the gate and actually board the plane, there are very few situations in which you would be removed from the aircraft.
Unfortunately, the fine print is dense when it comes to what airlines owe if you’ve been involuntarily denied boarding. The DOT requires airlines to hand you a statement about why you were bumped and what your rights are—but you’re probably not owed any financial compensation.
Should you take the offer of a later flight?
Let’s shift back toward voluntarily giving up your seat. In what cases is this a good idea?
It depends on the offer made by the gate agents. Common offers include vouchers, miles, and financial compensation. If the offer sounds good to you, then go for it.
But know this: you have the right to negotiate. And if few passengers look like they’re going to take the offer, you can and should barter your way to shinier deal.
Airline agents recommend pushing for cash compensation—and going as high as possible. Again, if you’re the only passenger willing to give up a seat, most airlines would rather pay you off than bump a passenger.
If you’ll be facing a long layover or a night at an airport hotel, make sure to ask for room vouchers and meal vouchers. Most airlines have both available. Lastly, ask for additional perks like an upgrade to business class, lounge access, and changing your multi-leg journey to a direct flight.
Remember: you may have lost your seat, but the power now rests in your hands. (Well, sort of.)
