Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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Those that do not fly regularly are sometimes caught unaware by an unusual business practice of the airlines. Their practice is to routinely over-book flights on the basis that they know that a certain percentage of clients don’t turn up in time for those flights. In other words, if there are 200 seats on an aeroplane they may sell 220 seats on the assumption that, for example, 20 people will not turn up. If everybody turns up they then have a problem and they have to put some of the people on another flight – notwithstanding the fact that they have paid to be on that flight.
This has happened to me on two occasions and I had to have a considerable argument to get on the flight. At that time, if you bought a more expensive ticket, they will prioritise you at the expense of somebody who has paid less money – which is ridiculously unfair, because both of you have paid for the flight in the first place! I believe that this is a harmful business practice and really should not be allowed. It also leads to extra profits for the airline on the basis of a service that they do not supply. Even if there is an economic rationale for this, it should at least be done with some common sense.
In that regard, for example, the airlines are well aware, when they are full with bookings to a city ahead of a rugby test or the Durban July, that the vast majority of people are going to show up for their flights. One can always bet that one or two business people may not show up for their regular Monday to Friday flights, but if there is a major event in a specific city, of which they are no doubt aware and can see in terms of the volumes of bookings, it does not make sense then to overcrowd your flights to such an extent that people who paid to be on them cannot travel. Unfortunately, this is a common practice, and the only advice you can give somebody is that you need to arrive and check in earlier for flights when you know that the flights were going to be busy. It is called looking after yourself, in a world where the airline has effectively sold the seat to you and to somebody else. Unfortunately, you have to make sure that you are one of the first 200 passengers to get there and not in the last 20 as per my example above.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Friday 22-Jul-16
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Comments
Sinead said:
on Tuesday 23-Aug-16 12:51 PM
I can't understand why they do this. Can't this country just operate properly. I think people just don't respect others' time enough.
tersia said:
on Tuesday 23-Aug-16 07:43 AM
Has never happened to me - touch wood. I haven't been on an airplane that much as well but it is ridiculousness that they would do something like that. I would make a big scene as an airplane ticket is not cheap and obviously you do make plans to be somewhere at an certain time. Regardless of how much you paid for the flight, first booked should get their place!
Henrietta said:
on Wednesday 17-Aug-16 08:52 AM
Wow, thats bad business but then again they know that you if need to fly they will most likely still have you as a customer in future so it doesnt really matter how much you complain or not. Its just shocking that this is even allowed and Im one of those customers who wont keep quiet, so lucky that has not happened to me yet.
Natasha said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 08:05 AM
I haven't been on a airplane as yet but I am sure if this has to happen with me I would be very upset.
Jolene said:
on Monday 01-Aug-16 01:30 PM
This has never happened to me, I don't like to fly at all and will be very disappointed. This is unprofessional and unacceptable!
Zindy said:
on Friday 29-Jul-16 03:48 PM
This has happened to me, We got shifted to a different flight with complementary meals. They try secure seats so that the dont loose out. I do not think its fair though to clients spending thousands of rands only to be disappointed on arrival
Suzanne said:
on Thursday 28-Jul-16 09:00 AM
I am very glad that this has never happened to me. I would be furious. I also don't think this is ethical at all - making extra money from seats you don't even have.
Melissa P said:
on Tuesday 26-Jul-16 03:11 PM
Luckily this has never happened to me. It's very unprofessional and a sign of very poor management. I suppose the airlines are trying to avoid last minute cancellations but what if there are none? This would really upset me if I had a very important meeting ect. This should be monitored and fined in future. Unacceptable!
Catherine said:
on Monday 25-Jul-16 04:51 PM
It makes sense why they tell people to arrive at the airport 2 hours early for international flights and 1 hour early for local flights. The remedy is to arrive at the airport early & check in to avoid having to argue for a seat one has already paid for.
Liesl said:
on Monday 25-Jul-16 04:45 PM
Luckily this has never happened to me. But for some exceptions, I suppose the more frequent flyers are the ones who would experience this more often than people who fly once in a while
Lourien said:
on Monday 25-Jul-16 02:06 PM
I was definitely not aware of the fact and this is really unprofessional, unacceptable and also unfair to any person that have bought a ticket, even if some of them do not turn up, the money they have paid wont get refunded to these people in the first place, if you miss a flight you miss your flight and trying to get a refund even when you cancel your flight plans is almost impossible. Airlines should be more customer focused, its the people paying for flights that keeps their airplanes in the sky...
Helen said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 01:50 PM
From my experience of flying I have not had any problems like this, but this is unacceptable from the airline company to book the seats which have been sold to someone else already. The law should be on the client's side and protect the customer where it does not matter what price customer paid!
daria said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 12:48 PM
This is completely shocking that this happens. This is the result of poor management. If this ever happened to me I would never use that airline again.
Nikita said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 12:48 PM
I have never heard of this happening to anyone I know and has not happened to me. I think the better approach would be to sell the empty seats after boarding has closed.
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 11:45 AM
This should be illegal honestly. So basically either be there early or if you have a big event to attend then make sure you there a day before the time. Absolutely ludicrous. This has really never happened to me but I would be quite upset if I ever discovered it did.
Cornelie said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 10:22 AM
It doesn't matter if you come first or last at the airport you have paid for your seat and you need to be seated on that airplane not the next because you have made arrangements for someone to pick you up at the other end. There must be away that this nonsense can be stopped. And it is also not fair to freak out on the person helping you at the check in as it is not them that booked the ticket.
Latoya said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 10:02 AM
I have never experienced something like this ever, It is very unprofessional.doesn't really matter if you paid less than the another person I mean you booked your flight tickets just as everybody else. I must be say I agree with Juliet;
Early bird catches the worm....or a seat on a flight
Brenda Du Toit said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 09:57 AM
This Happen with me in December when I went to Cape Town and it was my first flight ever I was so nervous and then the double booking happen.
Joyce said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 09:51 AM
I think the system they use to run their business is very unfair to their clients, especially to those who pay for more expensive tickets
Thabitha said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 09:50 AM
To over book about 20 people its ridiculous even if people do not show up that number is too much and for the fact that you need to book in time its unfair for them to tell you that they are over booked and really it should not be allowed it is bad practice
Brenda van den Bergh said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 09:38 AM
I have flown several times and now that I think of it, I dont think i have ever been on a plane that was full to capcity? There was always a few seats open. So this blog comes as a huge surprise to me as I really did not know this?
I am however always very early when flying as I always consider what the traffic may be like on route to the airport, and when I arrive at the airport sometimes 2 hours early for my flight I can sit and have a meal and just relax before my flight.
If I ever had to be a victim of a double booking on a flight, I don't think I would take that very lightly, as there is a reason you book a flight at a certain time, and as a paying customer, you should receive the service you have paid for.
Melissa said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 09:36 AM
This is unprofessional and unacceptable people pay so much money just to be treated with little respect
Daniella said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 09:19 AM
I actually heard about it a few years ago , if this ever had to happen to me i would honestly freak out , it is the most unethical thing I have ever heard.
Clare said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 09:13 AM
That is Hectic but lets face it Services in general today is not good, I have never been on a Airplane I am way to scared, but if I pay for a service I want it done. don't mess me around.
charlotte said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 09:07 AM
Flight tickets are extremely expensive, and to think that airlines actually make double sales on certain seats, is ridiculous. If all flights are full and every body turns up for their flights, how do they explain to the customers that 2 people have actually paid for the same seat! And how on earth will they accommodate those if all flights are full? This is called being money hungry......
Lucretia said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 09:05 AM
My daughter has moved to PE and flies every second weekend to JHB for business. We make sure we always pre-book her seats on the internet and then still arrive an hour earlier. Although this is airline policy to be there an hour earlier on domestic flights.
Sandra said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 09:00 AM
This does not shock me to say the least. It is unacceptable and I can not believe business is run like this
Johann said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 08:57 AM
The Consumer Protection Act specifically addresses this practice and provides for certain remedies to the consumer - essentially a refund plus interest at the prescribed interest rate and also payment of incidental costs due to the breach of contract by the airline. On the other hand, since the inception of low cost airlines the airlines are under pressure to raise revenue where they can. This quote is very telling in that regard: "The CEO of Comair, the aviation company which owns the carrier kulula.com, says that they are currently earning a R55 profit on every seat booked on an aircraft. On the average kulula.com flight, with 189 seats, this calculates to the value of R10 395 for a single trip."
Zanell said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 08:54 AM
Never knew that airlines actually did this. This has never happened to me. it's actually shocking that they do this. From now on I will always make sure that I'm early for my flight just to guarantee myself a seat.
Juliet said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 08:50 AM
This has happened to myself and to my mother, both times we arrived just on time but obviously not earlier enough. Now I am always at the airport 1 hour before my flight to avoid this. My mom's flight was the last one for the day so they sat her in the cockpit with the pilot! She actually enjoyed her flight very much in the end as you can imagine.
Like everything else that is out of your control, this is about managing yourself and ensuring you arrive early for your flights. You know it may happen so ensure it doesn't happen to you by arriving early.
Early bird catches the worm....or a seat on a flight :)
Kaylee said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 08:50 AM
Wow I did not know this! How shocking. I usually book in online the night before a flight and arrive pretty early. Can't believe this actually happens!
Bianca said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 08:37 AM
I haven't experienced this first hand but have heard from a lot of people the inconvenience its causes to have to wait for another flight even after having booked your flight months in advance. Surely this is not practice and one would think that it should not be allowed to be happening. How can you justify that someone who bought a more expensive ticket 3 days before the flight should be prioritized over someone who had booked their flight a month before? In essence, everyone who has booked their ticket is entitled to the service of having a seat on the flight that they have booked and the opposite is happening.... Is it only certain airlines that practice this way or is it across all of the airlines?
Alexis said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 08:29 AM
Trevor Noah brought this up in Crazy/Normal. It is not a great thing to do and let alone experience. Luckily i have not dealt with it as yet. If you have booked and paid, you are entitled to getting on that flight as everyone else who booked and paid. I do not care if you paid more or less. This is something that needs to be rectified
Jessica Apfel said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 08:03 AM
Such overreaching should surely be a criminal offences - it is theft? To take money from two persons for the same seat would inevitably mean someone goes without, in spite of the airline having taking their money. This is the fist time that I have heard of such and if you have had a similar experience then you should 'Name and shame' the respective airline to see if it is a selected company? Lastly, punctuality should be stressed when it comes to airline travel!
Brumilde said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 08:00 AM
think it depends on the season as well. but i mean you still pay so its not like even if those 20 dont pitch you dont get your money... very sneaky of them i think
Angelique P said:
on Friday 22-Jul-16 07:59 AM
I have never flown before and I dont mind as well. I always hear people moaning over the flights being delayed and being too long etc. etc.
I will be very disappointed if I book a flight and the day of my flight I hear that I am on another flight maybe scheduled later.
I think this will be very unfair to do.
It doesnt matter if you paid less than the other person you booked your flight just as everybody else.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
