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Airlines routinely overbook flights to compensate for no-shows: people who reschedule or opt not to fly. An empty seat on a plane means a loss of revenue to an airline. As the eclectic traveler's resource Armchair World explains, overbooking is a standard practice and perfectly legal. Many airlines regularly overbook busy routes by as much as 200 percent. By law, all bumped passengers are entitled to some form of compensation, usually in the form of a free ticket. Thus, the airlines have to balance the risk of a no-show with the compensation they have to pay to bumped passengers. They overbook according to a number of variables: whether it's a holiday season, how the airline market is doing in general, and perhaps most importantly, a specific flight's history of no-shows. According to this Knight-Ridder article, an average of 50,000 passengers are bumped by the nation's ten largest airlines every year. If you do lose your seat, TheStreet.com offers a handy guide on how to get the most bang from your bump.
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