We are going JFK to London on Virgin. I don't have seats even though I have a confirmation number and all of that. It appears as if the flight is booked (or really overbooked). The following flight that night is also booked. Do you think they will put us on another flight? What usually happens in this situation?
TIA

get to the check-in VERY early to hopefully be a lucky one with boarding pass.

As lincasanova stated - get their VERY early.

All airlines overbook all flights by at least 10%, which in most cases is OK. In the high traffic months, they will exceed that 10%.

Firstly, if I were in your shoes, I would say NOTHING and hope the agent just checks me in - don't volunteer any information unless you have to. If the agent refuses to check you in, ask for the supervisor (get his/her name) and be VERY nice and VERY calm (hysterics, shouting, banging fists on the table should only be used as a last resort and even then it does not always work).

A couple of things can happen. Likely, they will check you in and give you a standby ticket, take your bags and tag them with a standby tag. Then, they usually ask for volunteers to go on a later/next day flight with compensation (consider if you want to take this option – usually it is a travel voucher, hotel for the night, meals). If the flight is seriously overbooked, there will probably be a sign to this affect at the check-in desk. There may also be a dozen other passengers on standby from the day before (been there!).

The flight usually closes for check-in about 45 minutes before the flight – they may bring this forward if there are a lot of passengers in the same position as yourself. They will have the spare tickets printed and ready to go. If you are unlucky, your party will be split up and given middle seats that no other passenger wants. However, if you are lucky, you will be one of those passengers upgraded to Business Class. Whichever it is, you may not have time to buy duty-free.

There is also a school of thought that reckons the best way to get into business class on an overbooked flight is to be among the last passengers to check in. It has worked for me in the past (didn’t plan it, just got to the airport late) but I’d personally prefer a confirmed seat in economy than an overnight stay in an airport hotel and starting my vacation a day late.

If you have connecting flights at your destination, make sure the supervisor is aware of this as they will generally give you priority rather than having to compensate you or the other airline. If you have separate tickets, you may be SOL, as the airlines are less inclined to accept this (been there also).

Above all, remain pleasant and calm and make a friend of the supervisor. If he/she is leaving and another taking over, make sure your details are passed onto the next supervisor.

Best of luck!!!

Regards Ger

Of course I meant get THERE very early - I am a bad typist, not illiterate

Wow! Thank you. We actually had someone we knew who works for Virgin in JFK put in for an upgrade for us. But he said that even first class/business class was booked. So I am not sure whether there will be any upgrading at this point.

Take heart - BC and FC passengers are more likely than most not to turn up for a flight, as the tickets are usually completely flexible. BC passengers will take earlier and later flights if business committments change. Many times I have been waiting for an upgrade when the cabin was overbooked and they still ended up with 3 or 4 available seats available.

According to a pay site that I and others can use to see real-time status, there are presently (9:40 pm east coast time) 22 unassigned coach seats, 4 unassigned Premium Economy seats, and 2 Upper Class (business) seats on the 6:45 pm VS flight to LHR tomorrow. Only 2 seats in coach classes are shown being availabile for sale, which means that 20+ people are in your situation - paid but not assigned.

So not to worry, but get there earlier and who knows, you might get an "op-up" (operational upgrade) to one of the open PE seats.

"According to a pay site that I .. have"

That's interesting Gardyloo - can you publish the link?

My Travel Agent provides me with this information and I plan my flights around availability of seats in BC to ensure I get the upgrade (usually, I can confirm 7 days before the flight). However, when I call Air Canada to get this information, they ALWAYS insist that BC is fully booked, when I KNOW it is NOT (and I have Super-Elite status!!!).

I was wondering what all the fretting, talk about stand by, upgrades, etc. was about. It is really common to not get a seat assigned til check in.

What prevented you from being able to get seats when you got a confirmation number? Would Virgin NOT assign you seats????

You can't always get a seat when you book. I just booked a Christmas trip to Costa Rica. I am a DL elite FF and still no seat. However, I am not really concerned. Airlines have seats that they "hold" those won't open up until the day of the flight. The OP may very well get to the airport and be handed a boarding pass with a seat.

It's called Expert Flyer, OReilly. www.expertflyer.com. Also allows subscribers to see award inventory on many airlines.

I have no idea what the circumstances are with this flight, but not having a confirmed seat happens, particularly on flights on business routes at popular times (e.g. Toronto to Chicago on the 7am out and the 6pm return). The airlines play the odds and assume that not everyone will turn up for the flight – they are often right. I have often been issued a ticket where there is no chance of a seat.

I worked on check-in at Dublin airport and I just hated to see the screen SCREAM the Dublin-London flight was full and then see a businessman rush toward the desk, ticket in hand.

Sometimes, a particular fare class (and there are MANY) will be sold out, but there will still be seats available in the top price economy class (Y). I assume, could be wrong, the airlines try to keep these Y class fares available until the last minute – hence availability of seats, but no confirmed seat for passengers that have paid a lower, restricted fare.

I know there are a few airline experts on this site that could educate us to what really happens

Thanks Gardyloo!

I don't quite understand why so many people worry about involuntarily bumped. The IDP (involuntary denied boarding) rate is pretty low in the industry, usually at around one per 10,000 passenger. And with the new stiff EU compensation schedule, I think the number for flights to Europe to be even lower.

The key thing is that on every flight, they will be many passengers who are very willing to give up their seats for perks. In fact, many people are upset that the airlines are getting better in predicting no-shows, so bumping is getting too rare. No overselling means no chance of free upgrades on those flights, and no chance of compensation for voluntarily giving up seats.

OK. I am a pretty seasoned traveler, so I am going to count myself as lucky to say that I don't understand what you mean that you don't have a seat. In my experience, you have a ticket, you arrive at check-in and then you get your seat assignment. If you can do that on-line beforehand then you do, but most do it at the airport.

So, I don't know why you are stressing because I have never, to my knowledge, had a seat before the day of departure.

Now, obviously others are plagued by the OP's problem, so will someone tell me how to know if you have a seat or not before the actual flight? I have read the posts, but still don't get it.

The OP means he doesn't have a seat <b>assignment</b>.

Perhaps I've been fortunate but when I've paid for a ticket I've always asked for a seat selection.

I've been told only a couple of times that I could only get the seat assigned at check-in (that was with a foreign flag carrier). For domestic carriers the only time I have ever been told I couldn't get a seat assigned was when I had booked the flight within a few weeks of the departure.

Of course, we have been given none of those details by the OP. I realize that flights are routinely overbooked and I would agree with the others who have advised to get to the airport early if they really want a seat. I doubt every seat is &quot;gone&quot; but I'm sure they will be if the OP gets to the airport at the last minute.

“I don't quite understand why so many people worry about involuntarily bumped.”

Well I guess it depends on one’s situation and perspective Mr. Kwan. I assume the stats are averaged over a year and over the globe and are therefore completely meaningless, as all stats are!

Its definitely possible to understand passenger’s anxiety. If one is starting out on the first leg of a journey that has been carefully planned for the previous 12 months, which I know is true of many people on this site, getting “bumped” is stressful and causes a lot of disruption. Sure, most people would love a free upgrade to BC, but I am sure most families with young kids would prefer a confirmed flight and seats, and be guaranteed to get where they were supposed to be at approximately the right time.

I’m a very frequent flyer (every month to Europe for the past 9 years) and I can take a lot in my stride, but the stress associated with flying has increased exponentially over the past few years. For those that travel once a year or even once every few years, it is even worse.

I agree, the airlines have to overbook (worked for two airlines, understand the economics) and I also recognize that the passengers are putting pressure on the airlines to be cheap, on-time, customer-service driven – an almost impossible combination. I understand that there is no easy answer to the problem unless the traveling public is prepared to pay more for the privilege.

Regards Ger

Sure. I am in the same position as the o.p. so I understand what it means not to have an assigned seat. I bought the tickets from the airline's website. True I bought it a few weeks before my departure date. The funny thing is that the system assigned me a seat on my return flight but not on my departing flight. So I was told by the airline not to worry, that I have a confirmed seat, I'll be assigned a seat at the airport, blah blah blah. Yet the agent stressed that I had better get to the airport early. But I always get to the airport very early anyway, however, this time I have a good reason to be there early. I'm sure it's first come first served. Do I hope to get an upgrade? No. If I am lucky that would be nice but I don't expect to be upgradded.

To me I feel that my flight is definitely overbooked. Yes. You get a confirmation number but that doesn't mean you will get a seat for sure. The airlines oversell their tickets and what others said they hope that not everyone will show up.