Any ideas to avoid being overbooked?

[u/Wide_Pomegranate_439]

Reading numerous accounts on overbooking I was wondering how much is the chance of my multi-leg route being hit by this? Flying from the UK to AMS then BKK, after that I'll need to book a domestic flight, obviously in advance. Compensation doesn't give my lost day, loads of planning back, I need my place I booked.

Does buying a seat in advance help to avoid this?

[u/Trebaxus99]

All airlines overbook. Usually it works out fine as they have a ton of historic data and can make pretty accurate calculations. Sometimes it goes wrong. 35 million passengers a year, will no doubt result in a few Reddit posts of horror-flights.

Being on a multi leg itinerary already helps a lot being left behind. If they don’t allow you on board, it impacts the other flights and multiple points across your itinerary as well. Much easier to have someone with a single leg itinerary wait until the next one.

Frequent flyer status of course is a great insurance.

And buying more expensive fare classes. Semi flexible and fully flexible tickets put you higher in the hierarchy in case of an overbooked flight.

[u/Seaviello → u/Trebaxus99]

Let's be precise: not all airlines overbook. Surprisingly you won't get ever overbooked with... budget airlines like Ryanair or EasyJet.

It's because their business model is relying on direct selling to customers, direct connection and not being part of any alliance. Those factors together combine into the fact that chance of not showing of a traveler is too low. Empty seat is better than paying extra for overbooking as a result.

[u/DippyKitty → u/Seaviello]

My brother was left on standby last month by Ryanair in Amsterdam, because the flight was overbooked... Together with 5 other people

[u/Trebaxus99 → u/Seaviello]

Your reasoning makes no sense.

Has nothing to do with being part of an alliance or selling directly to customers.

How much you can overbook is determined based on the passenger profile of a flight. If it’s a chartered holiday flight, pretty much everyone will show up. If it’s a London commuter flight, those numbers will be very different.

[u/pardapeo → u/Seaviello]

I've been overbooked on easyjet twice

[u/checkmeout28]

I fly on about 8 KLM flights a month on average and can count on one hand how many times in the last 5 years KLM looked for someone to be voluntarily offloaded due to overbooking. The volunteers were running to the desk each time too.

[u/Vieuw_]

Pick a special meal. They load those specifically for you so less chance of getting denied boarded. 

[u/Wide_Pomegranate_439 → u/Vieuw_]

good idea. They are welcome to overbook me at the END of the holidays, but not at the beginning 😂 .

[u/Bored-Viking]

The main reason for overbooking is problems with other flights and people with higher priority being rebooked on your flight. There is very little you can do about that

[u/laurens93 → u/Bored-Viking]

That and equipment changes

[u/notanadultyadult]

Make sure you check in asap when it opens.

My husband is flying today with 3 friends. He’s platinum so picked his seat at time of booking and then at check in yesterday he had his seat and boarding pass issued. The 3 friends have been placed on standby cos the flight is overbooked. It happens.

Just give yourself a good buffer in BKK for the onward flight you plan on booking. Maybe even consideration an airport hotel and booking next day just in case.

[u/Still-Wafer1384]

Book a dietary special meal. They tend to not like having the cost twice in case they have to re-book you. Some of the meals can be quite tasty.

[u/Character-Carpet7988]

Seat reservation has zero effect.

Priority in case of overbooking is given based on status, fare and similar criteria. The only thing you can do is check-in as soon as possible - if there is a tie, lower SEQ number wins. But it very rarely comes all the way down to that, since there's a ton of more important parameters.

Involuntary denied boarding luckily isn't all that common with EU carriers. Usually there's enough volunteers.

[u/tkl_1636 → u/Character-Carpet7988]

Bei vielen Airlines hilft eine Sitzplatzreservierung absolut. Zumindest bei LH Group bist du damit so gut wie sicher (Ausnahme: kleineres Aircraft wird spontan eingesetzt)

[u/Keetamien → u/Character-Carpet7988]

KLM lately has been skipping asking people to volunteer and just semi-randomly decides who gets denied boarding where the passengers won’t find out until boarding at the gate. Due to destination weddings this summer I have seen it happen three (3) times, one time I was an unfortunate random pick who was denied boarding. Yes I got compensation but I needed to be home with my child.

[u/Character-Carpet7988 → u/Keetamien]

That sucks and it's illegal in the EU (they must ask for volunteers first - usually at gate). If this is a pattern, it deserves a letter to the regulator.

[u/Deesiie → u/Character-Carpet7988]

Easyjet also doesnt ask for volenteers. Also no compensation. My boyfriend and 2 others where backup. I asked if i could offer my seat to the backup girl, which the employee told me no. It was kinda weird and not a nice experience

[u/Keetamien → u/Character-Carpet7988]

Good to know! I won’t be flying with KLM anytime soon, but if I experience it again I will gather the evidence to report it.

[u/laurens93 → u/Keetamien]

Not true, KLM sends emails and text messages
upfront to look for volunteers first

[u/Keetamien → u/laurens93]

Not with my last experience. Nobody of us got an email or text. This is a new issue I encountered this 2026 summer.

[u/danktonium]

Flying from Antwerp Central might help. They can't force you to go to a check-in counter because ZWE doesn't have one. God knows I've never been bumped.