> However, in a typical overbooking situation, there are more passengers than seats, so it's unclear who the buyer and sellers are, because none of the "sellers" actually "own" anything definitive.
I'm not quite sure I'm following. When the airline overbooks then tries to pay off passengers to accept a different flight the buyer is always the airline.
They're buying your seat back from you to satisfy their contract with someone else. I can't fathom a situation where every seat is infinitely valuable - out of several hundred people surely at least one person will accept a million dollars for example.
Overbooking can look like fraud, but if the airline offers an uncapped ever-increasing payout for a seat then the risk profile increases significantly for them and they'll do it to a lesser degree.
I'm not quite sure I'm following. When the airline overbooks then tries to pay off passengers to accept a different flight the buyer is always the airline.
They're buying your seat back from you to satisfy their contract with someone else. I can't fathom a situation where every seat is infinitely valuable - out of several hundred people surely at least one person will accept a million dollars for example.
Overbooking can look like fraud, but if the airline offers an uncapped ever-increasing payout for a seat then the risk profile increases significantly for them and they'll do it to a lesser degree.