Overbooking a flight is not bad; it can actually help keep costs for the airline low, which means a more affordable ticket for you. Airlines know that a certain percentage of passengers will “no-show” on every flight. As a result, they sell more tickets than there are seats to guarantee revenue. Of course, if everyone does show up and the flight is oversold, someone will be bumped.
This can be a positive for those with flexible travel schedules, as the airline is likely to offer cash or vouchers for volunteers who are able to take a different.
Often, a volunteer will step forward, but sometimes everyone is unwilling to change their plans and someone is involuntarily bumped.
The US Department of Transportation estimates that fewer than 1 in 10,000 passengers are bumped involuntarily, though the number can be higher over peak holidays. In the US, about 15,000 passengers were involuntarily bumped from flights over the year ending April 2018, according to Money.com. During that time more than 630 million people boarded a flight with one of the eight major US airlines, which puts your odds of being involuntarily bumped at less than one in 42,000. Though according to Vox.com, the DOT says the actual odds are one in 67,000, the lowest rate since 1995.