Bumped from a flight you had a valid ticket for? Here's what you're owed, and why overbooking almost never excuses the airline.
If you were denied boarding on an overbooked flight despite having a valid ticket and checking in on time, you're generally entitled to the same fixed compensation as a long delay or cancellation — plus a choice of refund or rerouting, and care while you wait. Unlike weather or technical faults, overbooking is a deliberate commercial decision by the airline, so it almost never gets to use the "extraordinary circumstances" defense to avoid paying.
Airlines routinely sell more tickets than there are seats, betting that some passengers won't show up. It usually works out. When it doesn't — because more passengers show up than expected — the airline ends up with more confirmed passengers than seats, and has to deal with it.
Before anyone can be involuntarily bumped, the airline is required to first ask for volunteers to give up their seats, usually in exchange for negotiated benefits (travel vouchers, a later flight, sometimes cash). If you volunteer and accept a deal, you're agreeing to give up your seat on those terms — and you may be giving up your right to statutory compensation in the process, so it's worth knowing what you're agreeing to before you say yes.
If not enough people volunteer and you're bumped against your will, that's involuntary denied boarding, and it triggers:
These rights apply together, not as alternatives — compensation doesn't replace your right to a refund or rerouting, and vice versa.
The extraordinary circumstances defense exists for events outside the airline's control. Overbooking isn't one of those — it's a calculated commercial choice the airline made when it decided to sell more seats than it had. That's why denied boarding due to overbooking is one of the more clear-cut categories of claim: there's rarely a legitimate excuse available to the airline.
Denied boarding compensation is for passengers who did everything right and were still refused a seat. It generally doesn't apply if:
Volunteers give up their seat willingly, usually in exchange for benefits the airline offers, and can negotiate those terms. Denied boarding is involuntary — you wanted to fly and were refused a seat despite having a valid ticket and checking in on time.
No. Overbooking is a commercial decision made by the airline in advance, not an external event outside its control, so the extraordinary circumstances defense doesn't apply to denied boarding caused by overbooking.
Yes. On top of compensation, you're entitled to a choice between a full refund of the unused part of your ticket or rerouting to your final destination, plus care such as meals and accommodation while you wait.
No. Denied boarding compensation applies when you did everything required — valid ticket, checked in and at the gate on time — and were still refused a seat. If you missed a deadline yourself, this doesn't apply.
Find out what you're owed — it takes about 2 minutes and costs nothing to check.