overbook
Reserve too many
To overbook is to accept more reservations than available capacity—seats on a flight, rooms in a hotel, tables at a restaurant.
Airlines routinely overbook, betting that some passengers won't show up: The flight was overbooked, so they offered vouchers for volunteers to take a later one.
The practice maximizes revenue but risks stranding customers when everyone appears.
Advance arrangement to hold
- airlineAir transport company
- flightAerial journey by aircraft
- hotelCommercial lodging establishment
- passengerTraveler, not operator
ticketing · waitlist · standby · confirmation · itinerary · no-show · seat · capacity
No inventory remaining
- overcapacityBeyond maximum capacity
- fullMaximum extent reached
- oversubscribedDemand exceeds availability
- excessSurplus beyond need
surplus · overflow · saturated · scarcity · quota · allocation
reservation
Advance arrangement to hold
passenger · ticketing · waitlist · standby · confirmation · itinerary · no-show · seat · capacity · bumped
sold-out
No inventory remaining
- overcapacityBeyond maximum capacity
- fullMaximum extent reached
- oversubscribedDemand exceeds availability
excess · surplus · overflow · saturated · scarcity · quota · allocation
frustration
Displeasure from blocked efforts
- letdownFailure to satisfy expectations
- inconvenienceMinor difficulty or trouble
- bumpedStruck with impact
stranded · disruption · apology · complaint · refund · voucher · delay · downgrade · runaround · grievance
occupancy
State of inhabiting space
- forecastingEstimating future conditions
- algorithmFinite problem-solving procedure
- hedgeBoundary of planted shrubs