China Eastern Airlines' app has added a "Give Up Your Seat in Overbooked Flights and Get a 50 Yuan Discount" option. Selecting this option requires passengers to give up their seats in overbooked flights. Will this new option truly solve the overbooking problem? How will the legal rights of passengers who give up their seats be protected?

Have you ever experienced overbooking on a flight? When it comes to flight overbooking, many people picture this scenario: boarding is approaching, announcements repeatedly search for "volunteers" willing to take later flights, with some offering their seats in cash compensation. Now, this "choice" has been brought forward to the ticket purchase stage. Recently, China Eastern Airlines' app launched an "overbooking seat-giving-off" option on some flights. Passengers who select this option will receive a discount of 50-100 yuan on their ticket. However, this also means that if overbooking occurs, passengers must prioritize giving up their seats.

Can moving the option to give up a seat to the ticket purchase stage truly solve the overbooking problem? While a 50 yuan discount might seem appealing, it also introduces uncertainty to the travel itinerary – is it worth it? And how can the legal rights of passengers who give up their seats be protected?

Opening the "China Eastern Airlines" App, on the ticketing page for some flights, there is an option called "Give up your seat if the flight is overbooked, get a 50 RMB discount," with the note below stating: "Agree to give up your seat first if the flight is actually overbooked." When the reporter selected this option, a prompt appeared: "Selecting this product makes you an overbooked passenger for this flight. If the flight is actually overbooked, you must cooperate with the airline's subsequent arrangements and enjoy the compensation corresponding to the 'China Eastern Airlines Flight Overbooking Service Plan.'" China Eastern customer service explained that this product is currently mainly available to economy class passengers on certain flights.

China Eastern Airlines Customer Service: If you choose this product, you will enjoy a direct discount on your ticket purchase: 50 RMB off domestic flights and 100 RMB off international flights. If subsequent flights are actually overbooked, you will need to cooperate with the airline's arrangements, but you will still be entitled to compensation according to China Eastern Airlines' overbooking service plan.

According to industry insiders, overbooking is a common practice in the civil aviation industry. Reasonable overbooking can reduce empty seats, improve flight utilization efficiency, and provide more passengers with travel opportunities.

Industry insiders explain that the core logic is this: if an airplane has 100 seats available for sale, the airline might sell 105. If some passengers who have already purchased tickets cannot travel due to personal reasons, the extra tickets sold can still be used for their flights. However, if 103 passengers arrive, the airline needs to address the issue of the 3 passengers who cannot board the flight – this is overbooking management.

The controversy surrounding flight overbooking has been ongoing for a long time. On online platforms, many passengers have shared their experiences of only discovering their flights were overbooked upon arrival at the airport: their original itineraries were disrupted, and they could only passively accept the compensation offered by the airline, which might not even cover the actual losses caused by the delays. This time, China Eastern Airlines has moved the process of finding volunteer passengers from before flight departure to the ticketing stage.

Getting a 50 yuan discount also means uncertainty about the trip. Would travelers be willing to pay for this?

Interviews with reporters revealed that for travelers with flexible schedules and relatively ample time, having an additional discount option is quite attractive.

Citizen 1: It's like getting an extra 50 yuan on top of the airport compensation. If my trip isn't too rushed, it's like saving up for my next trip.

Citizen 2: After all, the probability of overbooking is not high. As long as the airline can provide rebooking, accommodation and meals as a guarantee, I think it is a solution.

However, many travelers value the certainty of their trip more.

Citizen 3: I don't want to choose this. If I take 50 yuan, I'll have to completely obey the airline. If there's any dispute later, it will become my responsibility.

Citizen 4: I think if the system can solve this, why push the responsibility onto the consumers? It should have set this up properly when it's buying and selling tickets.

Lin Zhijie, a senior civil aviation professional and a specially appointed expert of the China Air Transport Association, told China National Radio that this approach is equivalent to bringing the process of finding "volunteers" for overbooking forward to the ticket purchase stage, which is a beneficial attempt by airlines to explore a more appropriate way to handle the overbooking problem.

Lin Zhijie, a specially appointed expert of the China Air Transport Association, stated that in the past, finding volunteers was the most difficult aspect of handling overbooking. Different passengers have different ideas and considerations. China Eastern Airlines, through this product, effectively identified passengers willing to postpone their trips while selling tickets. Therefore, this is a very beneficial attempt at properly handling overbooking and also helps to standardize the entire operational process. On the other hand, in most cases, offering a more favorable fare can also attract price-sensitive passengers.

From an operational perspective, reasonable overbooking can improve flight utilization efficiency; however, if the actual number of passengers exceeds the number of seats, how to handle the "who stays and who rebooks" issue directly relates to passenger rights. According to the "Regulations on the Management of Passenger Services in Public Air Transport," carriers are allowed to reasonably overbook, but they must develop comprehensive contingency plans, prioritize the solicitation of voluntary passengers and provide compensation in accordance with the law, and are strictly prohibited from forcibly refusing boarding to passengers who have already purchased tickets.

Besides the 50 yuan ticket discount, how much compensation can passengers who choose to "give up their seats" during the ticket purchase stage receive? China Eastern Airlines customer service stated that the specific compensation depends on the actual situation at the boarding gate. A review of the "China Eastern Airlines Overbooking Service Plan" revealed that the compensation standards for voluntary abandonment of the flight, refusal to carry passengers, and overbooking are as follows: for domestic economy class flights delayed by 0-4 hours, a cash compensation of 1000 yuan is offered; for delays exceeding 4 hours, the compensation is 1500 yuan. However, the plan also clearly states that "these are all upper limits and not directly applicable," and the lower limit of compensation is not listed. Customer service reminds passengers that if they are concerned about their rights, they should carefully consider choosing to give up their seats during overbooking.

China Eastern Airlines Customer Service: Once you've made your selection, you can understand that your ticket is now a special type of overbooked ticket. You cannot get a refund for the overbooked portion separately. If you voluntarily change your booking, the overbooked seat will be automatically cancelled, and you will be required to pay the corresponding amount based on the revised ticket price.

A review of the data by reporters revealed that different airlines have varying rules regarding compensation for overbooking. An industry insider pointed out that when faced with overbooking, a balance needs to be struck between flight operating costs and the willingness of volunteers to accept the situation; therefore, compensation is often reached through negotiation and bargaining between the two parties.

An industry insider explained: When there's overbooking, soliciting passengers to change flights is essentially a negotiation tactic. They might ask for a price. For example, they might offer to lose 200 yuan if the subsequent flight is delayed by two hours, meaning they can earn 200 yuan for those two hours, and that's acceptable. If no one accepts 200 yuan, they might offer 500 yuan, depending on demand. So it's a matter of negotiation strategy.

This is precisely the issue that some passengers are most concerned about. Some netizens have asked whether, if they agreed to give up their seats when purchasing tickets, they can still fully negotiate compensation options like other passengers if overbooking actually occurs.

Citizen 5: I always feel like this is more like they bought out my right to negotiate for 50 yuan in advance, and I don't feel very comfortable about it.

Lin Zhijie believes that since passengers make advance promises to give up their seats, airlines should also explain the corresponding guarantees in advance as much as possible. He suggests that the compensation range and guarantee arrangements for different delay durations should be clearly stated at the ticket purchase stage. In this way, while passengers see "a 50 yuan discount," they can also clearly understand what they might have to pay and what they can get if overbooking actually occurs.

Lin Zhijie: The actual probability of overbooking is not high. In the event of actual overbooking, we don't want it to be a situation of haggling. We want a standardized procedure where we clearly inform passengers in advance, for example, how much compensation they will receive for a 2-hour delay, a 4-hour delay, and if the delay is to the next day. This should be a clear and standardized standard. When passengers purchase tickets, they should be clearly informed how much compensation they will receive in the event of overbooking, even if the ticket is 50 yuan cheaper. (Source: China National Radio)