Flights get overbooked and people are told that they can’t fly that day. Melanie Pinola looked into this:

• Passengers should never volunteer to give up their seat. Airline compensation for doing so is as little a $200.
• In contrast if no one volunteers and the airline is forced to deny passengers boarding, then Federal Law requires compensation of up to $1,300.
• Passengers who want to avoid overbookings should shy away from United, Southwest, and, especially, Delta.
• Instead they should consider Hawaiian, jetBlue, and Virgin America which have the lowest rates of passengers getting bumped.
• Those who are signed up for frequent flyer programs also usually get to avoid being asked to get off the plane.

Read other details here.

Source: Life Hacker