[devonharvey]

Hotels do this all the time. They book over 100% occupancy and usually someone cancels at the last minute and there's no problem. If everyone shows up they bump one of the people on the lowest rate. They give them a room at a comparable hotel nearby and some sort of other compensation. Most price-sensitive guests are okay with this trade because they're getting something for free.

They​ don't have fiascos like this because​ they aren't foolish enough to let them into the room before removing them. Unsurprisingly, kicking a guest out of a room/plane has a much higher risk of escalation than not letting them in.