underbokning

Underbokning is the practice of accepting fewer bookings, reservations or appointments than available capacity. The term is used in sectors that manage perishable capacity—such as airlines, hotels, restaurants, event venues and professional services—to describe a deliberate or incidental shortfall between supply and booked demand.

Intentional underbokning can be part of yield and capacity management: operators may reserve inventory for walk-ins, reduce risk of service degradation during peak demand, accommodate expected staffing limits, or maintain higher quality of service. It may also result from conservative demand forecasts, technical limits in booking systems, regulatory constraints or sudden reductions in usable capacity (for example, closed seats for safety or maintenance).

Consequences of underbokning include lost revenue, lower capacity utilization and potential inefficiency. However, it can improve customer satisfaction and reduce operational strain in contexts where overcapacity would harm service levels. The practice is commonly contrasted with overbooking, where providers accept more reservations than capacity to offset no-shows and cancellations.

Management techniques related to underbokning include improved demand forecasting, dynamic pricing, flexible staffing, and cancellation or deposit policies to balance the risk of empty capacity against customer service objectives. While overbooking attracts more regulatory and legal attention because of denied service claims, underbokning is primarily an operational and commercial decision shaped by market conditions and organizational priorities.