You used to be able to take any open seat in your cabin once the doors closed. You might move closer to the front, grab an aisle seat, or head for an empty row in the back so you could stretch out.
For any free-market capitalists out there, this is called “market manipulation.” It’s the same as spoiling a product and letting it go to waste rather than selling it at the market price, or giving it away, because you’d rather keep the price artificially high. It’s part of the grift. They make more by price gouging in times where passengers are desperate than they lose by flying with empty seats. If they were to lower the price to the point where people would actually want to buy them, then the gouging would be too obvious.
For any free-market capitalists out there, this is called “market manipulation.” It’s the same as spoiling a product and letting it go to waste rather than selling it at the market price, or giving it away, because you’d rather keep the price artificially high. It’s part of the grift. They make more by price gouging in times where passengers are desperate than they lose by flying with empty seats. If they were to lower the price to the point where people would actually want to buy them, then the gouging would be too obvious.