Advice On Flying Standby

by aimeehop

posted on 11/03/2009

'Flying standby' means that you, the passenger, are put on a waiting list, called a standby list, for a given flight. Passengers on standby are assigned any extra seats on this flight as they are available. Many airline travelers find themselves flying standby when their original flight has been canceled, when a delayed flight causes them to miss a connecting flight, or when they fail to make their original flight on-time and must try to get on a later flight. Airline employees, and sometimes their family members/direct dependents, may also fly standby, for free or at a reduced fare.

As the daughter of an airline employee and a veteran standby traveler, I can offer some advice for those less experienced with the sometimes-agonizing ordeal that is flying standby:

Arrive at the airport early.
The earlier you arrive and check in, the better chance you have of getting a seat on the flight. At minimum, follow U.S. FAA guidelines - 2 hours early for a domestic flight, 3 hours for an international flight. If you're traveling during the holidays or during a period of bad weather, when you are likely to have plenty of company on the standby list, consider adding 45 minutes to an hour to the above guidelines (and bring a book to help pass the time). Your position on the standby list will be determined in part by when you check in; the earlier you check in, the higher in priority you will be.

Do not leave the gate area once it's 20 minutes before the flight's scheduled boarding time.
The airline representative at the gate may start assigning seats to standby passengers before boarding has even started, if there are confirmed unsold seats or cancellations. If your name comes up on the standby list, the airline rep will announce it over the intercom. In this case, you must present yourself at the gate desk immediately to receive your seat assignment and boarding pass; if you don't appear within a couple of minutes (or sometimes sooner, depending on the airline employee's mood), they will move on to the next person on the standby list, and you will lose your seat.

Be courteous and friendly towards airline staff - it may help you get to your destination sooner.
Even if you've been forced fly standby due to a canceled or delayed flight and are in a (justifiably) bad mood, avoid taking out your anger on the gate or front desk airline personnel; in a standby situation, getting angry will not help your cause. These employees do not have any control over the order of passengers on the standby list; several factors determine this ordering electronically. However, if you have a polite and understanding attitude towards them, they will often go out of their way to help you out as best they can, looking up other flights or alternative routes that may work better for you.

At the desk, ask for specifics regarding seat availability on your flight.
When you check in for your standby flight, at the front desk or at the gate if you're connecting, ask the airline representative to check the flight status for you. They can tell you the current number of available seats and, importantly, your position on the standby list. Ask them whether they think you're likely to get a seat on the flight based on this information -airline reps are familiar with the system and can often make a fairly accurate predictions, taking into account factors beyond the numbers shown on the computer (for example, if flights are delayed across the board due to weather, there may be a number of no-show passengers connecting from other flights). If they think you're unlikely to make it on the flight, ask them to check the status of later flights to the same destination, and/or alternative routes to your destination, as these may be better options.

Consider changing your standby listing to a later flight.
This may be a good idea if it looks like you have a significantly better chance of getting a seat on that later flight than on the earlier flight for which you were originally listed. Do this right away while you're still at the check-in desk, or, if you're at the gate, ask the airline rep if they can change your listing for you (they may not be able to, but if they can, it saves you from going through security a second time). This will forfeit any chance of getting a seat on the earlier flight, BUT will often result in your name being higher in priority on the standby list for the later flight. On the other hand, if you keep your listing on the earlier flight but don't get a seat, your name AND the names of the other standby passengers who didn't get seats will be rolled to the later flight at that time. The names will typically maintain the same ordering in priority, so if any of those other standby passengers were listed ahead of you, they'll still be listed ahead of you for the later flight (whereas if you had changed your listing earlier, you would now be ahead of them in priority).

Note: There are sometimes exceptions to this rule, because there are other factors that can contribute to priority - a customer who paid full fare may still get higher priority than someone traveling on a discount employee voucher, for example, even if the latter had his name on the standby list before the former. But following the advice above will still generally work in your favor when there are a large number of people flying standby.

When in doubt, ask an airline representative for advice.
As noted above, airline reps know the system and can typically offer good advice. When you're at the desk, don't be afraid to ask, "What do you think I should do?" if they present you with more than one flight listing option. Airline representatives have to fly standby when using employee flight privileges, so they've been in your shoes before, and will often give good advice and go the extra mile for you if you ask specifically for their opinion. Even if there's a long line behind you and the rep seems irritable, don't be afraid to ask them to check other flight options and give you advice - you waited in that long line and are entitled to customer service help. That said, try to make your decisions quickly and be efficient with their time, and don't forget to thank them for their help.

Try to stay optimistic, while keeping your expectations realistic.
A sense of humor really helps when flying standby, along with a good book and some work to do to pass any extra time you may end up spending in the airport (it's a good idea to have multiple ways of keeping yourself occupied, in case you can't find a wall outlet for your laptop). If you're flying during a holiday period or during any peak travel time, expect fuller flights, fewer available seats, and many hours spent in the airport terminal if you're connecting. It's generally not a good idea to try and fly standby by choice during the week before and the week after any holiday. It's also difficult to fly standby to popular vacation destinations during their peak seasons. Remember, too, that how full the flights to a given destination are can vary a great deal depending on the day of the week. If you're traveling to or connecting through a major city that attracts business travelers, expect fuller flights Monday-Thursday. If it's a popular 'weekend getaway' destination, you'll have a more difficult time flying Thursday-Sunday.

Don't lose hope - standby miracles can and do happen.
Every frequent standby traveler has at least one against-all-odds success story. Mine happened when I was trying to get a connecting flight out of one of the airline's major hub airports on a Sunday night, competing with other weekend travelers trying to get back to my hometown in time for work Monday morning. Bad weather in several regions of the country had caused numerous delays, meaning that many passengers had missed their earlier connecting flights through this major hub. Standby lists were long for every remaining flight that day, and I was bumped from one flight to the next from around 1:00pm onward. Hours later, as I waited at the gate for the 9:15pm flight, I had my phone out and was ready to book a hotel for the night. A cluster of at least 10 other standby passengers hovered anxiously nearby. Despite being far down on the list, a number of other standbys had already given up and left, and my jaw dropped incredulously as I heard my name announced over the intercom. I had gotten the last seat on the last flight out for the day.

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