Once upon a time bookings were a great way to save big bucks on airfares when the schedule was flexible. These days, airlines have become smarter and offer standby bookings to an unconfirmed ticket for the same-day flight change, which requires a pre-purchased ticket. But before you go ahead, here’s a little low-down of all the dos and don’ts of flying standby.
Procedure to fly standby
Yes, flying standby is tougher but not impossible. You can still fly ‘standby’ only if you have bought a ticket and want to change the same itinerary due to cancelation or missing your flight last minute.
The latter is subjected to certain limited cases, depending upon the severity of the situation. So, what’s the way out for standby bookings? First, contact the airline as it gives priority to first-come-first-served basis. Next, remain alert. If a gate agent calls your name respond ASAP before they move to the next flier immediately.
Cost involved
These days, standby tickets come with an added fee on the price of your original ticket. This means airlines don’t offer free ‘standby’ tickets anymore? Well, they do. But only to elite fliers and members of the loyalty program. Each airline has its own standby programs terms and conditions. While Alaska Airlines and JetBlue offer free same day standby to any passenger (how nice of them to do that) for selected cities, others like American Airlines, Delta, Frontier and United Airlines offer this feature only to elite members according to their frequent flyer reward programs.
Are you a buddy?
We aren’t talking of travel buddies here. In airline language, a buddy pass is given to a friend or a relative who works for an airline. So, if you’re an airline ‘buddy’ you can avail the standby feature. However, there are no free lunches here. You still need to pay a nominal fee and other taxes on your ticket.
Is there any other way?
Yes, there is. Download the standby app provided by some airlines. Other tricks would be sign up for an elite travel program, wear a smile (a smiling face attracts many) and reach the airport early. And one thing you can never ever do is to argue with the airline staff without knowing the standby procedure and policies Trust us, it will not help at all.
Standby for some great news
Thanks to AirTkt, you’ll never need to standby as we have the cheapest flight bookings and travel discounts. Hurry, book your flight today!
