Can the public fly standby?

If you're a member of the general public, your options for flying standby are much more limited: You can fly standby if you have a ticket for a flight and you're trying to get on an earlier one, or you may fly standby if you've missed your flight and are waiting to get on the next available one.



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While airline employees and their guests are primarily the people flying standby, it's also an option available to many non-employees who are looking for a way to hop onto a different flight than the one they booked.

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Can you simply show up at the airport without a ticket and expect to get somewhere for cheap? The short answer is no. Airlines no longer allow you to wait around at the counter in hopes of snagging a standby flight and filling the last seat of a departing flight.

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Some airlines will let you phone in or register online to get on the standby list, but these options may only be available for confirmed same-day changes. Others may require you to show up at the airport and speak with an agent or at least use the kiosks at the airport.

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Tuesdays and Wednesday seem to be two of the best for flying standby. Simply, there are generally less travelers and more space on planes.

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It's an option if you're hoping for an earlier flight or if your flight has been canceled or delayed. Flying standby with us is free and easy, but there's no guarantee that you will get a seat while on a standby list.

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While flying standby used to be a cheap travel option, today you can expect to pay a standby fee in addition to your ticket cost. Most airlines charge such fees, although first-class travelers, business class passengers, and elite program members often enjoy free standby options.

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Standby passengers typically have priority based on how much they paid for their tickets and their relative status in the airline's frequent flyer program.

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The letters SBY appear on a boarding pass when your boarding is subject to space and dependent on the waiting list at the airport to confirm your seat.

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People flying standby go to check-in as usual and pass through security. At the gate, the waiting begins. Holders of standby tickets do not have a mandatory right to carriage. This means that they can only fly if all seats are not already occupied by passengers with regular tickets.

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During boarding, as seats are available, names will be called in order from the list, and passengers will be issued seats for the flight. If the flight fills up before they get to your name, you'll be left at the gate watching the plane take off.

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PreCheck is determined by the TSA on a per flight basis. Until you're confirmed on the flight there's nothing for TSA to verify, thus you can't get PreCheck when standing-by, unless you have a BP for another confirmed flight where you were given PreCheck.

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Price: if you do without the security of a commercial ticket, you save money first and foremost. Standby flights are in fact quite cheap. Just about 10% of the normal price must usually be paid. So a standby flight can be quite financially rewarding.

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Standby means that portion of a duty period during which a flight crewmember is subject to the control of the program manager and holds himself or herself in a condition of readiness to undertake a flight.

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It means exactly what it says: an agent will assign a seat to you at the gate. Chances are the flight is overbooked, so they're still figuring out who is flying and who is not.

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