Standby

[rsiemsen1]

Hi,

I have a flight tomorrow using my rapid rewards points.  Can I standby for an early flight and if so will I be charged more points?

Thank you

[DancingDavidE]

There is a benefit for A-list to have same-day standby without a charge - if that applies then yes.

If not, you can still ask. They are likely to charge the difference in fare if the earlier flight is full, in that case the demand is there for the stadby spots or people might decide to purchase high-fare tickets at the last minute.

I have had "no charge" standby in the past, often when neither flight was particularly full and you are just moving up one flight earlier to your destination, later in the day, etc.

[chgoflyer]

Gate agents have discretion in this area. But IMHO, unless you are an A-LIster, it's gotten harder since the introduction of that benefit to get standby on Southwest without paying the fare difference. One notable exception is if your originally scheduled flight is showing a delay. (And, that threshold used to be 30 minutes, but I'm finding 30 minute delays are so common now that you need an hour or so delay to be allowed standby on an earlier flight).

Whether this is a result of the new policy granting the benefit to A-Listers, or because flights are often completely full these days I'm not sure. I'm usually immediately asked if I am an A-Lister (or bought a BS or AT ticket), or told that the flight is full.

[DancingDavidE]

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@chgoflyer wrote:

Gate agents have discretion in this area. But IMHO, unless you are an A-LIster, it's gotten harder since the introduction of that benefit to get standby on Southwest without paying the fare difference. One notable exception is if your originally scheduled flight is showing a delay. (And, that threshold used to be 30 minutes, but I'm finding 30 minute delays are so common now that you need an hour or so delay to be allowed standby on an earlier flight).

Whether this is a result of the new policy granting the benefit to A-Listers, or because flights are often completely full these days I'm not sure. I'm usually immediately asked if I am an A-Lister (or bought a BS or AT ticket), or told that the flight is full.

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That's a good point @chgoflyer, I was A-list before when I did this, now that the benefit is formalized for A-list they may not offer it as frequently to non-A-list.

They have also accepted companion for the change although my companion is not A-list, and according to the new policy they don't have to do that. One key point is if the flight is not full, then in practice I would just re-add the companion after being confirmed, so as long as I didn't have to wait until the plane was boarded to find out standby status it would be equivalent. 

If the standby list wasn't going to be cleared until the last minute though, I don't know if the gate agent can give the leeway.