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Standby Policy?

bgubs14
Frequent Flyer C

Does the A-List Standby Policy apply to flights after the on you are scheduled for? I have a flight at 3:45 that gets in at 11pm to my destination and there's another flight at 5pm that gets there at 8

 

 

Thanks!

7 REPLIES 7

Re: Standby Policy?

CareforNOLA
Frequent Flyer A

I see some problems with trying that approach.  First, connections.  Is the new flight direct?  If you go standby, they cannot guarantee that you will get on the next leg of the flight if you have a connection.  Second, even if the second flight is direct to your destination, you might not get on if it is full, so you will have missed the earlier flight.

 

My advice is to stick to the original plan.  Standby is a great option if you arrive early at the airport and have no connection.  Otherwise, it is not guaranteed.  

 

I hope your trip goes okay and is ontime (so you don’t have any additional wait).

Re: Standby Policy?

elijahbrantley
Aviator A
Solution

I don’t believe you can standby on a flight that departs later. The policy specifically states you can take flights PRIOR to your original; in your situation, it sounds like you want to take a flight that departs later than your original. Read more at SW’s site here.

 

If you are on an Anytime or Business Select fare, it might be worth paying the difference!

 

Good luck!

-A List, Companion Pass holder

Re: Standby Policy?

bec102896
Aviator A

You can only go standby on a flight that leaves before your flight. You can at least in my own experience standby on a flight that arrives later I did this once to avoid weather and I didn't want to worry about spending the night in an airport so I was like can I do standby on this flight that leaves earlier and has seats they said yes no problem. 

 

The reason they won't let you standby for a later flight is there is no guarantee that a seat will be available when it comes time for that flight so you would wait to be told the flight is full and your stuck waiting on another flight. I have heard of some missing there flight and saying can you put me on this one but again there is no guarantee they will be able to put you on that flight. 

 

Best advice would be to see if your original flight has a delay then you might be able to change for free without problem or see about changing to the other flight if the price is right (it could change from day to day so I would check maybe in the AM and PM) 

 

hope this helps

Blake 

Re: Standby Policy?

dfwskier
Aviator A

@bgubs14 wrote:

Does the A-List Standby Policy apply to flights after the on you are scheduled for? I have a flight at 3:45 that gets in at 11pm to my destination and there's another flight at 5pm that gets there at 8

 

 

Thanks!


As others have said, the strict intepretation of the policy does not let you do what you want to do.

 

However, there is nothing to prevent you from asking to be placed on the later flight after you get to the airport.. I'm not talking standby. I'm talking boarding pass in hand. If there are enough seats available on the later flight, the airline might just accomodate you.   You are A list. If you don't ask, you have no chance of getting. You might, or might not get it.

 

One thing I do is see if at least 8 seats are avaiable on a flight that I'd like to go out standby. So on departure day I do that by starting the booking process as if I am buying 8 seats. The system will confirm that there are at least 8 seats available (or 6 seats or 5, etc)... . Obviously I do not complete the booking process.

 

Good luck

Re: Standby Policy?

dfwskier
Aviator A

@bgubs14 wrote:

Does the A-List Standby Policy apply to flights after the on you are scheduled for? I have a flight at 3:45 that gets in at 11pm to my destination and there's another flight at 5pm that gets there at 8

 

 

Thanks!


As others have said, the strict intepretation of the policy does not let you do what you want to do.

 

However, there is nothing to prevent you from asking to be placed on the later flight after you get to the airport.. I'm not talking standby. I'm talking boarding pass in hand. If there are enough seats available on the later flight, the airline might just accomodate you.   You are A list. If you don't ask, you have no chance of getting. You might, or might not get it.

 

One thing I do is see if at least 8 seats are avaiable on a flight that I'd like to go out standby. So on departure day I do that by starting the booking process as if I am buying 8 seats. The system will confirm that there are at least 8 seats available (or 6 seats or 5, etc)... . Obviously I do not complete the booking process.

 

Good luck

Re: Standby Policy?

dfwskier
Aviator A

As others have said, the strict intepretation of the policy does not let you do what you want to do.

 

However, there is nothing to prevent you from asking to be placed on the later flight after you get to the airport.. I'm not talking standby. I'm talking boarding pass in hand. If there are enough seats available on the later flight, the airline might just accomodate you.   You are A list. If you don't ask, you have no chance of getting. You might, or might not get it.

 

One thing I do is see if at least 8 seats are avaiable on a flight that I'd like to go out standby. So on departure day I do that by starting the booking process as if I am buying 8 seats. The system will confirm that there are at least 8 seats available (or 6 seats or 5, etc)... . Obviously I do not complete the booking process.

 

Good luck

Re: Standby Policy?

bgubs14
Frequent Flyer C

I tried it but the $100+ fare difference wasn’t worth it! I was flying from MDW to LGA with a connection in STL. Both flights from MDW had the same connection flight so I was wondering if I could take the late one to reduce my layover from 4 to 1 hours . I asked and it Didn’t work ! But it was fun trying