How much cheaper is it to go "Stand-by" for a flight?

[Kenji4861]

I want to go to Las Vegas with my gf over one weekend.

We are located in the Bay Area, CA and the ticket on Southwest is $115 1 way.. making it

$115 x 2 ways x 2 people = $460 + Fees.

Pretty high price for 2 people to go only for 1.5 days. Driving is possible (about a 8 hour drive).. but that would leave us with 1 tired day to play there. So we thought of doing a standby.

Anyone have any experience with these? How much cheaper does it get?

 

[HappyPuppy]

You may sit in the airport all weekend and never get there. Is that cheap enough?

 

[vi edit]

If you are flying SWA, try Ding!. It's their standby fare program. Standby fares can be as low as their "promotion" rates...typically$25-$40 each way.

 

[KarenMarie]

last i heard, airlines do not do standby anymore.

At least that is what contental told me. They over book flights now, so there is no standby seating. but if they do, happy puppy is right... you could sit at the airport for days.

 

[rickn]

if they put you out on the wings, it's a free ride

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
last i heard, airlines do not do standby anymore.

At least that is what contental told me. They over book flights now, so there is no standby seating. but if they do, happy puppy is right... you could sit at the airport for days.

Southwest is a completely different beast than the others. They have hourly flights between major terminals and rarely fill planes. They don't really allow themselves to overbook.

As always exceptions apply, but that's the general rule.

 

[KarenMarie]

hmm...how about AMTRAK

 

[loup garou]

Free for me!

 

[PKPunk]

Have you tried Jet blue or Ted. Last time I flew to vegas from SFO Ted was only 140 round trip(www.flyted.com). Also check out jet blue, I flew to vegas out of oakland a year ago and it was only 130 round trip. but for both my trips I was leaving on a thursday and comming back on sunday.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
last i heard, airlines do not do standby anymore.

At least that is what contental told me. They over book flights now, so there is no standby seating. but if they do, happy puppy is right... you could sit at the airport for days.

Southwest is a completely different beast than the others. They have hourly flights between major terminals and rarely fill planes. They don't really allow themselves to overbook.

As always exceptions apply, but that's the general rule.

They do overbook.

 

[DainBramaged]

Originally posted by: werk
Free for me!

Damn airline kids. :|

 

[rh71]

I have a hard time believing that the roundtrip rate = double the one-way rate. Usually round trip is priced lower.

Then again I am going to SF next month and noticed their prices are higher for whatever reason.

 

[Toasthead]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
last i heard, airlines do not do standby anymore.

At least that is what contental told me. They over book flights now, so there is no standby seating. but if they do, happy puppy is right... you could sit at the airport for days.

Southwest is a completely different beast than the others. They have hourly flights between major terminals and rarely fill planes. They don't really allow themselves to overbook.

As always exceptions apply, but that's the general rule.

haha when I fly from Sacramento to Phoenix its ALWAYS overbooked... and when I fly to SoCal its ALWAYS overbooked.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
last i heard, airlines do not do standby anymore.

At least that is what contental told me. They over book flights now, so there is no standby seating. but if they do, happy puppy is right... you could sit at the airport for days.

Southwest is a completely different beast than the others. They have hourly flights between major terminals and rarely fill planes. They don't really allow themselves to overbook.

As always exceptions apply, but that's the general rule.

SWA always overbooks.

 

[deejayshakur]

hm good thread. i'm also thinking about a vegas trip with my gf out of the bay area.

jetblue: $175/person, but its oakland-->long beach-->vegas, making it a 4.5 hr flight.
ted (kind of a funny name for an airline, but its a subsidiary of uniTED): $185/person for 2 weeks advance purchase. they fly direct from sfo to las vegas. both are for flights departing 5/19 - 5/21. if you want something last minute, try priceline?

 

[MrScott81]

have you tried america west? I fly to Vegas (with 2 weeks notice) routinely from San Diego for $79-$99 round trip.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
last i heard, airlines do not do standby anymore.

At least that is what contental told me. They over book flights now, so there is no standby seating. but if they do, happy puppy is right... you could sit at the airport for days.

Southwest is a completely different beast than the others. They have hourly flights between major terminals and rarely fill planes. They don't really allow themselves to overbook.

As always exceptions apply, but that's the general rule.

SWA always overbooks.

I think every episode of Airline has had an irrate passenger due to overbooking

 

[Demon-Xanth]

A tip if you do it:
Check various flights for the ones with the most free space.

I flew on Delta w/ a buddy pass. I was able to go to thier website, and look at which seats I could reserve (if I were buying a ticket), saw a flight with 50% empty, took that. Standby is good if you're the type with a flexible itinerary. If you need to be at A at X o'clock, it's not for you. And don't be suprized if you get picked for a "random" security check. I did four times out of four.

 

[feralkid]

The term "Stand-by" no longer means what you are referring to.

I think this form of ticketing has been obsolete (in th U.S.) for many years.





check this out.

 

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
hmm...how about AMTRAK

And by the end of the weekend they will get there.

 

[deejayshakur]

Originally posted by: MrScott81
have you tried america west? I fly to Vegas (with 2 weeks notice) routinely from San Diego for $79-$99 round trip.

my gf's sister used to work there, but relocated to hong kong to work for cathay pacific. good for her, not for us.

edit: for america west, it's $185/person out of SFO or OAK, direct to LAS.

 

[crab]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
last i heard, airlines do not do standby anymore.

At least that is what contental told me. They over book flights now, so there is no standby seating. but if they do, happy puppy is right... you could sit at the airport for days.

They don't really allow themselves to overbook

HAHA!

 

[shopbruin]

Originally posted by: Kenji4861
I want to go to Las Vegas with my gf over one weekend.

We are located in the Bay Area, CA and the ticket on Southwest is $115 1 way.. making it

$115 x 2 ways x 2 people = $460 + Fees.

Pretty high price for 2 people to go only for 1.5 days. Driving is possible (about a 8 hour drive).. but that would leave us with 1 tired day to play there. So we thought of doing a standby.

Anyone have any experience with these? How much cheaper does it get?

1. you're flying southwest to vegas on a weekend. they deliberately overcharge.
2. i don't think southwest does standby in the method you're thinking of. only standby they have is if you want to leave on an earlier flight, they MAY make you upgrade to the full price fare.