# Do Airlines Still have a Standby System?



## roker (8 Nov 2014)

Years ago when I was flying around regularly, If I had a connection to make and I was not sure what time I would get into the airport, I used to book a later flight, and if I arrived early I could catch the earlier flight by going on the standby list at the desk. This way I was assured I would not miss a connection, if I did not make the standby, then I still had a booking.
Do airlines still have standby lists?
I remember BA also used to do a shuttle service on certain routes which require no booking.


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## Purple (20 Nov 2014)

I have been in that situation a good few times and in the case of Aer Lingus the answer is no, they don't have a standby system.
If you get to the airport early they will change you the difference between what you paid for your ticket and what the listed cost of the earlier flight is.


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## Sumatra (20 Nov 2014)

More often they seem to over book flights these days.


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## serotoninsid (20 Nov 2014)

Sumatra said:


> More often they seem to over book flights these days.



They do?  I guess that's ultra efficient.  What happens on the occasional instance when they get caught out with this...which surely must happen every now and then?


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## Sumatra (20 Nov 2014)

> What happens on the occasional instance when they get caught out with this...which surely must happen every now and then


 
They offer you an alternative flight and compensation.


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## newtothis (20 Nov 2014)

Sumatra said:


> More often they seem to over book flights these days.


 
Not just these days: they've always done this, even decades ago.

Mind you, it may be done more aggressively these days.

Once, many moons ago, I was in New York and Aer Lingus had overbooked the flight home. They looked for volunteers to take a later flight with the offer of a free upgrade and some cash for meals etc. whilst they waited. Anyway, they got sufficient volunteers.


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## so-crates (21 Nov 2014)

Purple said:


> I have been in that situation a good few times and in the case of Aer Lingus the answer is no, they don't have a standby system.
> If you get to the airport early they will change you the difference between what you paid for your ticket and what the listed cost of the earlier flight is.



I would agree they don't have a formal standby system. However on a couple of occasions flying from Heathrow to Dublin, I was in the airport early enough to catch an earlier flight and was offered a seat on the earlier flight at no charge. This would have been within the last few years.


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## landlord (21 Nov 2014)

Almost all airlines including Aer Lingus DO have a standby system. Unfortunately it's only for their staff, relatives of staff, Caras (friends of staff) and other airline staff members.


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## Ihana (21 Nov 2014)

SAS offered to put me on an earlier flight recently.  They are the most flexible of all airlines I fly with.  Really like them.


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## huskerdu (21 Nov 2014)

You have to compare the business models of airlines now and then.

Back in the old days, a lot of people bought flexible tickets and the more you paid the more flexibility you got. 

The standby system was part of this. 

Now, all cheap tickets are a ticket for one particular flight with no right to change, apart from the general T&C about cancelling and rebooking.

If you have bought a ticket for the 6pm flight, there is no incentive for an airline to allow you to change to the 3pm flight for free unless it suits them ( maybe they know the 6pm flight is overbooked). They want you to buy a more expensive flexible ticket ( which are still available from most airlines), if you think you will want to change the flight at the last minute.


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## newtothis (21 Nov 2014)

huskerdu said:


> If you have bought a ticket for the 6pm flight, there is no incentive for an airline to allow you to change to the 3pm flight for free unless it suits them ( maybe they know the 6pm flight is overbooked).


 
This isn't quite true: it's never in the interests of a carrier to fly an empty seat. If the departure of a flight is imminent, and the seat would otherwise be empty, and if they have someone from a later flight to fill it, then they have an incentive to take them: they can always re-sell the seat on the later flight. There is no more perishable product than a seat on a plane: once a set time comes, it goes from having a value to being completely valueless.

Of course this has to be balanced by the possibility of getting you to pay for the earlier flight. Also, with faster turn around times these days, pretty much everyone boards when departure is imminent, making it possibly impractical. Then of course there's the overhead of actually managing the process.

I'm not saying there is a stand-by system on all airlines these days - I just don't know - but just to point out that there is an incentive to have one for people hoping to travel earlier (i.e. potentially resell the seat on the later flight). That incentive has to be balanced by costs and incentives not to do it.


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## cian8 (21 Nov 2014)

landlord said:


> Almost all airlines including Aer Lingus DO have a standby system. Unfortunately it's only for their staff, relatives of staff, Caras (friends of staff) and other airline staff members.




Yup. Recently gained access to Aer Lingus' standby system - great prices!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## moneybox (21 Nov 2014)

I missed a flight with Ryanair a few months back and when I went to their desk they offered to give me the last seat on the next flight which was due to fly out a few hours later but may I hasten to add it cost me a hefty penalty/ fee  of €110


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## Purple (24 Nov 2014)

moneybox said:


> I missed a flight with Ryanair a few months back and when I went to their desk they offered to give me the last seat on the next flight which was due to fly out a few hours later but may I hasten to add it cost me a hefty penalty/ fee  of €110



I've paid Aerlingus £225.00 for the same thing in London.


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