Hi,
My husband recently got hired at Jet Blue who is partners with many airlines and we can fly for free (or just taxes) on several that fly to Europe. We would like to go to Italy, fly into Venice (or Milan) and back out of Rome. I would like to go the first week of August because I recently started a new job and do not have vacation time until then. I have not been able to go on vacation for a couple of years and the thought of waiting any longer makes me crazy. Are we insane to try to travel to Italy in August on standby? Or is it possible given that we have a choice in airlines and can get several passes (Continental, United, USair, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Alitalia)? Has anyone tried to do this?
Thanks,
Amy

You need to be extremely flexible. These non-rev standbys have the lowest priority when getting seats.

During high season, you probably should only try to standby on your way back from London Heathrow. Among BA, VS and UA, you have like 30 flights a day to choose from to get back to the US.

You really cannot say you want to fly to Venice or Rome. Basically during high season, you go up to the airline and tell them - anywhere in Europe.

Thanks, that is good to know. So you think that we will have a better chance getting to Italy when in another European country? If so, that is a good idea.

And even the non-rev standbys have a priority system. Since you are not BA,UA,VS employees, your priority will be even lower. Most airlines expect some length of service eg 1 year before you can get standbys.

I don't think it a good idea to go to anywhere in Europe as you then have to work out how to get from anywhere to Italy and back again. If you need to be at work on a certain date, standby can be risky, especially in August when all Europe is on vacation.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to such tickets, but I know people who do. The key is <b>flexibility</b>. Forget about checked luggage. Don't prebook hotel or tours.

You should learn real well about discount airlines that fly from wherever you land in Europe to wherever you actually want to go. Go to www.whichbudget.com to find out what discount airlines fly to/from Venice and which ones fly to/from Rome.

You standby at your US airport. You tell them I want to get on a plane to Europe tonight, WHEREVER IT MAY BE. You may get to London, or Paris, or Frankfurt, or Brussels. If you're really lucky, you get to Italy. But don't count on it.

Keep in mind that few discount airlines fly to/from London Heathrow, and you'll need to transfer to Gatwick, Luton or Stansted (though British Airways may have something not that expensive, again don't count on it). So, LHR is a good place to standby back to the US, but not a good place to land in.

I was chatting with a Continental manager a few weeks ago, and he told his story about trying to get home to Houston from Las Vegas on such free ticket, after a busy weekend at LV. He literally went from gate to gate, asking them &quot;do you have standby opening?&quot; without even asking where the flight is going to. Basically whatever that can get he and his wife out of LAS.

Or my cousin who has access to 10% fares on Cathay Pacific. She flew from Houston to Vancouver and hope to get on a CX flight to Hong Kong. They told her forget about it for the <b>next whole week</b>. She ended up buying an expensive ticket on Air Canada because she has to get to Hong Kong.

So, that's the type of travel you're talking about, if you want to use these non-revs.

My suggestion? Don't even plan where you want to go. Just see what's available and get there as a mystery vacation. If you only have a week of holiday in August and want to see Venice and Rome, then you better buy a real ticket instead.

I think that you are nuts to try and go to Italy on standby in the summer especially since you and your husband are not &quot;seasoned nonrev travelers&quot;.Summertime is always difficult to travel standby basis and Italy has been the number one destination for American tourists the past few years according to AAA.Most of us who work for the airlines go to Italy(especially Rome or Venice) during the winter or very early spring to ensure that we can get over and back.
As others have stated-when you fly another airline you go after everyone that is supposed to be on their standby list and then it usually goes by seniority which you won't have either.You could easily spend a ton of money on hotels and extra tickets by going to &quot;high traveled cities&quot; like Rome during high season.
I have been with my airline for 34 years and the best advice that I can pass on to you is sometimes it is almost easier to just buy a cheap ticket and know that you have a seat going when and where you want to go.

Remember you are talking about
HIGHSEASON.....
Only if you have time enough and be prepared to stay additional nights, you can.

Thanks everyone, I think I will try to go to Hawaii instead and save Italy for next spring. Hopefully the exchange rate will be better as well, it is terrible right now. What do you think of going to Hawaii in August?

Amy..My airline employee friends do not even dream of flying standby until October.To anywhere and from anywhere.The gurus are saying that all flights this summer will be full, at least domestically.At any rate, best of luck.

It looks like you are right. I checked and right now there are a lot less seats available to go to Hawaii than Italy right now and this is still 3 1/2 months away. I guess I should bite the bullet and wait to go on vacation.

Here's an insider tip: Do NOT tell people in airport waiting area or sitting next to you on plane that you got the seats for free! That is very verbotten and considered in poor taste. While people do know these perks exist; no one who is paying a fare [or perhaps full fare - especially if you are lucky enough to be in First Class] wants to hear you got to sit next to them for free or taxes only.

Also, I am sure you will be given the rules pertaining how you must dress etc when you fly non-rev. No jeans, sweats etc. United used to require that women wear socks/or some type of hose.

Finally, with less number of flights and fewer seats, be prepared to wait hours in the airport before you get on a flight.

I know this because my sister husband flew for United for many years and as a retiree they still have these perks. It will be slightly easier for you since your DH is current employee [which I think puts him before retirees], but they do use hire date to hand out seats at gate.

Interesting the Jet Blue couldn't put folks on other carriers when they had all their troubles earlier this year because they had no alliances, but have alliances for this purpose. Just a thought.

Debi (and Amy) - &lt; parters/alliances with other airlines &gt; - I was wondering the same thing. I didn't know Jet Blue had alliances with anyone else.

I have friends who work for UPS and FedEx..They have freebies with most airlines.Funny that even tho Southwest has no interline ticket arrangements, they have always had reciprocal aggreements with most carriers.

amywwd

Well I am from Italy, work for an airline (not Alitalia) and fly with stand-by tickets since 17 years !
Well, there are some hints and tipps to follow:

- AVOID WEEKEND days and concentrate on tue/wed, instead.
- Call the airline some days before and again the day before to check how your preferred or intended flight looks like. You cannot count 100% on what they say becuase the situation changes continuously but it is anyway a kind of good indication. It makes no sense to show up at the airport on a busy saturday for an overbooked flight !
- check which airlines fly that segment and be prepared for alternative routings according to the schedule, different time of departure etc..
- should be more than one flight a day for the same destination, try the first one, first !

In this way I could also fly on june/july and august from/to Italy and, yes BeacBoi also to Hawaii and Tahiti !

While most of people from USA try to fly the Los Angeles - Honolulu flights, we checked the situation in advance and decided to avoid this too busy way.
Instead, we flew from San Francisco to Kona, Big Island, then from Hilo, Big Island to Honolulu, then from HNL to Kauai, then from Kauai to Maui and from Maui to Los Angeles. That was july and we flew from/to Italy ALL flights with almost free stand-by tickets. We were a party of 4 !!!

So, do not give up, but as other said, be flexible and do not fix the lodging too strictly, but prepare an action plan in case of offloading, where to sleep near an airport with a low/medium budget etc....

From Italy to Papeete we again avoided Los Angeles and flew via Tokyo ! That flight Tokyo-Papeete was almost empty, while the Los Angeles.Papeete were all horrible !

I have had a lot of fun !

I could write a book on my 16 years stand-by tickets all over the world.

It is true that check-in operators try to discourage you with &quot;just forget it&quot;.... &quot;don't even try !!&quot;..
Instead I have never given up until the aircraft had left its parking positions. A lot of time other non-rev passengers had left the gate and we were accepted at the very few minutes, once because a couple, already assigned to their seats, had the passport expired and could not leave. Another time 2 guys were taken back away from their seats because they were drunk !! We got their seats !!

The worst experience I had was having to fly 11 hours overnight from Frankfurt to Bangkok on a jump seat, but due to the fact that I had a quick connection from Bangkok to New Zealand I was really lucky and happy to be on that jump seat rather than staying in Frankfurt !

On tghe way back from Bangkok we tried That Aieways to Frankfurt but could not get the seats. Then, around midnight we tried all Thai flights to Eurpoe. We did not make it with Frankfurt, Copenhagen, London, Rome but we made it to Paris !

This gives you a deeper idea of what you could expect from your stand-by status. If you both do not take it too seriously and have the feeling that your holiday might be wasted by too much stress, then, I agree with those saying to buy a regular confirmed ticket, otherwise, just pack and go !!
Once in Europe there are a lot of flights to/from Italy !!