<BR>A friend of mine (who is a pilot) just gave me 2 buddy passes that I want to use to fly to London in July. To clarify: buddy passes are virtually free but you have to fly stand-by. Is this worth the money it will save us? If anyone has attempted to fly stand-by to Europe from the US (I'm in Ft Lauderdale/Miami) what was your experience? Also, does anyone have any tips about when we'd have the best shot of getting on a flight (days of the week that are least likely to be full, etc.). Thanks!

Kimmie: I've traveled on these tickets many times. It's cheap, but you will pay somewhere down the line, and what you give up is peace of mind that you'll get on the plane when you want. You need to travel LIGHT, like carry on your bags. You don't want to check your bags and then you not get on the flight. You know where that get your brain. You also want to build in an extra day on the coming home part of the trip. I've never had a problem getting on (in Chicago) to go to Europe, but just about every time coming home, there a full flight and I get to wait a few hours or a day. So build in that extra day on the tail end. <BR> <BR>2 examples: Flying four girls out of Milan, NO SEATS. Did some quick work and found that there was no way we could get out of Europe same day. We could get out of Europe the next day from LONDON, so we cabbed to the other airport in Milan, flew to London, got the airport hotel, stashed our bags, and had a great time for about 4 hours in London. I just had to call home to make sure the cat was fed. <BR> <BR>Another example, full morning flight out of Paris. Took next flight, 8 hours later. They fed us, no biggie. <BR> <BR>Just have a very open mind, expect delays, remember to verify, be ever so nice to the desk people, and offer praises if you get on. <BR> <BR>

Hi Kimberley - <BR> <BR>Pretty much ditto to the above. Absolutely don't check any bags and travel very light. You should do this anyhow but when flying stand by, you board last and there is often not much room even for just a carry-on. <BR> <BR>Also, do expect delays. Then hopefully, you'll be happily surprised when you don't have any and prepared when you do. <BR> <BR>Lastly, as above, plan an extra day getting home if it makes a difference to your life/job. We were in Hong Kong last Thanksgiving and we got delayed 24 hours. We weren't even flying stand-by, just very unlucky. It wasn't a big deal for us though because we are self-employed so we didn't have anyone waiting to yell at us when we showed up a day late. And if any of my customers ever yelled at me, they would be shown the door and would not be customers any longer! <BR> <BR

My wife is an airline employee, & we fly almost everywhere standby,(with the exception of maybe Vegas & Phoenix) with our 2 kids & occassionally another person. We have never had to cancel plans because we couldn't get to where we were going. & we have never been delayed by more then a day, yet. But we usually have alternate plans available, which include alternate destination cities & trains. We have flown to Glasgow to go to London, we have flown to Brussels to get to Paris, & have gone to London & then connect to a flight to Oslo. & my wife can check seat availability on the planes of various flights, which help. We have flown on Sundays & Saturdays, & various other days of the week, but usually stay away from flying on Fridays, & sometimes on Sunday nights & Monday mornings - many business travelers then. Also depends on time of the year. Also, weekends before & after a holiday (july 4th) are usually fairly full, although sometime, if you fly on the holdiay, there is no problem. To Europe, we usually fly during shoulder times, May, June, September, with no problems. Sometimes, good days to fly 1 week are not good the next. We are flying to London, standby, in mid-June this year, we were planning to go in early June, but our fly days - Thursday & Tuesday were already looking full. But those days look ok for the week we are going. As others have said, travel light & flexible, & I also add, with possible alternate plans to get to your destination. We fly in & out of cities that may have a number of flights available to where we want to go. You may even want to go up to Dulles near Washington DC to catch your international flight. There may also be the possibilty that when you get on the flight, there will not be 2 seats together & you & your partner may have to split on the flight, but atleast you will be on the flight. Good Luck. <BR>

My wife is an airline employee & we fly just about everywhere(with the possible exception of Phoenix & Vegas)standby, with our 2 kids, & sometime with a 5th person. & we have never not gotten to our destination, & have never been delayed even a full day, yet. We usually have alternate plans also, for reaching our destination. We went to London by flying into Glasgow, we have gone to Paris by flying into Brussels, we have gone to Munich by flying into Frankfurt, & have flown to London & caught a connecting flight to get to Oslo. There are better times of the year to have a favorable chance to get seats. We have flown on Saturdays, Sundays, etc. but try to stay away from Fridays, Sunday nights, & Monday mornings, when many business travelers are flying. The weekends before & after holidays(July 4th) are usually full but sometimes you have no problems on the day of the holiday. It also helps that my wife can check seat availability of flights. We fly to Europe during the shoulder season, June, May, or September. Sometimes days that are good for 1 week, may not be good for another. We are flying standby to London in mid-June this year. We were going to fly in early June, but our fly days Tues & Thurs were already looking full, but those days look ok for mid-June. Normally Tuesdays are a good day. As other posters have said, travel light, be flexible, & I will add have alternate plans getting to your destination, which may include flying to another city & taking the train. Or fly out of a city were there are more flights to where you are going, such as Dulles in Washington DC. Going standby has allowed us to afford a few more trips to Europe & to also bring our kids. Also when you get on a flight, be aware that there may not be 2 seats together & you & your companion may have to split for the flight, atleast you will be on the plane. Good Luck. <BR>

My wife is an airline employee & we fly just about everywhere(with the possible exception of Phoenix & Vegas)standby, with our 2 kids, & sometime with a 5th person. & we have never not gotten to our destination, & have never been delayed even a full day, yet. We usually have alternate plans also, for reaching our destination. We went to London by flying into Glasgow, we have gone to Paris by flying into Brussels, we have gone to Munich by flying into Frankfurt, & have flown to London & caught a connecting flight to get to Oslo. There are better times of the year to have a favorable chance to get seats. We have flown on Saturdays, Sundays, etc. but try to stay away from Fridays, Sunday nights, & Monday mornings, when many business travelers are flying. The weekends before & after holidays(July 4th) are usually full but sometimes you have no problems on the day of the holiday. It also helps that my wife can check seat availability of flights. We fly to Europe during the shoulder season, June, May, or September. Sometimes days that are good for 1 week, may not be good for another. We are flying standby to London in mid-June this year. We were going to fly in early June, but our fly days Tues & Thurs were already looking full, but those days look ok for mid-June. Normally Tuesdays are a good day. As other posters have said, travel light, be flexible, & I will add have alternate plans getting to your destination, which may include flying to another city & taking the train. Or fly out of a city were there are more flights to where you are going, such as Dulles in Washington DC. Going standby has allowed us to afford a few more trips to Europe & to also bring our kids. Also when you get on a flight, be aware that there may not be 2 seats together & you & your companion may have to split for the flight, atleast you will be on the plane. Good Luck. <BR> <BR>

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Hi I work for United and travel standby all the time my advice is dont go in the summer to Europe. last summer people were standing by for 2-3 days. On buddy passes you are below employees and parents so if there are 30 people Standing by you are towards the bottom. The best time to go to Europe is Jan-Apr or oct -nov. we went last thanksgiviging to London Wed nite -Monday wide open flights and London is already decorated for XMAS. Make sure your friend gives you enough coupons in case you need to connect if you are flying to San Francisco and have to fly thru Chicago instead of non-stop.