Stand-by flights intra Europe?
 

Used to be that I could go to an airport and get a cheap stand-by ticket which would allow the airline to make SOMETHING instead of flying an empty seat. Does this exist anymore? I will be in Budapest and might want to fly last minute to Paris. Is it possible that I could "shop" the airlines that have that route and get a good deal?

There's no such thing as cheap standbys. Buying last minute at an airport will inevitably mean you'll be paying the highest possible fare.

You need to do two things:

1. Go to whichbudget.com and then go to the airlines listed as flying the route. And do so as soon as possible.
2. But whichbudget lists only airlines that call themselves "low-cost". Increasingly, conventional airlines' net prices may be as cheap as, or lower than, "low cost" companies. So also go to the Budapest airport website, see who else flies the route and check them.

What can happen on rare occasions, on some routes (and I have no idea if Budapest-Paris is one of them), is that you can pick up a somewhat reasonable, last-minute flight+hotel package at a site like www.lastminute.fr , although a cheap flight alone is extremely unlikely. I certainly would not count on this happening.

Hi RS,

>Used to be that ........<

But that was a long time ago.......

((I))