Unforseen snafus with the US Airways web site have left me with tickets that get me to my mother-in-law's house too late for Thanksgiving Dinner-(okay, no jokes here)Can anyone out there tell me about flying stand by? Checking on thier website, economy is sold out, but first class has plenty of seats. Will they fill the plane, or will the let them go empty? Also, okay, here we go again... We have 20 minutes between flights in Atlanta= A connecting flight on Delta, (same airline)- Can we make it if the flight is on time? Do we travel with all carry on luggage? (Not easy with a 7 year old!)Thanks for your info!

I appologize for the typos...

I am not an expert on stand-bys... But, it seems that many people these days have free upgrades for first class. Given that you are flying on one of the busiest days on the year - chances are that some people will upgrade, the flight may already be over-booked, and maybe some people could end up getting bumped. I think it would be important to know not only if economy is sold out - but if it is over booked in calculating your chances.

If you do decide to go stand-by get to the airport early and sign up on the stand-by list. My experience has been that airlines start taking stand-bys about 3 hours before the flight. (Call and check with US Air).

Atlanta is a really large airport. If your flights are in the same terminal is *might* be doable in 20 minutes. If they are in different terminals it could be very difficult. With heavy air traffic flights in and out are likely to be delayed.....

Maybe Thanskgivng dinner could be delayed? A day late would hardly hurt as long as all the other participants will still be around.

Gail, check with Delta, but I would ask if you can go standby on a much earlier flight in the day, the longer the day goes, the less chance you have of getting on a flight, especially during the holidays.

Since the rules have changed a bit, I am not sure, but I know I have gone to the airport and gotten on a much earlier flight in the day and that frees up a seat that they can really use for overbooked and bumped passengers and whatever later in the day, also delays are more frequent later in the day, makes sense more planes in the air so more chances that things can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong,

The chances of getting on a flight with only 20 minutes to spare is somewhere between slim and none, and slim is out of town, lol, but seriously Atlanta is a very busy airport and the holidays always mean delays.

If the seats are empty in first class they will be given out for upgrades to Gold and Silver Frequent Flyers, not to coach passengers, and alot of the time there are not enought first class seats even for the FF.

Oh and pare down to as little as you absolutely HAVE to travel with, especially with tight connections and take it on board, I have one of those rolling bags that fit right under the seat and it is great, also easy to carry and I can pack for a week in the bag.

Hope this helps, have a good holiday.

Gail, it may be a long shot but perhaps you can call usairways.com's website customer service. I accidentally double booked a flight online and they were quite helpful in fixing the problem. (I am confused about how a problem with usairways.com led you to a Delta ticket, however).

Actually, according to USA TODAY and MSNBC and other reports, Thanksgiving Day is NOT the busiest day, it's the day before and the Sunday after. Thanksgiving Day the planes are only 58% full. When they get to you, ask to be placed anywhere on the plane, you tell them you don't care where. When they see you aren't "desperate" to get INTO First Class, they'll put you there.

.... but remember that people who pay for First Class don't have to buy their tickets by any particular cut-off date, can be last minute. But do call the airline a.s.a.p. to see what they advise, and then get to airport as early in the morning as you possibly can.

Thanks for all the great info- Unfortunately the flight with seats left in first class leaves at 5:55 a.m.- getting there REALLY early might be tough!LOL. As an explanation re: US Air and Delta, I logged onto USAirways.com, knowing that only Delta flew into Albany Georgia. To my surprise, US Air booked me on Delta from Va. to Atlanta to Albany for $175 pp r/t- I booked the flight with my credit card.I then got a phone call five days later from US Air saying that Delta had denied the fare and that I had been re-booked on a later flight at an upcharge to $215. My original flight would have been $525 pp if I kept it. This story could go on and on, but basically this was a nightmare of phone calls. I usually fly US Air for FF mileage, but as five days had gone by all the other flights to the area had been booked- On the day I made the reservation ther were plenty of seats available into Columbia Ga. at $132 pp, which is about an hour from my mother in law's house. That would have been fine, and I think it stinks that US Air did not disclose that booking another airline through them could be denied. ANYWAY, thanks again for all the great info, Happy Holidays to all!