Flying Standby
 

Right now my family has a flight out of LAX but it doesn't fly until 6pm. There is an earlier flight but I was told it would cost us 700+ dollars to change to that flight for the five of us. Could we go to the airport early that day and try to get on the earlier flight if there are enough seats available? Is that what flying standby means? At what point would you even know if you will be able to board that plane-at the desk where you first check in or not until you are in the area where you get on the plane? Last question, will there be any fees for doing this change the day of the flight?
Thanks!

While it sometimes depends on the airline, my husband does this on business all the time - when you check in, you ask if you can fly standby on an earlier flight. In his case, it is never more than a few hours, so I am not sure if this will work in your case. He does not pay a fee - and it often gets him on an earlier flight.

But in your case, with 5 people and many hours between desired flight and reserved flight, I do not see how this would work. Also, it is possible the reason you got a good fare when you originally booked is because of the undesirable time of the flight.

Don't know which carrier you are using but Southwest requires you to upgrade to "full fare" before flying standby.

I think in most cases these days there is a fee for flying standby on an earlier flight. That is probably the $700 they quoted you.

If they have a lot of room on the earlier flight (you can go to the airline web site and see how full the flight is) they will let you take it as standby. There may or may not be a charge - depends onthe airline and what type of ticket you have.

But - that literally means standby - you have to stand at the gate until the flight is about to leave and they know there will be no more paying passengers - there's no way to be assured of standby in advance.

A family flying standby has much less of a chance than a single person. That being said, if you don't mind hanging out at the airport and know that you likely won't get on, you can always give it a shot. I never get any correct info on the phone -- you always have to go in person. If anything, call a few hours before to see if the flight is overbooked. If not, just show up, try to see an agent in a "Red jacket" and see what happens. Everything's so subjective these days, that it really depends on the mood of the person standing behind the counter (in addition to actual seats!)

I'm sure this depends on the airlines, and the routing, but it's been years since I've been on a flight with empty seats. On the other hand, they are more often trying to get people to give up their seats and go on later flights (with a consolation free ticket for use another time).

Especially assuming all 5 of you want to be on the same earlier flight, well I wouldn't count on it. I would pay the $700, or take take the flight you are booked on. There has to be something better to do than hanging out at LAX all day, checking into each one of the different gates as earlier flights leave (I believe that's the procedure when you fly stand by).

Why didn't you just book the earlier flight in the first place?

That would have avoided any change fees. Was it more expensive?

It was more expensive but now I wish that I had paid more originally because now I have the change fees on top of the higher rates.