JayDeee

Hi,

Well I'm in England and due to leave on Sunday on a standby flight to Hong kong to meet up with my propper ticket flight from Hkg to PER, checked the loads of people on the standby flight yesterday to find that there is not a hope in hell of me getting on as it is masively oversold, so checked all the other airlines who fly to HKG to find that they have no seats availabke at all and all flights are weightlisted (this means that along with the cargo fuel etc the aircraft is to weight capacity and there is no chance of getting a standby or full fare ticket with them either)

I could change the date of my HKG-per flightbut as it is a 35 day max ticket and the new date will be over the 35 days I have to pay another $1462 which could still go down the drain as next week beign school holidays means that the flights to HKG will be really busy for the next week or so AGHHHHHH.

so i have booked myself a 1 way from london to per on singapore airlines costing another £440 (which I think is pretty cheap??)and have lost the money already spent on other tickets.

The funny thing is that I only bothered with the standby tickets as you get an upgrade which makes the flight that much nicer but even on the way here I got economy as my upgrade priority was not put in the computer properly so I didn;t get it and had an 8hr wait in HKG so at the point decided next time I would buy a propper ticket and not have to worry about being standby this last little prob has well and truely made my mind up on that.

So in total the flight to and from Perth has now cost over $2000 and I still have my little problem of excess bagage to sort out as I would have had 40 kilo allowance on my standby flight and now only have 20.

I also had my flight from Perth to Gero booked and now land in Perth as that is taking off so think I have also lost that money and will need to spend another $2-300 on another one of them

I dont really know why I have bothered about typing all this out but at least you can have a little chuckle at the fact that cheap flights are not always that cheap.


So is anyone goin on tuesdays singapore flight to Perth? Polly what day do you get here? i might just see you in Heathrow now?

Kala

slug

Fly 1st Class myself - so wouldn't know.

I suppose you be drawing benefits when you get Perth.

Are you from Liverpool?

possoms

Well sounds like its definitely been an experience eh Kala!! hope you've enjoyed your holiday though, have a good flight home

Bix

Nice reply........guess you rehearsed that for a long time.

Here's your prize Mr.Slug........

Sleeping Beauty

kala, used to work in travel myself for nearly 20 years, and came to the conclusions that standby flights are more trouble than they are worth, especially if you've got connections to make!!

used to end up going to the local travel agents and booking through them, same as joe bloggs.

its okay if you've not really got a timetable and there's only 1 of you. otherwise

hope you get home safe and sound, leaving this miserable weather behind you!!

possoms

Its difficult though isnt it, we were talking about frequent fliers the other night but are they a good option? means you always have to fly with same company, and I believe you cant use them on any special offers or bargain flights I am right?

slug

Only with Tequilla thank-you

Maybe we could share a bottle or two some time?

Pollyana

Oh kala, you poor love. my airline mates have often suggested I go standby, but I've always been afraid of ending up in the same situation. At least you are stuck in the UK, not stuck halfway. A cabin crew friend of ours got stuck in Tokyo for 4 days a couple of years back - VERy expensive experience.
I fly over next Thursday, so will just miss you unfortunately.
I'm looking forward to comparing my UK-Returnee expereince with the one you posted on the UK forum - be interesting to see how they compare, won't it.
Hope your flight is OK - sorry I shall just miss you

moneypenny20

At least you had a good holiday Kala and got hubby over for a bit (oo er missus). Worth the money though to find out you are happier in Aus than the UK.

Rooksie

youd be the little worm at the bottom of the bottle then?

Steve G

JayDeee

So do I usually but I don't pay for it

Never drawn benefits in my life because I have worked since leaving school and now own my own business so have never had a reason to draw benefits

No I am not from Liverpool are you insinuating(SP) that people from Liverpool are more likely to have a bit of bad luck with a standby flight than anyone else?

You are a strange strange person.

Pollyana, I can only hope that you feel the same as me when you get here, I have had a great time here but I (at the moment so hope it lasts) feel that Geraldton is my home, I have my fingers crossed for you.

I will definately stay clear of standby again, I have alsways been so lucky, only once I have I been stuck in Hong Kong and it was only for 1 day and I ahve always been lucky with my upgrades but that was when I was on my staff travel, Now I use my dads and if not actually acompanied by him the priority goes down so not worth it.

Never mind a least I will get a new stamp in the passport as I have never been to Singapore before even if it is only for 1hr and 45 mins

Cheers guys
Kala xx

Wol

Hope it all works out, Kala.

Incidentally it's WAITlisting - nothing to do with the weight of the thing, just waiting on the standby list. What fun!

slug

Its the mind-bending drugs I took in the seventies. pops took the allowance away for a while and had me locked away in Devon! still he knew what he was doing. makes for a good slant when sitting at the canvas

s

sj oldfield

So I take it you are a bit pissed off eh Kala??????????