Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

U.S. carriers generally allow one to fly standby on an earlier flight
than booked (on the same day) if there are open seats, for no
additional charge. The one time I asked about this when traveling on
a flight within Europe the agent politely but firmly said that I could
fly only on the exact flight that I had booked. This was on BA,
flying out of CPH.

Is it general policy within Europe not to allow same-day standbys, or
does it vary from airline to airline or country to country?

Before anyone flames, I'm not arguing one way or the other, just
scoping out the possibilities.


--
"Flight Now Leaving Reality, Please Fasten Your Braincells"

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

    > U.S. carriers generally allow one to fly standby on an earlier flight
    > than booked (on the same day) if there are open seats, for no
    > additional charge. The one time I asked about this when traveling on
    > a flight within Europe the agent politely but firmly said that I could
    > fly only on the exact flight that I had booked. This was on BA,
    > flying out of CPH.
    > Is it general policy within Europe not to allow same-day standbys, or
    > does it vary from airline to airline or country to country?
    > Before anyone flames, I'm not arguing one way or the other, just
    > scoping out the possibilities.

Depends on the airline and the mood of the checkin staff.
Twice I have tried this once with TAP who politely told me to buy another
ticket and once with Flybe who had no problem whatsoever.

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

    >> U.S. carriers generally allow one to fly standby on an earlier flight
    >> than booked (on the same day) if there are open seats, for no
    >> additional charge. The one time I asked about this when traveling on a
    >> flight within Europe the agent politely but firmly said that I could
    >> fly only on the exact flight that I had booked. This was on BA, flying
    >> out of CPH.
    >> Is it general policy within Europe not to allow same-day standbys, or
    >> does it vary from airline to airline or country to country?
    >> Before anyone flames, I'm not arguing one way or the other, just
    >> scoping out the possibilities.
    > Depends on the airline and the mood of the checkin staff.
    > Twice I have tried this once with TAP who politely told me to buy another
    > ticket and once with Flybe who had no problem whatsoever.

I would say the general policy is "no", but if you ask nicely they might
say yes.


Hilary

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

"Charles Hawtrey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > U.S. carriers generally allow one to fly standby on an earlier flight
    > than booked (on the same day) if there are open seats, for no
    > additional charge. The one time I asked about this when traveling on
    > a flight within Europe the agent politely but firmly said that I could
    > fly only on the exact flight that I had booked. This was on BA,
    > flying out of CPH.
    > Is it general policy within Europe not to allow same-day standbys, or
    > does it vary from airline to airline or country to country?...

Economy fares are usually sold on the basis that they are not transferable.
Full price tickets allow flexibility.

Colin Bignell

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

nightjar wrote:

    >
    > "Charles Hawtrey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    >> U.S. carriers generally allow one to fly standby on an earlier flight
    >> than booked (on the same day) if there are open seats, for no
    >> additional charge. The one time I asked about this when traveling on
    >> a flight within Europe the agent politely but firmly said that I could
    >> fly only on the exact flight that I had booked. This was on BA,
    >> flying out of CPH.
    >> Is it general policy within Europe not to allow same-day standbys, or
    >> does it vary from airline to airline or country to country?...
    >
    > Economy fares are usually sold on the basis that they are not
    > transferable. Full price tickets allow flexibility.

Indeed. But I too was quite early on a BA flight and they said no.

I don't see any economic benefit whatsoever to not accomodate an early
passenger's request if there are empty seats on the earlier flight. The
seat freed up on the later flight has a better (albeit small) chance of
being sold I would think.

Bernard Higonnet

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

nightjar <nightjar@ wrote:

    > Economy fares are usually sold on the basis that they are not transferable.

Eh? I think you mis-used both words "economy" and "transferable".

Most international tickets sold here allow you to change flight dates
and times, but on cheaper tickets it can be difficult to rebook at busy
times. More so with frequent-flyer free tickets. I have asked to get on
standby a few times, and was not refused, but it doesn't seem to be
official policy.

There is no guarentee, but try it.

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:44:53 +0200 higonnet <[email protected]> wrote:

    :>I don't see any economic benefit whatsoever to not accomodate an early
    :>passenger's request if there are empty seats on the earlier flight. The
    :>seat freed up on the later flight has a better (albeit small) chance of
    :>being sold I would think.

If the earlier flights are more expensive (not all seats between A and B have
the same price) and the later flights are not full it may be more economical
for the airlines to not allow the change so that people wishing the earlier
flight will not purchase a ticket for the cheaper later flight and gamble on
being able to change to the earlier flight.

--
Binyamin Dissen <[email protected]>
http://www.dissensoftware.com

Should you use the mailblocks package and expect a response from me,
you should preauthorize the dissensoftware.com domain.

I very rarely bother responding to challenge/response systems,
especially those from irresponsible companies.

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

"Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > nightjar <nightjar@ wrote:
    >> Economy fares are usually sold on the basis that they are not
    >> transferable.
    > Eh? I think you mis-used both words "economy" and "transferable".
    > Most international tickets sold here allow you to change flight dates and
    > times, but on cheaper tickets it can be difficult to rebook at busy times.

That is not the case within Europe, where the cheap tickets (normally
referred to as economy class, or unoffically as cattle class) are for a
specific person on a specific flight, neither of which can be changed
without buying a different ticket.

Colin Bignell

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

"higonnet" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > nightjar wrote:
    >> "Charles Hawtrey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    >> news:[email protected]...
    >>> U.S. carriers generally allow one to fly standby on an earlier flight
    >>> than booked (on the same day) if there are open seats, for no
    >>> additional charge. The one time I asked about this when traveling on
    >>> a flight within Europe the agent politely but firmly said that I could
    >>> fly only on the exact flight that I had booked. This was on BA,
    >>> flying out of CPH.
    >>> Is it general policy within Europe not to allow same-day standbys, or
    >>> does it vary from airline to airline or country to country?...
    >> Economy fares are usually sold on the basis that they are not
    >> transferable. Full price tickets allow flexibility.
    > Indeed. But I too was quite early on a BA flight and they said no.
    > I don't see any economic benefit whatsoever to not accomodate an early
    > passenger's request if there are empty seats on the earlier flight. The
    > seat freed up on the later flight has a better (albeit small) chance of
    > being sold I would think.

It would require the aircraft load calculations to be redone and might
require an additional unscheduled fuel uplift. Probably not much of a
problem with one passenger, but if one is permitted to make the change, why
not a dozen, why not half a plane load? It is simpler to have you fly on the
aircraft you have booked for.

Colin Bignell

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

Charles Hawtrey wrote:
    > U.S. carriers generally allow one to fly standby on an earlier flight
    > than booked (on the same day) if there are open seats, for no
    > additional charge. The one time I asked about this when traveling on
    > a flight within Europe the agent politely but firmly said that I could
    > fly only on the exact flight that I had booked. This was on BA,
    > flying out of CPH.
    >
    > Is it general policy within Europe not to allow same-day standbys, or
    > does it vary from airline to airline or country to country?
    >
    > Before anyone flames, I'm not arguing one way or the other, just
    > scoping out the possibilities.
    >
    >
I've done it with Deutsche BA. Turned up at the airport early, and the
previous flight was still checking in. The checkin clerk first said no,
then had a word with the gate manager who ok'd it. I think the later
flight that I was booked on was booked out, so they were quite happy to
get a seat freed up. But, it's not policy.


T.

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 15:39:28 +0100, "nightjar"
<nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here>.uk.com> wrote:


    >That is not the case within Europe, where the cheap tickets (normally
    >referred to as economy class, or unoffically as cattle class) are for a
    >specific person on a specific flight, neither of which can be changed
    >without buying a different ticket.
Firstly you need to distinguish between low-cost carriers and
traditional ones. The low-cost ones usually will not amend a booking
other than for a fee and the fare difference - which on the day of
travel may be high.

Traditional ones may allow changes, including an earlier flight,
depending on the fare paid. It's not just whether it's economy or not,
but which fare within economy. Full-fare economy (Y class?) is usually
fully flexible, other fares allow flexibility within that carrier,
others still have zero flexibility. The prices also affect your refund
rights.

So the fact that it would seem to make no difference to the carrier to
let you on an earlier flight is irrelevant. If you buy a 'cheap'
ticket that restricts flexibility as a condition, don't expect them to
allow you to behave as if you had paid more.

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

Bonzo wrote:
    > On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 15:39:28 +0100, "nightjar"
    > <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here>.uk.com> wrote:
    >
    >
    >
    >>That is not the case within Europe, where the cheap tickets (normally
    >>referred to as economy class, or unoffically as cattle class) are for a
    >>specific person on a specific flight, neither of which can be changed
    >>without buying a different ticket.
    >
    > Firstly you need to distinguish between low-cost carriers and
    > traditional ones. The low-cost ones usually will not amend a booking
    > other than for a fee and the fare difference - which on the day of
    > travel may be high.
    >
    > Traditional ones may allow changes, including an earlier flight,
    > depending on the fare paid. It's not just whether it's economy or not,
    > but which fare within economy. Full-fare economy (Y class?) is usually
    > fully flexible, other fares allow flexibility within that carrier,
    > others still have zero flexibility. The prices also affect your refund
    > rights.
    >
    > So the fact that it would seem to make no difference to the carrier to
    > let you on an earlier flight is irrelevant. If you buy a 'cheap'
    > ticket that restricts flexibility as a condition, don't expect them to
    > allow you to behave as if you had paid more.



It's not that it would make no difference to the carrier that surprises
me it is that it would be to their benefit. True, the benefit is
potential but it is still real. If they fly with an empty seat they get
nothing positive or negative except an empty seat on a future flight.
However that empty seat on the future flight has some potential value.
Perhaps they may manage to sell it. Or, perhaps, the flight will be
oversold and they will have one less compensation to pay and arrange. I
can see that they might want to discourage expectation of being able to
fly stand by for yield management purposes -- why I don't know but
perhaps. However why they don't do it on a random basis I cannot
understand.

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

"Frank F. Matthews" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
...
    > It's not that it would make no difference to the carrier that surprises me
    > it is that it would be to their benefit....

Not if they have to get an unscheduled fuel uplift to do it. That can quite
easily cause a serious delay to the departure of the aircraft.

Colin Bignell

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

"Bonzo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
...
    > Traditional ones may allow changes, including an earlier flight,
    > depending on the fare paid. It's not just whether it's economy or not,
    > but which fare within economy. Full-fare economy (Y class?) is usually
    > fully flexible, other fares allow flexibility within that carrier,
    > others still have zero flexibility. The prices also affect your refund
    > rights...

Who buys full fare tickets in Economy? If you are going to that much
expense, you may as well pay the extra for Business Class.

Colin Bignell

Re: Same-day standby on European airlines?
 

"nightjar .uk.com>" <nightjar@<insert_my_surname_here> kirjoitti viestissä
news:[email protected]...
    > "Bonzo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > ...
    > > Traditional ones may allow changes, including an earlier flight,
    > > depending on the fare paid. It's not just whether it's economy or not,
    > > but which fare within economy. Full-fare economy (Y class?) is usually
    > > fully flexible, other fares allow flexibility within that carrier,
    > > others still have zero flexibility. The prices also affect your refund
    > > rights...
    > Who buys full fare tickets in Economy? If you are going to that much
    > expense, you may as well pay the extra for Business Class.
Those who didn't reserve in time and all the seats in the business class has
been occupied by fellow passengers. And those who are on flights in which
there is no business class in the first place.