I don’t understand how someone gets put on standby. Is there some sort of standby ticket? If so, how.. and do people really go through all the hassle of going to an airport while having a possibility of going home?
In: 80
I’m not sure any of the other answers really get at your question.
Source: me, worked at an airline for 6 years and flew standby hundreds of thousands of miles on many different airlines.
Typically:
As others have said, standby isn’t something you book — it’s something you change to after booking something else, so you get through security and everything on your normal ticket. In cases where there is an earlier flight to your destination you can elect to stand-by for that flight. You keep your original flight/seat/ticket until the point where you’re “cleared” to go on the new flight. (This can also occur when your flight (A) is canceled and you’re rebooked for flight (C) because (B) is “full.” You can standby on (B), hoping to get to your destination earlier.)
For employee leisure travel:
A perk of many airlines is free/low-cost travel on a space-available basis. You book through a company portal and get a boarding pass the same as everyone else to get though security, but that doesn’t entitle you to a seat, just a place on the stand-by list. You’re prioritized below paying customers in almost all circumstances.
Overall, there were times employee travel was worth the hassle and times it wasn’t. I worked a lot during a lull in passengers and it was great then. Once things contracted and passengers came back, not so much. Lots of off-peak destinations, seasons, days of week, and flights.
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