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Standby Rules Toppled
Cheap Charlie · September 26, 2002

Over the past month, my airline world of standby travel on non-refundable tickets has crumbled. Make no mistake about it. By attacking standby travel and confiscating unused advance-purchase tickets, the airlines are attacking the growing habits and money-saving efforts of frequent flyers and business travelers. Most occasional leisure travelers never had any idea that their non-refundable tickets could be used at any other time than that written on their ticket or itinerary.

Let me look at standby. Anytime passengers "stand by" for an earlier flight than that on which they are ticketed, it works to the airline's advantage. The airline moves a passenger out early opening a seat on the later flight that can be sold or avoids a possibly oversold condition. It makes no economic sense to charge passengers $100 to fly standby before the flight on which they are ticketed.

Standby travel, on the original day of travel, was once normal for many business travelers who needed flexibility. Those in the know could purchase the lowest available fare on the day they planned to travel and then simply "stand by" whenever they got to the airport. Elite frequent flyer members automatically moved to the top of the list, regardless of when they got to the airport. This standby list priority was perhaps the most-used perk of elite frequent flyers. Using that perk now will cost business travelers $100 as of January 1, 2003.

OK, this standby rule is not such a pain, but knowing the rules will add another level of complexity to the business traveler's day. Some airlines (Continental and US Airways) require notice of intent to fly standby prior to the departure of the original flight. If you don't let them know prior to a scheduled flight, your ticket is useless after that flight has departed. America, United and Delta, in effect, don't require any notice for standby. They simply add the $100 "standby fee" when you sign up to standby. Northwest is not charging a fee for standby on the day of travel.

Now, let's look at most major-airline, non-refundable tickets. The biggest changes for many business travelers are the new rules concerning rebooking non-refundable tickets. Effective October 1, 2002, most airlines are requiring travelers to notify the airlines if they are not planning on using their non-refundable ticket on the original day of travel.

Upon notifying the airlines the passenger must rebook for a specific date in the future and pay a $100 rebooking fee plus the difference in the cost of the ticket. The former rules did not require any notification if travelers were planning on skipping their flights and only required a rebooking fee when and if the passenger rebooked a new flight in the future.

That seems to be the bare bones basics. However, as with all major-airline rules, there are dozens of caveats and exceptions. Some non-refundable fares are not subject to these rules, Some travelers who arrive after their flight has departed, have not notified the airline in advance and are forced to fly standby, will benefit by a "flat-tire rule" and be forgiven. That rule seems to mean approximately two hours after the originally scheduled flight. Of course a flat-tire rule wouldn't apply to a traveler arriving earlier at the airport and requesting standby on a flight an hour earlier than their originally scheduled flight. They must pay the $100 standby fee. Go figure.

With all of this hullabaloo, I decided to take a close look at Southwest Airlines and their "unchanged" standby policies that have been praised in the press and held up as an example of "doing it right." Southwest requires travelers who need to standby to pay the difference between their original advanced-purchase fare and the walk-up fare.

This advance-purchase/walk-up fare differential is the real cost of flying standby on Southwest. In the extreme where a traveler had purchased an Internet special $99 transcontinental itinerary, the difference could be $200 (the difference between Southwest's highest one-way fare and the $99 fare). In other cases it may be only $18 (the difference between a 7-day advanced purchase St. Louis to Chicago fare and the walk-up fare). Go to www.southwest.com and it is easy to see what your decision to fly standby will cost.

I didn't ask, but I'd expect that Southwest also has a "flat-tire rule" for those who are stuck in traffic or at security or who actually have a flat tire.

The bottom line on standby travel seems to be that the most airlines are now (or soon will be) finding ways to charge for the privilege of flying standby. From airline to airline, standby rules vary dramatically. If you are planning to fly standby, make sure you know the rules and the costs. Call the airline for clarification. Once upon a time, flying standby was not seen as a value-added privilege but a cause for deep-discounts.

Non refundable tickets now have much stricter reuse rules. These rules vary airline to airline, so make sure you understand which airline uses which rules on which type of non-refundable tickets.

Good luck.

Charlie Leocha is the Boston-based author of Travel Rights: Know the Rules of the Road and the Air Before You Go. Cheap Charlie appears every Monday on this site. E-mail him at leocha@aol.com or access his Web site.