Travel related - Would you do this?

[aspentosh]

If I were making hotel reservations, I would want to make sure I could get on a flight. If I were going somewhere and staying with friends/family, I'd be totally fine with your idea.

I'm a worrier though

[ECB]

In a past life (before kids), maybe. If we really had flexibility w/ our schedule and it didn't matter - sure, I might. Could be an adventure. I am a planner and the idea makes me a little nervous (when I recently flew, every flight we were on was oversold!).

But.... like I said, if the circumstances were right, sure.

But now, w/ a kid? No way. Even if he wasn't going w/ us - just leaving and getting home - we're on a more strict time schedule.

[bananapancakes]

I'd do it. $800 is a huge savings. I used to nanny for a family where the dad was a pilot for a major airline. We did this frequently with a group of 6 and never had a problem. One thing that they told me was that I had to dress nicely so that if there was a spot in first class, I would be able to take it. I don't know how true that is, but something to keep in mind.

[80sjunkie]

I'm not sure I would want to do it during thanksgiving week, and especially not coming back Sunday after Thanksgiving. Any other time, even around December holidays I would be ok with it. Never mind, I posted too quickly... The week after? Yes I would probably do it.

[SJ]

I would do it. I like your idea of going a day early- that would make me feel better about the plan.

I think the week after Thanksgiving should be ok, but I would NEVER do this the week of Thanksgiving.

[80sjunkie]

Also, I would want to know how many flights there are each day, both from your hometown to Orlando and from Orlando to costa rica. Can you try to get on the first flight out so that you have time to wait around if earlier flights happen to be full?

[Redpoppy]

Is it totally free or do you have to pay taxes? I used to do this with buddy passes from a flight attendant I still had to pay taxes which was under $30 for a Tampa to Boston flight. International would be over $100 though. Also my boarding pass was always flagged for a full security search since I was a standby passenger.

I've gotten stuck in airports on them. They are great when your travel time is flexible. One trip it wasn't and I ended up buying a flight on Southwest the next day to get home because the standby lists literally had over 50 people on them. With the buddy pass I was the lowest rank on the standby list.

I wouldn't do it now. Even she had trouble getting seats sometimes and she was a higher rank. Once she had a kid even she started buying tickets for some flights.

[Deleted]

I would do that regularly but not during Thanksgiving holiday travel times. You will struggle to get on domestic flights on standby.

[jenn248]

For Thanksgiving week travel? No way. That's a crazy time of year for airlines, and I suspect there are lots of people taking advantage of their kids being out of school to go to Disney.

[Redpoppy]

Is flying through Miami an option? I'd do that over Orlando given the holiday.

[scout8]

Since you said you don't care about coming home, could you book tickets for your way there and then fly standby coming home? So, you would still save some money but there would be less risk.

[mrshabious]

A few years ago, yes. Now, no. And I am pretty loosy-goosey (not a big travel worrier). Every flight I get on lately, no matter the day of week or destination, seems to be near capacity.

There was an article a few weeks ago about a family from Richmond, VA who were flying on Buddy Passes and got stuck in Salt Lake City for 5 days b/c they could not get on a flight as standby.

[dlphndoc]

Sept 28, 2012 8:12:27 GMT -5 Redpoppy said:

Is it totally free or do you have to pay taxes? I used to do this with buddy passes from a flight attendant I still had to pay taxes which was under $30 for a Tampa to Boston flight. International would be over $100 though. Also my boarding pass was always flagged for a full security search since I was a standby passenger.

I've gotten stuck in airports on them. They are great when your travel time is flexible. One trip it wasn't and I ended up buying a flight on Southwest the next day to get home because the standby lists literally had over 50 people on them. With the buddy pass I was the lowest rank on the standby list.

I wouldn't do it now. Even she had trouble getting seats sometimes and she was a higher rank. Once she had a kid even she started buying tickets for some flights.

My mom flies on a buddy pass all the time. She has to pay more fees now than it used to be. For example, she flew from Phoenix to DC to NY and back to phoenix last week. Her flight total was $400 when you added up all the fees (& she gets free checked bags). She is however the top of the standby list when she flies because of my Uncle's seniority/ranking at the airline. She's even been bumped to first class several times.

It is great when you can be flexible but not so much if you have time/money constraints. On her last trip to Italy she had to wait two extra days before getting a flight out. That meant two days of hotel, food, etc expenses. Her cousin also had to take an extra two days of leave from work to accommodate.

Thanksgiving week is crazy travel so if you have specific dates you need to travel I would not risk going standby.

[runblondie26]

Sept 28, 2012 7:47:49 GMT -5 Mrs.flang said:

DH and I are planning a trip for the week after thanksgiving. Flights right now are around $400pp.

SIL works for an airline and one of her perks is that we can fly for free, except we can't reserve in advance, we have to just show up at the airport and wait on stand-by. There are no direct flights from here to costa rica, we have to connect through Orlando, and both flights would be on stand-by. I don't care about coming home, but it makes me nervous that we might not get on a flight right away on the way there. I like to have things planned.

She said the best times to fly would be Tuesday to Sunday but we want to stay for 5-6 nights so it wouldn't be spot on with those days. It also might be more hectic around that time since it's so close to the holiday. I was thinking of booking our hotels and then trying to get a flight a day before our actual trip would start. If we get there early, get a last minute room by the airport or explore the city a little bit. That way if we get delayed at all, it won't interrupt the real start of our trip.

She's done this before with family and hasn't had any issues, I'm just a worrier. Do you think we should do it or drop $800 for scheduled flights (which with our luck will probably be delayed anyway, lol)?

No friggin' way. Non-revving is hard enough on a holiday like Thanksgiving. It's not impossible for an employee with decent seniority, but on a buddy pass you will be lowest standby priority (you don't travel at the priority of the employee).

Only way I'd do it is if you flew on Thanksgiving day itself (loads are usually light on the holiday itself) and paid for the other ticket.

We don't even give out our buddy passes. We refer to them as "enemy passes" since that's what you'll have after the experience is over. Buddy passes aren't even worth the paper they're printed on with load factors of 90%+ these days. Gone are days of ole like bananapancakes mentioned.

I believe many airlines have buddy-pass embargo days surrounding big holidays like Thanksgiving. Check the days you want to go, as you may not be able to use a buddy pass at all.

[Deleted]

Not the week of thanksgiving. I think you'll be hard pressed to find 2 seats on a flight that week.

[frlcb]

She said the week after Thanksgiving, which is probably a week I would do it, if I was leaving like the Tuesday after.

[alleinesein]

Flying thru MCO anytime of the year on standby...OH FUCK NO!! When DH worked for an airline there were certain weeks and destinations that you avoided. MCO was pretty much overbooked year-round on his airline and it was impossible for a buddy pass Non-Rev passenger to get on those flights.

[Deleted]

Even if you lost 1 night in a hotel it wouldn't cost you $800.

[runblondie26]

Remember buddy passes aren't completely free either like employee/dependent standby travel. You just pay a pro-rated fare, and it's still "if space available" seating.

Ask your SIL to price it out for you. Combined with missed/extra hotel nights, it may cost you more than a regular economy class ticket.

[lindyanne]

No way in hell. I haven't been on any flights the last few years that were pretty much 100% full so I doubt I'd even do that any time let alone at the holidays unless you have some sort of priority boarding.

[aurora]

I fly pretty frequently and almost all of my flights are completely sold out, so I probably wouldn't be willing to do this. But, it also depends how big a deal $800 is to your budget.

[anna7602]

Sept 28, 2012 14:10:21 GMT -5 runblondie26 said:

Remember buddy passes aren't completely free either like employee/dependent standby travel. You just pay a pro-rated fair, and it's still "if space available" seating.

Ask your SIL to price it out for you. Combined with missed/extra hotel nights, it may cost you more than a regular economy class ticket.

This. My "free" flight to the UK a couple of years ago cost me $400 in taxes. That was still a good price for the height of summer, but $400 nonetheless.