Anyone ever fly standby during the holidays?

1,734 Views | 9 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by ThunderCougarFalconBird
nomadic_ag
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AG
Thinking about trying. Wondering if it's even worth it.

Vernada
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AG
do you really want to get there? Or do you just want to be able to tell someone you tried?
nomadic_ag
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lol, well put.
BSD
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Christmas Day is usually very slow. As for the other days, good luck.
fire09
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AG
Lol. You will regret this. We had free passes for 15 years with direct family working for the majors. Every holiday we did this turned into a disaster if we tried to make any schedule at all. As another poster mentioned, plan to fly the actual day of the holiday and you can usually get places. Christmas sucks in particular because winter weather throws another wrench into the spokes.
Texas Ag Mom
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My son is a pilot for American Eagle so my daughter used his pass to fly from IAH to DFW last year on xmas morning. She got on but there were a lot of people in line. She left DFW on the first flight out on Fri morn & I think she was the last one on the plane. That caused some stress for her because of her work schedule. Of course a lot of it depends on status. She was D3. She would like to do that again because she is a nurse & she has to work all night xmas eve so it would help if she could get here quickly. Still undecided about trying it again.
nomadic_ag
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AG
Thank yall
Guppy
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I fly for an airline and had family (my dad) fly for an airline so I've traveled standby my entire life - even over the holidays. Key is to be flexible and patient. Some can deal with missing flights and having to wait around the airport all day. Others can't.

Personally, I don't mind it. I bring snacks, a good book or two and just relax and go with the flow. Worst time was being stuck for 2 straight days - but the family finally got on.

Like another poster said - it's also has a lot to do with status. Where will you fit in the pecking order on the standby list? Also, where are you trying to get to and how set are your travel dates?
average_joker
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AG
Depends on the loads, and the airline. American leads the industry in last minute ticket sales. I've sent people on buddy passes when a flight is wide open at 10pm the day before, only to find out the plane is oversold by morning.
So as others have pointed out, be flexible.
Also, do exactly what the owner of the passes and all uniformed employees tell you to do. At my company, I can lose my travel benefits for something someone I gave a pass to did.
nomadic_ag
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AG
I ended up buying a ticket. Worth not dealing w the stress or potentially not making it.

Thank y'all.
ThunderCougarFalconBird
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My dad worked for AA for a while. He and my mom got to travel D1 and seemed to have little trouble getting around. I recall he got some promotion that was a big deal because he and my mom no longer had to be D1. When they brought the kids, it was a different animal. Like everyone else has said, patience is key. But I developed interesting life skills like how to stay entertained, how to sweet talk your way into a lot of places, and the best ways to get around airports in time crunches.
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