Standby flights are DEAD! They are not the thing to do anymore. Flight booking has changed dramatically over the last five to ten years due to the Internet and now there are lots of better ways to get cheaper airfares. I’m going to explain some more about standby flights on this page, but if you really want to know how to get cheap flights, click on the link to my home page below.
Myth
To be totally honest with you, the majority of airlines nowadays NO LONGER offer standby flights anymore. Ten years ago it was quite often a good way to get a cheap flight. However, now that there are web sites that can sell the seats, there is no need for airlines to do this within the terminal anymore.
I myself remember rocking up to the airport with my family and asking around for cheap standby flights for our family. Sometimes we would have to wait around for anywhere from a few hours, up to half a day or more. But in the end, we always managed to get a substantial discount and secure the tickets we wanted. It was just a matter of waiting for a flight that was not full and then being first on the standby list.
Lists
Here’s the cracker!Standby flights lists don’t exist anymore. There isn’t anyone standing around offering standby seats anymore. Airlines have trimmed staff in this area to cut costs. Most airlines nowadays face tough competition and have had to reduce staffing levels heavily. Standby flights used to be a good way to make a few extra bucks by filling up the empty seats. However, now it wouldn’t make economic sense to pay someone to do this job as the money they would make wouldn’t cover the costs of the exercise.
Demise
The Internet is the main reason why standby flights are no longer available. It’s just not viable for airlines to offer standby flights at today’s tickets prices. I mean, lets face it, most people who are looking for standby flights are looking to save money. Therefore the majority of the standby seats sold are for economy tickets. The airlines make very little profit on these seats now.
Economy seats are like a loss leader now. They are there to entice you into booking with that specific airline. In the old days you actually used to get food on an economy ticket and the prices quoted were what you actually paid. This is just not the case now. Once an airline has reeled you in with the low published rate, they’ll sting you with the extra costs for baggage, food and sometimes even your actual seat preference (Air Asia for example).
What To Do Now There Are NO Standby Flights?
The game has changed. If you really want to know how to get cheap airline tickets you have to learn some new tricks. The good news is that there is a lot of information out there. I, myself have many years of experience working in the industry and have put together my own guide on some of the best tricks, scams and tips to get dramatically reduced airfares! There are many advantages of booking online. The major one is that computers don’t have common sense and are not perfect. If you want to know how to trigger some of the best tricks, I highly suggest you visit one of the websites on how to get cheap flights (above).