Flying Standyby on Southwest

[boomhauer]

I have an inquiry for anyone familiar with Southwest.

I'm flying from Providence to Orlando on Saturday, January 28. My concern is, what if there's bad weather forecasted, and the flight could get delayed.

I paid $59 for the one way flight. Now, there are still $59 fares for the Thursday and Friday before my flight, if I wanted to get out early to beat the bad weather. However, by that time, those fares will likely be gone. So, my question is, does Southwest allow passengers to fly standby for a flight a day earlier, and if so, do they assess the extra fare?

 

[DebbieB]

According to their website, you have to pay full fare to standby.

 

[boomhauer]

I just found this out.

Sadly, I can see why they do it. I mean, if they didn't, everyone would book the cheaper fares, then fly out at the more expensive time.

At the same time, it seems silly to send out a flight with empty seats, when they could put somoene else on, and free up a seat for a later flight.

The thing that urks me is, right now, if I wanted to change over to the Friday afternoon flight instead - No difference in cost whatsoever, and it costs me nothing to change. However, if I go to change it 2 days before the flight, the price will be $204, and I'll have to pay an extra $150.

 

[debster812]

Ahhh yes, the JOYS of flying out of the Northeast in the Winter.

We scheduled to fly out on February 14th out of Boston on the 3pm Song flight. You can believe I'll be watching the weather, and if it looks even a little sketchy, we'll be keeping DS home from school that day, and heading to Logan nice and early.

Good Luck.

 

[boomhauer]

I'm actually seriously considering changing my flight to Friday right now, and just getting the heck out of here JUST in case. The thought of losing a day's vacation bothers me. Especially when it's already paid for. At least that way, if the weather's bad on Friday, I'd still more than likely get out of here on Saturday, which is what the plan was to begin with.

It's funny - I believe I've flown to Florida in January or February about 6 or 7 times, and ALWAYS worry about getting delayed - It's never happened.

 

[debster812]

Growing up, my mom was a schoolteacher, and we ALWAYS went away February school vacation week. There were a few years it was VERY dicey, and there were many years where it was a non-issue.

2 years ago, I flew to Ft Myers in February, no problem at all, and in April for a business trip, sat on the tarmac at Logan for almost 2 hours while they deiced. (not fun, BTW).

If it were me, I'd go with your plan, change to Friday, get the heck outta Dodge.

 

[cranbiz]

So far (knocking on the desk) the worst delay that I have experienced out of Providence to Orlando has been about 4 hours. This was in the summer and the delay was due to T storms.

Unless someone is getting burried in snow, (which could be the airport the plane is coming from) I wouldn't worry too much about a delay that would cancel your flight.

 

[boomhauer]

So far (knocking on the desk) the worst delay that I have experienced out of Providence to Orlando has been about 4 hours. This was in the summer and the delay was due to T storms.

Unless someone is getting burried in snow, (which could be the airport the plane is coming from) I wouldn't worry too much about a delay that would cancel your flight.

Someone else told me that last night. Providence doesn't get nearly as many delays as Boston, due to the fact that they don't have as many planes going in and out, and it's easier to keep up with plowing the runways and getting plans out faster.

I think I'll leave it as is.

 

[DMRick]

We were able to fly standby when FL was expecting a hurricane. But their website update gave us permission. The check in gal still tried to charge us the extra, so thankfully I was able to hand her the info from the website offering us the chance to go early. We then had to show it upstairs at the desk where you board. I would think they would want to fill the earlier seats and still have a chance to fill the seats you would vacate, but nope.

 

[Lewisc]

I would think they would want to fill the earlier seats and still have a chance to fill the seats you would vacate, but nope.

I tried to send you a PM, your box is full.

I used to think that way BUT

SW would lose the revenue from the business travelers that actually pay to fly standby.

Leisure travelers like us might be tempted to book the lowest fare of the day and then standby for the flights we really want. It would create a zoo at the gate and destroy the off-peak pricing. It would make more difficult to project no-shows.

SW is consistant in their approach. You can always change your flight by just paying the fare difference. We get full credits if the fare goes down and no change fee if we want to change our flight. The flip side is we pay the difference if we want to fly standby. SWs position is we were given a discount in exchange for committing to a specific flight. By standing by for a different flight we are asking for the flexiblity of a full fare ticket and are required to pay.

 

[DMRick]

I tried to send you a PM, your box is full.

Thanks..others told me to empty it via private mail, so it's empty now

I guess I would assume they would do "true" standby. Open it up once it's too late for business travel..perhaps an hour before take off (I've seldom seen what would look like business men on our SW flights..they often are next door on Delta or American..paying through the nose). I have seldom had a full plane from and to ALB/MCO. I would think SW would have a better chance of selling tickets for the next day, than an hour or 30 minutes before a flight will take off. We all had our own row in October.
I love SW, think they are very fair the way they let us make changes, but still think they would do better for themsleves to allow standby.

 

[Calliaz]

This is slightly off topic, but it seems that Southwest has particular problems with its Providence route. After watching Airline on A&E for a couple of years, it seems like there is always someone trying to get onto a flight to Providence and missing it, getting bumped, or having to wait overnight to get on that flight. Of course, these are flights *to* Providence and not *from* Providence.

 

[Joan S.]

Hi, If you will be flying SWA again within a year you may want to book a second flight(at the lowest price) on Thursday or Friday and NOT cancel your Sat. flight. Then you can decide which flight to take at the "last minute" and take the SWA credit(for the flight you never used) and use it for a future flight. I have doubled booked my DD a few times since she is a college student and just had her use the ticket that fits her schedule best.When you do not use a "flight ticket" you can view your funds under the confirmation number plus the name on the CC you used to book the flight. Joan

 

[NotUrsula]

If there truly is a major storm (like a blizzard or hurricane) forecast to affect your flight, SWA may decide to waive the standby fee that day. If they do, it will be posted on the website. There won't be much advance notice, and if you do it, you won't be able to arrange the standby until you are actually at the airport.

 

[CarolA]

This is slightly off topic, but it seems that Southwest has particular problems with its Providence route. After watching Airline on A&E for a couple of years, it seems like there is always someone trying to get onto a flight to Providence and missing it, getting bumped, or having to wait overnight to get on that flight. Of course, these are flights *to* Providence and not *from* Providence.

Keep in mind this is a TV show. They NEVER show the HUNDREDS of flights and/or passengers that have NO problems. It gives a very distorted view of operations.

 

[DMRick]

If there truly is a major storm (like a blizzard or hurricane) forecast to affect your flight, SWA may decide to waive the standby fee that day. If they do, it will be posted on the website. There won't be much advance notice, and if you do it, you won't be able to arrange the standby until you are actually at the airport.

And bring a copy of the website showing that. The SW desk at the airport (hard to believe, isn't it) says they have no way of knowing that it's waived, unless I show them proof. Luckily I had it with me. She said normally she would charge and then I would call and get it back from SW. It was several hundred dollars..I am so glad I had that piece of paper with me.

 

[Calliaz]

Keep in mind this is a TV show. They NEVER show the HUNDREDS of flights and/or passengers that have NO problems. It gives a very distorted view of operations.

Of course! I just think it is funny that the Providence route always seems to have problems. I'm guessing it is because they have a very limited number of flights so if you miss your flight you are SOL.