thinking about flying standby to costa rica in june with a buddy. anyone have any experience flying standby as this will be my first time. any advice/intake is appreciated. thanks
I used to fly a ton for work and one thing I can tell you is standby is not what it used to be. To stay profitable airlines do not fly with many open seats anymore. Not sure how international standby works but I imagine standby seats are tough to come by especially since people with airline status get the standby seats first. You may have to wait a real long time. If you have an open schedule I say go for it but if you are not prepared to spend a day or two at an airport I would just book a flight.
I've been asked if I wanted to give up my seat for a seat on a later flight plus a voucher for future flights. "CHUH!" I said. "My baby's packed in the cargo hold and she'll be worried if she gets to CR and I'm not there to fetch her."
Yes that remind me- I had a year on a buddy pass and flew stand by very often that year. I did go to CR - I don't remember any issues but I was able to look ahead and see if or how many empty seats where open and how many other on standby. The main issue is checking your bags in or your BOARDS! If you know that there are plenty of open seats-thus you get on the flight - checking your stuff is not an issue. BUT if you are unsure about getting on- and you check in your board- your board usually ends up going ... And you don't! One time I got stuck in Hawaii for an extra week cause I couldn't get home on a flight ... Talk about getting stuck in paradise! But I checked my bag with all my stuff the first night I tried to get on a flight - the bag when- I didn't !!!! Lol I didn't have anything that week! Alot of swimming! I would suggest packing light and don't check anything. Just take a back pack and carry it on. Rent or borrow a board! And oh ya- I had the 'airline status' and got first dibs on seats- but there is still a peaking order within the airline status- and I only had to pay 25 bucks to fly!!! Haha
