Question Realting To Stand By Ticket

[bikerlou47]

I met a man who is contracted by Thai Air...he told me that he flies to Europe for 250 USD by using a stannd by ticket offered by AIR FRANCE.

He says that anyone can purchase this ticket by going to the airport here in BKK.

The catch is you do not know when you will fly..the airline will call you when they have available seats.

He did not use the the words stand by I can not recall the exact phrase he used.

So here is the question?

HAS ANYONE HEARD OF THIS TYPE OF TICKET?

Please try to keep on point when replying....

[Mario2008]

Moved to airport forum as not visa related.

[keeniau96]

In the USA standby tickets have been available for many year. I don't know the current situation, which may have been changed due to airport controls. But yes, those tickets were just as described in your post .. you sign up and wait for them to notify you. No assurance of date/time, just the destination.

[lomatopo]

Most airlines have individual, unique and specific Non-Revenue Space Available (NRSA) policies whereby employees, friends, family, retirees et al can fly for reduced costs, typically covering the assorted fees and taxes, but often requiring a co-pay (as in the case of a "buddy-pass"). As the acronym implies, depending on the airline's policy and your category, you fly when there is space available. Today NRSA's can usually confirm a flight for a specific date, by using internal websites, but owing to loads may have to stand-by several days in order to get on a flight. (Some airlines have many Non-rev categories including Non-Revenue Positive Space Stand-bys, which rank higher in the queue.) Without more detail it is impossible to speculate what the man you met is actually referring to. You could contact Air France directly to inquire, 02 635-1191.

The "oh they have cheap seats available at the last minute" sounds a bit like something from 40 years ago, and remains as urban legend. Airlines actually charge the most for tickets at the last minute as a seat is a perishable commodity and buyers are usually willing to pay more for it (business travelers).

For reference, here is an older listing of the boarding priority list for United Airlines:

BP1-A Full fare revenue pax; company officers

BP1-B Priority flight crew

BP1-C FAA inspectors

BP2 Other than full-fare revenue (meaning rev pax at discount fares)

BP3 UA business travel / UA emergency travel, outbound (going to the place of business or the place of emergency)

BP4 Other airline business travel; travel agent "POSS SPACE" (positive space?)

BP5A Disserviced and full fare F and C pax

BP5B All other revenue standbys

BP5C Non-revenue positive space standbys

BP5H Shuttle revenue and positive space

BP6A UA emergency travel (returning); other airline emergency travel (going)

BP6B UA retirees or spouse or child 25 or under with 25 years of service or more

ALSO parents accompanied by retiree with 25+ years of service

ALSO UA employees and "eligibles" traveling on 1/4 fare

ALSO Retirees with less than 25 years of service who are traveling on 1/4 fare

BP7 UA business travel on space available (i.e., standing by, not on confirmed space)

BP8A UA employee/spouse/dependent child 22 or younger, or accompanied child age 22-25 on pleasure travel

ALSO UA employee plus one companion, or parents who are traveling with the employee

ALSO parents traveling with retiree who has less than 25 years of service

ALSO retirees/spouses/dependent child 22 or younger, or accompanied child 22-25, with less than 25 years of service, on pleasure travel

ALSO retirees and eligibles with 25+ years of service, on international travel

ALSO United Express employees on space-available business travel, by seniority

BP8D United Express retirees' dependent child 22-25, unaccompanied

ALSO UA employees plus *two* companions, or unaccompanied parents

ALSO parents of retirees traveling alone

BP8C Companions traveling alone (I may have noted this out of order.)

BP9 United Express employees on "1090" (?); travel agent employees; travel agents traveling on United Express (am not sure I translated this correctly)

BP10 Employees of other airlines

Edited August 3, 2010 by lomatopo

[martin81]

Most airlines have standby tickets available but only for staff and relatives and friends of staff. And maybe also some for related travel agents.