flying standby

[DuffMan]

Is it cheaper?

[East Coast Flame]

In my experience the difference in price is not enough to bother with the hassle. At most you could probably save around $50, which to me is not worth waiting around the airport all day.

Mind you, I have only done it twice and this was probably 4 or 5 years ago, might have changed since then

[Tron_fdc]

It doesn't really exist anymore.

If you book a flight with AC for their cheapest fare, then show up and try to fly standby on a more expensive rate, you can only do it if you pay the fare difference.

Westjet charges a standby fee ($50 I think?) to try to do it, but like ECF said it's a pain in the ass. You're better off scouring around looking for cheaper fares.

[Montana Moe]

I've only done it once, made the mistake of using a friend's "buddy passes."

Tickets were about 20% cheaper, but we made the mistake of traveling during spring break and got stuck in Dallas for 3 days waiting for a connecting flight home...

[chid]

West Jet ONLY offers standby when a flight has already been paid for and when you travel the SAME day you can fly standby on an earlier flight for a $40 standby fee, the fee gets reversed back to you if you don't get on and end up taking your original flight.

Employees fly standby and it is really stressful sometimes. I've been almost stuck in lots of hot destinations which would warrant being fired if I didn't make it to work because of that.