Jetblue standby.

Hello, I'm brand new! I have lurked before though Forgive me if this has been addressed before. I tried a search but didn't find exact answers.

I am about to become a very frequent flyer on JetBlue due to my spouse starting a job in Tampa I am trying to book weekend flights now, but am not sure how early I will be able to get off work on Fridays. I am booking the later flight, although I think 80% of the time I would be able to make the flight before that (late morning).

My questions are:
- do I have to list standby IN PERSON at the airport, or can I call it in? If I make the earlier flight, it would be by a small margin.

- if I can call in, but then I don't make it to the gate in time, what happens? In other words, is there a penalty for listing standby and not showing up to collect standby tickets? Or do I just go back on my normal, booked flight, no harm done?

- any other advice for standby flights?

Thank you very much!

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Standby on JetBlue is handled only at the airport and it is only free for the one flight immediately prior to the one you've booked.

Also, Jet Blue does not overbook its flights.

My observation is that standing by on Jet Blue is a bit riskier than standing by on other airlines......though I have had a pretty good success rate.

i have a 100% success rate on standing by on 13 B6 flights in the last year and a half...so i think it's much easier to do it on B6 then say, UA.

i've seen flights booked to 100 (E190) with 10 standby's and all standbys got seats. So unless it's a holiday or there is a major weather issue going on you "should" have no issue getting a seat.

I was actually talking to reservations today and they said that I should call if I wanted to fly standby for the earlier flight.

You can also pay a $40 fee for a same day flight change with a confirmed seat. So you would call at midnight (you have to call them) or later and pay $40 and be confirmed on an earlier flight.

The policy states that you can list for standby at the airport 24 hours prior to your original flight for one flight before your original. Does this include the day before? I once called and was told I had to wait until after midnight the day of the flight to list for standby. The rude agent said it doesn't matter what the website says, this is the policy. I ended up getting on the flight but my bags did not - they went on the original flight 4 hours later. I usually never check but had some suntan lotion I couldn't carry on. Conversely, what is the cutoff time for standby?

Also, are revenue standbys accommodated before non-rev standbys or is it first listed, first on?

I can't comment on the policy for STBY as I don't have any first hand knowledge on the subject. JAX2BOS might know as he was a gate agent before he joined us inside the metal tube. As for the revenue standbys they are accommodated first, before any non-revenue customers. There is a first come first serve however with in each category. A revenue standby who checks in at 12 will get a seat before a revenue standby who checks in at 12:15. The same goes for non-revenue

My recollection is that if you are on a morning flight you can standby for a redeye the previous night but otherwise it is same calendar day only. I'd have to find something to back up that memory as it isn't particularly strong, but I'm pretty sure it is what the policy is.

Since Jetblue doesn't oversell, wouldn't this make standing by on Jet Blue easier (not harder)?

Hi folks!

I've gone standby on B6 several times before, but it's always been without checked luggage, and I've always just asked to be put on the standby list at the gates (inside security).

I've checked some of the old standby threads in this forum and called B6 a few times, but I've gotten inconsistent answers from the CSRs. I was wondering if I could get thoughts from the experts here...

I'm ticketed on a ~5PM flight, and the flight just prior is ~3PM. I'm gonna try to go standby on the 3PM, but I also have checked luggage this time. I've been told by B6 that I can only check-in luggage 4 hours prior to schedule departure time, which is consistent with most other airlines.

My questions:
- If I go standby with luggage, do they just tag my bag with a standby tag (like some other airlines) so that they can put it on the flight if I happen to clear onto the 3PM flight?
- If I were to be on my original flight, I'd be able to check in my luggage at 1PM. Does that change if I want to standby for the 3PM flight? Can I give them my bag as early as 11AM? Or would they only take it at 1PM?

When I called B6, the first agent told me that my bag would be tagged as a standby bag and everything would be fine. (I forgot to ask my second question, so I called back.)

The second agent told me that they wouldn't even accept my bag at the ticketing counter unless I was confirmed on the earlier flight (implying that I would just have to stand outside of security and wait until my standby cleared). After I gently explained that it seemed impractical for me to stand outside of security with my bag until 30 min prior to departure, she then said I could check in my bag for standby on the earlier flight, but there would be no guarantees that it wouldn't just travel on the original flight it was tagged for. When I asked her about the earliest time I could check in my bag (e.g, 11AM or 1PM), she stuttered a bit and just told me "show up a little beforehand." At that point, I decided to thank her for her help and hang up.

What route are you on?

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9650/5.0.0.975 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

I'm on BOS-BWI.

Edit to add: Well, just for giggles, I decide to call again this morning to see what B6 would say. This agent confidently told me that I could check-in my bag 4 hours before the standby flight and confirmed that my bag would be tagged as a standby bag and removed from the aircraft if I didn't clear the standby list.

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Another edit to add: So I showed up 4 hrs before the standby flight. Got my standby card and checked luggage tagged as standby. Easy-peasy lemon squeasy. The process is very similar to other airlines - good to know.

I updated JetBlue standby information on this more current JetBlue standby info thread

Is this still true? What if I want to confirm an earlier flight on JetBlue - is there a fee for this?

UPDATE - whoops - saw the thread just before mine after I posted this... that answered my question