PhoenixRev

This past Friday (7/6), I was flying on the last flight from SNA to PHX on WN.

Usually, the Friday night flights are fairly full (I make the PHX-SNA-PHX run on a regular basis), but due to the July 4th holiday falling midweek and people taking the extra time off, I found the flights light.

No, I take that back. I found the flights, along with the terminals, empty. Shockingly empty.

I arrived at SNA and the terminal was a ghost town on a Friday evening. I made my way to the WN counter, got my BP, put my bag on the scale and asked the friendly agent (who recognized me from my previous PHX-SNA runs) how many people were on my flight. She looked at the screen and says, "Um... less than 15."

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah. 14 reservations, but only 8 boarding passes issued so far."

She then paused and said that the flight before that, which was still at the gate and getting ready to board, was pretty empty as well. IIRC, she said that there were less than 40 people on that earlier flight. I then asked if I could be moved to that earlier flight (which left about an hour earlier). She said "sure thing!"

Then, she said, "Um... well, I can move you, but it will cost $88 because of the discounted fare of your current ticket."

I declined the offer, but she was profusely apologetic.

So, I sat in the terminal and waited the extra hour until my original flight boarded with a total of nine passengers and we landed at an eerily empty PHX T4.

I really didn't understand what WN would be out by simply moving me to the eariler flight that only had 40 passengers on it. Outside of a few keystrokes, WN would have been out nothing except, perhaps, fostering some good will to a regular customer. It wasn't as if I was trying to get on a flight that was full with a long list of standby passengers. And even the ticket agent seemed a bit embarrassed at having to tell me that in order to move from an empty flight to a fairly empty flight would cost me nearly $90.

Okay, so it was an hour wait. No big deal. Life goes on. I got home and was able to get a load of laundry done before heading to bed.

It also would have been no big deal for them to move me to the earlier flight.

carraher

Did you go to the website/app to see if there was WGA fare available? If so it would have been less than the figure quoted by the agent you spoke to.

PhoenixRev

No, I didn't. The ticket I held was a WGA fare I purchased a couple of months prior.

But, as I stated, I was fine with waiting the hour and not having shell out any money from my wallet. I simply didn't understand what WN would have been out by moving me to that earlier flight that was about 1/3rd full.

lougord99

What would WN have been out if they moved you to a flight with 1 empty seat. Why is the 1/3 full relevant to the question?

PhoenixRev

I guess you are correct.

InkUnderNails

I can actually see the logic behind the refusal as it is consistent with WN policy.

However, good customer service would dictate that a policy could also be in place that would allow the agent to check and offer without penalty.

Customer request: follow the policy.
Agent discretionary action: build customer loyalty at no cost.

We can not ask, but they can offer.

PhoenixRev

I think that is a fair assessment, Ink. Thanks for the input.

ACEDAD

So, if the OP gets the change without any fare adjustment, he likely posts here about that. Then lots of FT readers start asking for the same treatment. When they get denied, there is a lot more customer disastisfaction than one flyer.

nsx

See the 7th bullet item at http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php....2C_and_why.3F

SDCA

So this is ANOTHER thread about "why can't i fly standby on an earlier flight when i paid for a discounted fare?" But with a different thread headline?

LMB01

We had just the opposite experience on July 4th. We were due to fly the last flight of the day ELP-LAS. We got a notice about 3pm about that flight being delayed by approximately one hour. I checked on line and saw there was a flight leaving at 5pm. We decided to hurry to the airport on the chance that the ticket agent might be willing to change our flights. I was actually willing to pay some amount but had not determined what our maximum was. We get to a very empty airport and ask the ticket agent about changing. She tapes some keys, prints out new boarding passes and explains that she "colored outside the lines some" to make this happen without charging us. We were very happy and on our way.

SDCA

When your original flight is delayed more than 15 minutes, the agent are authorized to put you on the standby list or confirms you on an earlier flight at no charge if it's available.

So your situation is normal.

Doc Savage

I've found WN to be some of the most proactive in terms of trying to get me on earlier flights if there was any possibility, for example, if my flight is delayed even somewhat. It sounds like the OPs GA simply didn't have any latitude to do this for him. Too bad.

nsx

My experience matches yours and the OP's. The OP's flight was not delayed, so he didn't get free standby. That's the way it is.

If Gate Agents departed from this policy even 10% of the time, we'd ask for a favor every time. With consistent enforcement, we don't bother asking. At least I don't.

alggag

I kind of wish they would expand the free standby for late flights exception to include oversold flights. It's stupid for them to refuse allowing you to take an earlier flight in the situations when they know that the flight you're on is going to have either a VDB or possibly even an IDB.