Anyone know the rules to "Fizz Bin?"

I would be shocked to find our that an agent allowed you to standby for an earlier flight on the N7WOW fare. Has this EVER happened to you? If true then I am going to raise hell I tell you. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif

The rules are likely not going to get you on a standby flight on AC - all agents know that cheap fares come with no rights whatsoever!

AltaFlyer, some agents may think that no ticket allows same day standby!

I was in YUL this morning and when I got to J class check-in there I asked if I could go stand-by on an earlier flight. She said she had to call to see if the fare I was traveling on permitted it. She was on hold for about 5 minutes minutes before she could give the person on the other end of the phone my pnr.

My ticket? It has printed on it 'C' class(I had it issued 7 days prior to departure ... when I could see I could get C class I had it issued). My next segment (FRA tonight is in 'C') and my flight to VIE is H. I tried to point it out to her it was issued in H and that it was a RTW but she said she had to call and check but did notice I was on a RTW. She was nice about it and apologized for the wait.

Once given approval she had me waitlisted on an earlier flight. I went through security and went to the standby desk and he confirmed me right away (45 minutes prior to departure). The A319 (new seats) went out with 1 empty seat in J.

Cheers

Here's a couple of questions, only partly rhetorical:

Has anyone ever paid the change fee on a cheap ticket to take an earlier flight?

Has anyone ever purchased a more expensive ticket solely for the same-day standby benefit?

I'm guessing that in 99.9999...% of the cases the answer is no. And if that's the case then AC is no further ahead revenue-wise and way, way behind customer relations-wise. And potentially behind logistics-wise, if someone is forced to take a later flight that results in DBC.

I know it looks good on paper, works in theory, and tastes like chicken. But I still think it's a huge blunder. Management pride however will not allow the blunder to be corrected any time soon.

BTW, I recall that checking in at YVR on Tuesday morning a gentleman at the domestic Super Elite line asked for his ticket back instead of paying the $145+tax to be confirmed on a different but same day flight.

Don't know any more detail than that, but it suggests to me that no one buying a cheap L/Q/N fare will ever pay the change for for same day. And I don't think that anyone who would pay the change fee for same day would otherwise be able to take advantage of L/Q/N fares because of other restrictions. And even if they could, the mere fact they bought an L/Q/N fare suggest to me they wouldn't pay the change fee.

So instead of being a win-win solution, or even a win-lose situation, it looks a lot more to me like a lose-lose-lose-lose-lose-lose situation.

They lose on lots of fronts, not just the revenue vs customer deal. They lose in confusing agents by they confusing nature, they lose when the passenger is denied a right because of that confusion, they lose revenue, they incur administrative overhead with no benefit, they lose when the pay DBC on a later flight, they lose on the customer service issue, and they just keep losing.

Sounds like a cue for Ferrari.

Let me say at the outset--I agree.

However, there are three factors which should be thrown into the mix:

1) The airline creates a perception of value added for V,H and B fares by doing this. M and Y have always been the walk-up fares, and Q, L and N are the cheapies. V,H and B are in that neither-world where the customer asks, "what am I getting for this extra money?"

2) The airline reduces standby queues. Every person standing by is another record of information that has to be handled--sometimes repeatedly. The costs, both tangible and intangible, have to be considered.

3) It reduces the disincentive to flying Tango and Zip.

If the business plan is to eliminate Q/L/N on mainline, and limit mainline to the "big-8" domestically, then this policy fits in with that.

That being said, I still think it is a dumb idea. But I am nothing if not reasonable. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I'm sure it's been asked before - but I'll ask again for confirmation.
Can I stand-by on an earlier flight from Canada to the US on an L-class fare?
Thanks in Advance for your patience & guidance
Rudy

Yes you can. You can standby for an earlier/later flight on all US & international flights from any fare.

You can only standby for an earlier/later flight on a domestic flight from V or higher.

Empress - thanks for your quick response - and as an added bonus - it was the answer I was looking for ;-)

Remember, there are exceptions to the above statement...only on selected Western Canadian Air Canada Jazz routes. Although few, if any, AC counter staff are aware of this. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif