DerWomble

Hi all -

I haven't seen a recent thread on this, but I apologise if it is old hat and been beaten to death.

I am considering taking a role with an IAG subsidiary that offers "unlimited standby and premium standby fares for you and your nominees on the full BA network and numerous other partner airlines", and "Discounts on British Airways flights and holidays for you, your friends and family".

I understand that standby fares are just that; no guarantees, but how "standby" are they? Do you have to wait at the gate and see if you can board the flight, or can you book 24 hours (or whatever) ahead at the standby fare?

What level of discount is offered on the "BA flights and holidays"? Single-digit percentages, or something actually worth it?

QR2019

Sometimes you can be confirmed and given your seat as soon as you arrive at check-in other times I've only been confirmed an less than an hour before the flight. The discounts on normal flights is often quite decent as always depending on the route etc they are called hotline bookings and sometimes work out better than standby just due to the fact you are obviously confirmed on the flight as it's classed as a discounted commercial ticket so also earns avios and tier pt.

We have two types of standby basic which only gets you economy or premium which gets you club or wtp obviously subject to a seat being available.

I've never got anything less than club as pick my flights wisely and don't have kids so not travelling at peak season etc you can book standby up to a few hours before the flight

DerWomble

Hi QR2019 - thanks for the information!

To get an idea of what a discount would look like, can you give a rough example? Say LHR-SEA or -JNB (just picking places at random). Of course fares differ based on dates, etc, but picking "wisely" as you say...

Is it possible to do a "no reservations"-type adventure and just show up at LHR T5 with a carry-on bag and say "put me on the next international flight going somewhere" and roll the dice? I've always wanted to do that...

QR2019

You can sort of do that as you can book standby on the day and we have access to systems to chose best flight to get on that day that show actual loads not just the f9r sale loads which also includes the over booking profile.
As for hotlines the bonus with them as well is you can buy them for anyone where as standby is limited to a couple of people I pit a random week in March in on ba.com eco price was 445 hotline prices was 352.

Also don't forget the standby isn't just for ba or one world we get them on a lot of other large and small airlines around the world

mda03jb

Friends of mine who are entitled to standby travel with J priority have long since ceased to use it as there are too many uncertainties involved. Turning up with a carry on and jumping on a flight anywhere is great but what about getting home again? There are lots of horror stories of people being stuck downroute for days at huge expense (you’re on the hook for walk up hotel rates) & you’ll also get no sympathy from your boss for not being back at your desk. You’re also way more likely to end up in a middle seat in Y than WTP or J especially as a new starter who will be at the bottom of the standby priority list.

By the time you factor in having to fly to unpopular places at unpopular times and adding enough contingency to get home in time then it becomes a minor perk at best!

You are entitled to a small number (1/year?) of essentially guaranteed tickets at standby prices I believe. I don’t know about Hotline discounts but a figure of 10% rings a bell.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

PETER01

I'll leave those in the know about these things to comment however may I take this opportunity to welcome you to Flyertalk and the BA Board DerWomble.

Your very welcome here and all the very best should you take the job if that's later applicable.

mikeyfly

I often check Hotline and more often the super cheap HBO longhaul fares aren't available on Hotline and so are cheaper on BA.com public site. I flew to Tampa last month in Y, paid £270.00 HBO on BA.com it was quite a bit more on the Hotline

LondonElite

My senior captain friend and his family rarely use this. Too many wobblies.

QR2019

Yep hbo fares can be cheaper online but advantage with hotlines is obviously for a start baggage if needed and also free on day change applies to them if you are going to some where with multiple flight.

Yep there are bad stories about standby like some others have said but thankfully touch wood not had any personally.

Dave_C

Travelling standby is very hierarchical and quite complex.

Essentially, you'll only know if you're going to get on the plane at 45 minutes to departure when the flight closes, although you can know earlier.

There are two key elements that govern if you get on and where you sit, with a tie breaker.

There's what's known the onload priority, which determines the order that the standby people are processed, then the cabin priority which determines where you sit. Finally, if there's a tie, the date of joining (older being better) takes priority.

cgtechuk

This is because all Hotline tickets are Economy Plus so you won't see HBO prices.

JAXBA

Quote:

Originally Posted by DerWomble

To get an idea of what a discount would look like, can you give a rough example? Say LHR-SEA or -JNB (just picking places at random). Of course fares differ based on dates, etc, but picking "wisely" as you say...

The standby fares use ZED levels. A search found this page, updated a year ago, so there may be some differences, but airlines generally use the low or medium levels:

Airline Employee Interline Travel: ZED Fares Explained - Cleared List

Just like Avios pricing, it's by sector, so MAN-LHR plus LHR-BER for example.

Quote:

Is it possible to do a "no reservations"-type adventure and just show up at LHR T5 with a carry-on bag and say "put me on the next international flight going somewhere" and roll the dice? I've always wanted to do that...

No, you'd need to pick, list and pay for your destination, possibly on the way to the airport at least. Tickets are issued to specific destinations, and while they're exchangeable to somewhere else, you still have to decide where you're going before you can be ticketed to begin with.

Pingu

I'll second the dangers of being stuck down route. Had 3 days stuck in Rio a year ago and almost a week in Hong Kong a few years ago. One person higher up the priority queue had been waiting almost a week with his son (his wife had gone back on a jump seat)!

Hotlines can be brilliant and when combined with BA sales/exEU there are some cracking deals. Outside of sale periods there were loads of DXB offers last year for £750rtn in J and £1k in F (remember you get full Avios and TP too). Although no UUA which can be a pain.

Annalisa12

My QF captain friend pays discounted F tickets so is not on standby

dddc

I travel on my friend's QF staff travel benefit from time to time. She's been there 20+ years which means at some point I was able to get Business Class seats. It was great when Qantas had 4 flights a day into London, not so good now with just 2 and especially as 1 is the almost always full LHR-PER flight. Saying that, once when the 4 flights per day still operated she got stuck at LHR for 3 days with her then boyfriend and ended up having to buy a commercial fare on another carrier to get back in time for work. Not sure about BA, but with QF if you miss work because of not getting a flight back in time, you could lose your job.

You have to pick your days to travel, depending on destination and frequency. Midweek is usually best. I had to go out to Australia recently on an errand and needed only a 1 way back from Oz on QF. I had wanted to leave on a weekend but ended up pushing it out to Wednesday as the loads kept changing. And just when you think you're in line for J class, other staff with higher onload priority swoop in and book. Qantas also has their own frequent flyer upgrade request system that they process before staff travel gets allocated. If the mooted upgrade with points across OneWorld airlines comes to fruition, it will mean even less chance of an upgrade. For my flight back I was issued with Y class boarding pass to Singapore and a Standby one from there to London. My friend texted me to go to the desk at the gate and I was upgraded to J. 1A in fact. At Singapore I had to go the Transfer Desk where they issued me a Y boarding pass. At the gate they asked me and a load of other staff to wait while the plane boarded. Slowly the lead person came round to people with either upgrades or news that they were travelling in their original cabins. I scored a bulk head centre PY seat on the upper deck of the A380 so I wasn't complaining - apart from that Qantas don't refund the difference between a J and PE seat, only Y for staff.

I've had cases where everything looked fine before I left for the airport but get there and find something has happened. I've had to re-route to Sydney and stay overnight there instead of flying direct to Brisbane because the Singapore - Brisbane leg was full. I've flown down to Melbourne because the loads looked lighter there than the Sydney flight only to find another airline's plane had problems and they were reticketing some passengers onto my flight. Squeaky bum time when you get told to come back to the check in desk at 10pm to see if you have seat or need to find a hotel!! I got on thankfully and in Business too.

Again, not sure about BA, but with QF once you leave depending on years of service and maybe some other conditions, you can still travel on staff rates, but your priority is lower than before and slowly sinks the more years that pass since you left. I have one family friend that left 20 years ago and only uses it domestically as internationals can be quite difficult and prove expensive if you need to buy more hotel nights.

As a companion traveller I don't get the rights to travel on other airlines on my own. If she was with me it would be fine, but only a couple would let me fly without her.

To be honest, it sounds like a great perk but the reality is you can't relax while on holiday (if you get away) in case something happens and you need to leave earlier. My friend always allows a few days at the end of trip to allow for delays - last time it was because the in bound flight was 12 hours late. Luckily Qantas even put staff up at hotels for that delay. She only came to visit for 5 days, which I guess is something you can do if the price is cheap enough!!