fitmomof3

I have a flight booked in two weeks from Buffalo to Orlando. We have one stop at JFK. I was thinking of attempting stand by to get on the non stop flight. The flight is NOT booked as of yet. The non stop would be the flight before my one stop flight. I have six people in my party though. I am not willing to have my kids split up. I am just wondering if I should even attempt this. If the flight is not full this might work. I know the flight I have booked is showing a ton of seats together in the extra leg room section and the back of the plane. I could easily check the non stop flight the night before to see if they could accomodate six people. It is not a busy time of year. I do know my chances are less with six people and I don't want my kids to sit with strangers.

I guess my other option would be that if the seat fare drops I could get credit. I was told by an agent that I could use this credit and apply it towards a same day flight change of $40.

I guess I have some options. It really is no big deal since we have the flight booked. I really wished I booked the direct flight. The price was double and then dropped to only $89.

thanks in advance.

Lori

dcpatti

I think standing by with 6 people and refusing to have them split up in terms of seating is unrealistic. The empty seats you see today may not be there on the day of travel. Folks buying tickets gravitate towards the empty rows when choosing seats. Basically you'd be relying on luck and the kindness of strangers to get all 6 people on the plane and seated together. If you want the nonstop and adjacent seats, guarantee it by paying for it. Any other approach is going to end up as "take your chances." It's also not really fair on the FA's and GA's to expect them to rearrange other passengers to seat you together if you do go for the stand-by, nor is it fair to the passengers (like a couple) who paid for the more expensive nonstop and arranged to sit together, should they be split up to accomodate your party. I'd recommend if you want to save the money and try for the stand-by, to drop your insistence that the entire party sit together. If that's an absolute must-have, then book the nonstop and select adjacent seats. TBH I think the increase in fare might be worth it to you to avoid having to navigate a large group with several children through a connection but that's just me.

fitmomof3

Hi
Thanks for your reply! I wouldn't want them to have to ask people to move etc.......the flight is showing 32 open seats. My flight leaves in two weeks. Do you think if the plane has several open seats it would work? I am wondering how many sell last minute. There are several seats paired together. I checked this Saturday and they have around 20 open seats. It is off season. We might just pay the same day fee $40 per person. My kids are young and this will be their first time flying. I think this will be the highlight of the trip.

dcpatti

If it's their first time flying, I'd advise even more strongly for sorting this out in advance. You have to do stand-by at the airport which might have you there several hours early to arrange. Those open seats are probably a mix of unsold and unassigned so there's no easy way to tell really how full the flight is, plus you have the Northeast weather to factor in. It's been a rough winter already and probably still will be rough in 2 weeks. One cancelled flight the day before and that nonstop is now sold out.

If you were flying solo or with one other adult I'd say go for it but IMHO you're just inviting problems by tring for standby with a big group, the least of which will be extra time and discussion in the airport before taking the connecting flight you're already booked on.

fitmomof3

We are thinking of just paying the $40 change fee. We can call midnight on the day we leave. If the only seats left are EXTRA LEG ROOM do we have to pay that additional cost? I am just curious. It really doesn't say how much extra those seats cost.



thanks in advance!

Lori

Long Distance

If the only sets left when you can to change your flight are EML, they will NOT assign those to you. They will tell you that your seats will be assigned at the airport when you check in (they hold back a dozen or so seats). However, if when you check in the only empty seats are EML they will assign those to you at no extra charge.

If you go to the seat maps for your flight and click on an EML seat, a popup window will tell you what the upcharge is for that flight.

LiaJB

Just as a quick for the record: We can't use Travel Banks to pay for Same Day Change fees. It IS usable for a REGULAR change fee, but system limitations don't (currently) allow us to use it for the $40.

Just so you're aware before you decide on that option.

fitmomof3

LiaJB- Thanks for the info! We don't have any credit. We have decided to call at midnight the day of our flight. We will pay the same day change. I really hope we can get on the direct flight.

Lori

LiaJB

Did you get your nonstop flight? =)

fitmomof3

LiaJB - Yes we did get the non stop flight. It was great. I called at midnight and was in luck. My kids ended up getting seated in row 1. I was seating in the isle of row 2. They had me seated in the middle by the Gate attendant asked a person if they would move. This was great service. I never even asked to move to the isle. In the future we will only book non stop flights.

We had a stop at JFK on the way home. It wasn't too bad.

We are from Canada and would never fly out of Toronto. It is way easier and cheaper to fly out of the US.

N00dle

Im glad all of this got resolved but, dont you think your post was a bit harsh? I mean I get the fact its rude to ask people that have paid op ups but idk.