Hi All,

I have a question about the way in which NW processes their standby requests.

Situation 1:

I was standby for an earlier flight to IND, according to the worldclub the plane was booked 49/50 and was not weight restricted. As of 30 minutes before depature I was #1 on the standby list again according to the worldclub. I approached the gate agent who said very rudely "I was on the list and wait" (the only reason I had approached her was to insure she knew I was in the gate area). Anyway, she boards the plane and goes to close to the door, I approach her and she says the flight is full.

When I get back to the worldclub, however, I check my PNR online and it says these flights are confirmed and lists the earlier flight and the later flight. Under the earlier flight, though, it says "Seat Not Assigned".

(I was carry-on only, by the way)

Situation 2

Today, my parents were trying to standby on an earlier JAX-DTW flight. I had checked them in first thing this morning and put them on the standby list (the flight was only showing K1 (Off the top of my head I think it was T4, L5, V6, Q 6, H 9, B 9, Y 9, fairly empty anyway) thus they were not able to do the confirmed same day standby, since they had 2 K tickets. I have no idea where they were on the standby list (they are both base members), but they said the agent was extremly rude to them when they inquried about their position. Appparently, the gate agent put on 4 standby's and then told my parents that there was only 1 seat available.

Anyway, I logged into my father's account and the same thing showed up, specifically these flights are confirmed and listed the earlier flight from JAX as well as the later one.

My question to you, is does the "Your flights are confirmed" section indicate that a person has actually cleared but the gate agent did not want to print a boarding pass, or is it just indicative of a computer glitch with standby travel?

Thanks

This happens all the time when you have a TA/GA/WorldClub agent put you on standby. Often times when I travel and get VDB or try to standby for an earlier flight, after being listed but before any flights depart, I have two entries on my PNR for XXX-YYY, one being my original paid for routing (now invalid if I took a VDB) and the new standby entry. It's actually not a "Confirmed" seat as much as it is a notation within your PNR that you are listed on the flight. Unless you've actually got a seat assigned, nothing is confirmed. The notation just gives the GA something to "process" when your name comes up on the standby list. It becomes valid if they assign you a seat.

>>>>Under the earlier flight, though, it says "Seat Not Assigned".

Whenever I take a bump (so my booking and seat are given away),and then get confirmed with seat assignment on a later flight, my bump flight still is reflected in my itineraries (even 24 hours after the flight has departed) and is designated with the "seat not assigned" label. As the previous poster said, it is more a "marker" of having been involved in some transaction related to a flight than it is indication of confirmed space on the flight.

I've had the same thing come up when they assumed I would miss my connection.

My inbound flight was delayed, but I was able to do the OJ Simpson run through MSP to barely make my connection (last flight of the night). When I checked my PNR that next morning, they still had me confirmed on the flight the next day which they had protected me on since they thought I wasn't going to make my connection in MSP.