I was in Vegas on business and had a 6:30 pm flight back to Chicago booked. I knew the previous day that I really wanted to leave significantly earlier. However, it would have cost around $400 to move up to an anytime fare and that wasn't happening.

Around 7:00am on the day of departure I received a text from SWA that my flight would be delayed 40 minutes. BINGO. I took the noon shuttle to the airport, but was nervous because now the mobile site was showing my 6:30 flight only 15 minutes late. However, the TA checked my bag and gave me a gate pass so I could stand-by.

My name was called and I was the last to board a quite full flight. Walking down the jetway, I was dreading that middle seat for a 3 1/2 hour flight. As I entered the plane I saw 2 middles near the front. 1 of them was a man and woman. Bells went off and I asked to sit between them. Man slides over to the middle and I get the aisle.

Nice!

What is the delay threshold for SW allowing you to fly standby on a different flight without paying the fare difference? Thanks!

They do not spell that out specifically, but most agree that 15 minutes is the number.

YMMV, I've been told 30 many times.

edit: wiki agrees

Standby travel is not allowed on a capacity controlled award. The only exceptions are the same as for a discount fare ticket: If your flight will depart 30 minutes or more late or if you miss your flight by less than 2 hours.

Ahhhhhhhh! Another couple reunited thanks to the Cupid-like efforts of a stranger. Makes me feel are all warm and fuzzy inside.

Ahh, but Southwest doesn't charge any change fees.

Can you only standby for that segment or for your final destination?

Example:

Currently booked on HOU-LAS-SFO with a change in LAS. The next preceding itinerary for sale on HOU-SFO is HOU-(SAN)-SFO direct routing. If I arrive to HOU to find that the HOU-LAS leg is late can I only standby for an earlier HOU-LAS flight or can I try for the HOU-(SAN)-SFO routing? My objective is to try to get into SFO a little earlier than my booked itinerary but I'm not concerned about connection time in LAS. Also, catching an earlier HOU-LAS flight would still put me on the same LAS-SFO flight.

Sometimes the traveling gods aren't and your plane has a burned out position light. Contract maintenance is called, but he drives slow, so you end up missing your connection which is the last flight of the day. This happened to me earlier in the week here in TUS.

You shouldn't have an issue standing by for the final destination if your first leg is late. You can also co-terminal (i.e. move to HOU-OAK or LAS-OAK/SJC).

Bwahahaha! ^

Both we and the gate agents know that a posted 15-minute delay will probably turn out to be more than 30 minutes. Almost every gate agent will therefore give you free standby when a 15-minute delay is showing. It's the right thing to do.

good luck with that.

I have taken over 1200 flights on Southwest, and that is indeed my experience. Yours may vary based on luck if you have only had a few standby experiences. In the long run your experience should match mine.

Have you been denied stand-by with something between 15 and 30?

Over the years, I have grabbed several with 15. I would be curious if there is actually a number - Any input from our WN management lurkers?

I've never had any issues switching off a delayed flight since I started flying WN in 2004.

The problem is when WN doesn't post the delay until after the ETD....

my skepticism doesn't lie with past performance but with Southwest that as of late is seemingly trying to piss away goodwill like it was on fire.

yes, on 1/12/12 flying out of BNA. My flight was listed at 15 minutes delayed and the agent would not budge.

The following is from Section 4.c.(4) of Southwest Airlines Co. Contract of Carriage -- Passenger Seventh Revised Effective October 13, 2011 [warning - the link is a .pdf] (emphasis is mine):

"Delays or Involuntary Cancellations. If a Passenger's scheduled transportation is cancelled, terminated, or delayed before the Passenger has reached his final destination as a result of a flight cancellation, Carrier-caused missed connection, flight delay, or omission of a scheduled stop, Carrier will either transport the Passenger at no additional charge on another of Carrier's flights, refund the fare or the unused transportation, or provide a credit for such amount toward the purchase of future travel."

Although the likely intent of this provision relates to taking a later flight, perhaps any delay should be sufficient to convince a GA to accommodate a standby request based on this provision.