flying Standby
 

This is an obvisous question, but what are the steps to flying standby? I am currently scheduled for flight 617 Friday, but would like to get back by lunchtime. So, what do I need to do to attempt standby.

Also, can someone point me a website that shows the load of flights. Specifically, UA 607 and UA 609 for Friday AM.

Thx.

Check in, hussle to the gate, hand GA your BP, ask to be put on standby for flight XX, get DM card from GA, ask GA what your chances are, wait.

Do a dummy booking and click on Flight Details to see a window with current fare availability.

You should know that if there are only a few open seats on the flights you are trying to get on, your MP elite status (if any) becomes very important as they clear the standby list by decreasing elite status first.

You can also ask to be put on the standby list at check-in (sometimes the agent there will balk, and the Easy Checkin Units let you do it sometimes, e.g. if it is nonstop).

BillJ

I recently called and got put on the standby list that way. I figured, the earlier the better. Turned out not to be an issue. I had already checked in online when I called.

You'd you call? I've tried calling the 1K desk to do this and was told no way.

Thanks for the info. I still do not understand how I see the load of a flight. I made a dummy booking, and all I could find was the seatmap, that looked rather empty, but that doesn't always mean there is space. Is there another way to find out how the loads are. I don't want to get to the airport that early, for no reason.

thx.

I call
 

I have called when I was 1K and my wife now that she is 1k calls and has no problems. Usually RCC will give me a BP5.

It depends entirely on the agent. I don't know if all of them have access to it, but they can sign onto a system that lets them access the airport DM lists, etc. I've been able to have them put me on standby during pre-irregular ops circumstances a few times when I called up to be proactive. On at least one occasion, an RCC agent flat out told me the phone agent had lied and that it wasn't possible (but of course it was possible, and the wonderful phone agent had saved the day for me).

During irregular ops, of course, phone agents can protect you onto other flights, confirm seats, etc.

If you want to know the exact number of seats left, the only way to do that is to call United. You can also put the flight date and cities into ual.com, click on the "Flight Details" link on the flight list, and see how many seats are shown in each bucket (e.g., Y9 B9 M9, etc.). If the cheaper buckets are sold out and the more expensive buckets are less than 9, it indicates that the flight is close to being sold out or oversold.

Please note that the quantities in these buckets can change rapidly, and they are not a true indicator of how many seats are already reserved on the plane. But in combination with the seatmap, you should be able to glean enough information to make your decision about going to the airport early.

Try KVS Availability Tool HERE!

This is news to me. I've never heard of ANYONE EVER being able to get on the standby list over the phone. Is it a 1K only thing?

As others have already said, call United. I usually speak to the phone agents in this manner, "Hello! Could you give me the loads on flights 97, 98, 99 today from Denver to San Francisco?"

With the domestically based CSR's this seemed to increase my chances of them telling me actual loads, sometimes even the Coach/FC breakdown. Apparently they are not supposed to give numbers out but the wording of my question conveys the message that I'm either a UA employee or at least a ff that would appreciate good info.

But even when they don't give me actual loads, usually they're pretty good about telling me "you'll probably make it", "it's wide open", or "it's oversold by a lot".

If I don't get a cooperative agent, I just call back.

See post #9 above; it can be done, and isn't a 1K thing. The agents apparently have to log on to a different system to do so, and some either can't or won't do so under most circumstances. There's a thread somewhere out there in the ether with much more info on this, but beats me what you'd search for to find it.

We all know how consistent UAL agents are :rolleyes: