Standby for a later flight???
Jan 26, 2009, 1:47 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toledo, OH
Programs: DL GOLD
Posts: 245
Standby for a later flight???
I know you can stand by for an earlier flight. Can you miss your earlier flight and standy by for a later. Do you have to be at the terminal within three hours of your original flight?
Jan 26, 2009, 2:14 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: High Point, NC
Programs: None
Posts: 9,171
US has no policy that allows standing by for a later flight, only an earlier same day flight.
What you may have heard of is the "flat tire" rule, which actually once existed. It allows a passenger who missed a flight due to unfortunate circumstances - like a flat tire - to take the next available flight (the next flight with open seats) with no additional charge or fees. Officially that rule went away a long time ago - it was one of the many rules imposed by the CAB when airlines were regulated, then carried over for a while after deregulation.
You'll be at the luck of the draw if you just show up late - the agent may or may not allow you to take a later flight without paying any applicable fare difference and a change fee. I'd only note that US has a team that looks specifically for fraud, and agents not applying the appropriate charges/fees is one of the items they look for - agents are on a pretty short leash when it comes to waiving charges/fees, in other words.
If you get a sympathetic agent, the time limit is generally two hours after the departure of the flight you were booked on but the closer to your original departure time that you show up will probably have an influence on the agent's decision. So the later you are the less likely the chance of a favorable outcome.
Jim
What you may have heard of is the "flat tire" rule, which actually once existed. It allows a passenger who missed a flight due to unfortunate circumstances - like a flat tire - to take the next available flight (the next flight with open seats) with no additional charge or fees. Officially that rule went away a long time ago - it was one of the many rules imposed by the CAB when airlines were regulated, then carried over for a while after deregulation.
You'll be at the luck of the draw if you just show up late - the agent may or may not allow you to take a later flight without paying any applicable fare difference and a change fee. I'd only note that US has a team that looks specifically for fraud, and agents not applying the appropriate charges/fees is one of the items they look for - agents are on a pretty short leash when it comes to waiving charges/fees, in other words.
If you get a sympathetic agent, the time limit is generally two hours after the departure of the flight you were booked on but the closer to your original departure time that you show up will probably have an influence on the agent's decision. So the later you are the less likely the chance of a favorable outcome.
Jim
Last edited by BoeingBoy; Jan 26, 2009 at 2:20 pm