To help offset the costs...

Kristie said:
best bet is an early morning flight or a redeye flight...can tell you chances cuz each flight is different even with loads the day before to the day of
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You'd be surprised how many people we load on to our 530A flight to CVG. BGR, proud owner of the earliest flight in the Comair system.

All in all the Standby game is a crapshoot. Oh....the stories I have.
 
During the week, best bets are middle of the week early morning/late evening. On the weekends, the earlier the better. For some reason, people like to sleep in on weekends and generally don't buy tickets on the 530A flights. Old Town, outstations are different since those poor guys on hub and spoke networks have to make the connecting flights at the hubs. Even then, the later in the day, the less the chances are of making the flight until you pass the 7 PM line, then the odds start getting better. Best thing to do is get someone that has access to the load numbers to check for ya a few times right before you're supposed to fly out. I always did that for buddy pass riders I had at SWA. Unfortunately, I don't have any buddy passes to kick in on the deal since a) my SWA privileges are gone now and b) I'm still an FNG over here at Pinnacle.
 
So if I got a buddy pass I could have a pretty good chance of flying out there late Sat. night or early Sunday but probably have to buy a normal ticket back home?
 
I'm the nonrev master. Never been stuck anywhere... well almost, once. I had the forsight to purchase an ID90 before the trip. US/HP is a different story. I think my PNR had middle seat permanantly written in it. I used to dred nonrevving on mainline. I tried to just stick with Mesa operated flights, since we trumped mainliners.
 
E6BAV8R said:
So if I got a buddy pass I could have a pretty good chance of flying out there late Sat. night or early Sunday but probably have to buy a normal ticket back home?
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i dont think so.. if you nonrev there, you can nonrev back... it's just dependent on flight loads and whoever gives you the ticket should update you on what your chances look like for what flight on both days.

but, you normally don't know what flight your going to take till the day before, sometimes the day off...

Personally, i don't let my buddy passers down. I'll update them the morning of their flight to tell them their best chances and keep them updated until they're on the flight. If i think the flights aren't going to work, I'll let them know as soon as i know... but all you need, is 1 seat. If it doesn't work, the ticket can be refunded (at least for DAL).
 
I have a few buddy passes that I could part with. Problem is, Continental runs B737-800s on the LAS route when they really should be using B757-300s or B767-200s... so the flights get full, quickly. It seems that Continental is full ALL the time. So, I am willing to give some buddy passes, but realize that you are taking a major gamble in the world of standby travel. Be prepared for a rough time getting to and from LAS.

If you are willing to wait it out, and try, they are yours.
 
If you pay for the pass and don't get on, do they let you apply the pass and what you paid to your next attempt, or is it one pass per shot and if you don't get on too bad?
 
Kristie said:
i dont think so.. if you nonrev there, you can nonrev back... it's just dependent on flight loads and whoever gives you the ticket should update you on what your chances look like for what flight on both days.

but, you normally don't know what flight your going to take till the day before, sometimes the day off...

Personally, i don't let my buddy passers down. I'll update them the morning of their flight to tell them their best chances and keep them updated until they're on the flight. If i think the flights aren't going to work, I'll let them know as soon as i know... but all you need, is 1 seat. If it doesn't work, the ticket can be refunded (at least for DAL).
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Sorry I didn't verify. I ment using a buddy pass there since I could catch a flight late Sat. night or really early Sunday morning. But, due to the frequency of the flights and the amount of loads it would probably be better, due to time, to buy a normal ticket back home? I will need to be back home on Tuesday night since classes will be on Wednesday and I'll already be missing Mon and Tues classes.
 
TheWife said:
If you pay for the pass and don't get on, do they let you apply the pass and what you paid to your next attempt, or is it one pass per shot and if you don't get on too bad?
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you have a year to use a buddy pass... if you don't get on that particular flight, you can take another flight anytime up until it expires...if it's the same arrival/destination, then your not charged extra or refunded...if you decide not to use it, you can refund it (at least with DAL).

however, if you use the pass for one leg one day and aren't able to make next leg and have to wait for the next days flight.. then, i think (not positive on how it works to be honest), the pass is expired and you need another pass the next day. again, i'm not sure exactly how that works.. i find it difficult to believe you'd just be stranded on your own, but it could be true...
 
E6BAV8R said:
Sorry I didn't verify. I ment using a buddy pass there since I could catch a flight late Sat. night or really early Sunday morning. But, due to the frequency of the flights and the amount of loads it would probably be better, due to time, to buy a normal ticket back home? I will need to be back home on Tuesday night since classes will be on Wednesday and I'll already be missing Mon and Tues classes.
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our motto is "if you HAVE to be there, it's best to buy a ticket".. so you could use a buddy pass to get there and have a guaranteed seat ticket for the ride home... buddy passes are "one way" passes...you can make them multiple legs or you can make them one way nonstop. whatever flights you want to take.
 
Kristie said:
you have a year to use a buddy pass... if you don't get on that particular flight, you can take another flight anytime up until it expires...if it's the same arrival/destination, then your not charged extra or refunded...if you decide not to use it, you can refund it (at least with DAL).

however, if you use the pass for one leg one day and aren't able to make next leg and have to wait for the next days flight.. then, i think (not positive on how it works to be honest), the pass is expired and you need another pass the next day. again, i'm not sure exactly how that works.. i find it difficult to believe you'd just be stranded on your own, but it could be true...
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If you have to overnight, say my pass rider wanted to go from BGR-CVG-LAS round trip, and got stuck overnight in CVG, the pass would be repriced as BGR-CVG, CVG-LAS, LAS-BGR. You have to pay the extra in order to ride. It is still valid, just more expensive.
 
see, i just never remember how that works cuz nobody i've ever had use our buddy passes has ever gotten stuck THAT bad. *knock on wood*
 
So do we have some sort of list on who we could be able to buy buddy passes from? I think that is the only way I will be able to go without draining the bank.
 
E6BAV8R said:
So do we have some sort of list on who we could be able to buy buddy passes from? I think that is the only way I will be able to go without draining the bank.
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They are being given to you. Buying buddy passes is a big no-no. Members will give you the pass. Are you looking for the price of the pass? I have you on the list number three in line for a pass.
 
Seggy said:
They are being given to you. Buying buddy passes is a big no-no. Members will give you the pass. Are you looking for the price of the pass? I have you on the list number three in line for a pass.
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I think what he meant by "buying" is the fact that you have to pay to use them. not paying money for the actual buddy pass ticket. FYI, sometimes it's cheaper on some LCC (or it was a year or two ago) to get an actual seat than travelling on some buddy passes.
 
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