How To Fly Standby

Flying standby can be tricky business. There are a lot of policies, depending on your airline. You might have to pay an additional fee of anywhere between $25 and $100. You’ll probably feel like the airline is doing you a favor, but realistically it’s not all that much hassle for them to move you forward. You can achieve this with a few simple steps.

Firstly, be as polite as possible. Be overly polite in fact. “Please” and “thank you” won’t be enough. Compliment the airline for its efficiency and attention to detail. Let the hostess or whomever you’re trying to get stand-by status from that they’ve been incredibly helpful. You’re sure to leave a good review on TripAdvisor or something like that.

Let them know you don’t mean to be a nuisance, but they’d be really helping you out if they put you on standby. If you’ve planned yourself well for the situation, dress well when you’re at the airport. A suit or something formal might lead them to believe you’re on your way to a business meeting or wedding. They’re not going to bend over backward to help out some “smelly hippy” or someone who’s just impatient.

Despite some airlines claiming it’s not in their policy, you might get lucky if you butter up the right employee. It does happen. So remember, appear the right way and flatter them until they can take no more; you might even go as far with your politeness that you annoy them into getting you onto the next flight just to get you out of their hair.

For a few extra tips and a list of airlines and their standby policies, check out wikiHow.