What It's Really Like to Fly Stand-by

I really appreciate that my good buddy Kyle gave me a pass to fly on United for the year.  It is a very, very generous gift.  But, as anyone on a Buddy Pass will tell you, there are challenges.

Here's the deal.  There's a United website (which can only be accessed by employees and passholders).  There, I can look at flight availability, including how many are booked on the flight, how many are standing-by and what my relative ranking is.   

I booked a flight for January 31st to Veracruz.  I chose Veracruz based on weather, hotel prices, types of local food and flight availability.  I could have opted for Fairbanks but the weather there generally stinks in January, IMHO. 

Buenos Aires has lovely hot weather in January but it's high season and the hotel rooms were pricier than I prefer.  Auckland is also lovely in January but there was the issue of hotel costs and a really, really long flight.  And, I've been there.

So Veracruz it is - nice hotel for less than $60 a night, weather around 80 and sunny and plentiful inexpensive seafood, Veracruz style.  And, 10 open seats on the flight.  That was the night before I was to leave.

I woke up early on January 31st, finished packing and did a last minute check of flight availability.  And started swearing and stressing.  The flight was now -6 seats.  Yes, that means at least six people would have to not show up to get a seat.  I figured that since flights to Houston were plentiful and there were flights to cities all over Mexico if I didn't get on the Veracruz flight, I'd get a flight to someplace warm, cheap and with good food.

During my 4.5 hour layover in Houston I contemplated where else I could go.  One of the dilemmas was that my Veracruz flight didn't leave until 6:05 pm and I wouldn't know until about 6:00 pm if I had a seat.  Then had to find a flight that departed later and had a gate close enough that I could get there.  And had seats available.  It looked like Santiago de Queretaro was the winner.  It's a city in the central Mexican state of Queretaro, which I'd never heard of.  But just before they called my flight to Veracruz I realized the Queretaro gate was too far.  Even if I hijacked one of the little airport carts, I couldn't make it in time.

I was sweating as I patiently waited to one side while they boarded the Veracruz flight.  The flight hadn't actually been oversold but seats were being held.  Normally for weight issues.  15 minutes before departure time, I was given a boarding pass. 

As I settled in to my exit row seat (yay!  leg room!)  the gate agent came on board and had a word with the captain and flight attendant.  It seems two passengers had checked luggage for the flight but were nowhere to be found.  For security reasons, they needed to either find the passengers (which meant I wouldn't be going to Veracruz) or take their luggage off the plane.

As I anxiously waited (yes, they would politely ask me to get off the plane for a revenue passenger and yes, I would politely and quietly do it while trying not to whimper) I considered my options.  The flight at the next gate had just started boarding and was heading to Chihuahua.  My sole knowledge of chihuahua is about yippy dogs, not a large city in Mexico.  But I figured I'd give it a try.  It was either that or spend the night in Houston and see where I could go the next day.

At 6:10 p.m. , five minutes after scheduled departure, they closed the boarding door.  I was off to Veracruz.

What is it really like to fly standby?  It's an adrenaline rush.  Nerve racking.  Challenging for us Type A control freaks.  And a blast.  I'm very happy to be in Veracruz.  But probably would have enjoyed Santiago de Queretaro or Chihuahua, too.

New Year, New Adventures

Did you know that it is a tradition in Mexico for women to wear a pair of new yellow underwear on New Year's Eve to ensure good luck and wealth in the coming year.  I realized that I've never owned yellow underwear, unless one of my "days of the week" pairs from when I was eight was yellow.

Why am I talking about New Year's Eve traditions in Mexico?  Because my pass to fly free on United in 2019 takes effect on January 1 and my goal is to head to Mexico that morning.

The pass has some limitations.  I do have to pay taxes and fees, which can get fairly high when traveling to a distant country in business (Polaris) class.  Still, we're talking about a ticket costing hundreds instead of thousands.

Travel is stand-by.  I'm typically a planner.  I love to research before I travel.  To me, the planning and anticipation are a big part of the fun.  I like the comfort of knowing I have reserved the perfect seat on a flight that leaves at the time most convenient for me.   With stand-by travel, that's not an option.

Here's how it works.  I'll have access to a United website dedicated to employees and pass-holders.  It functions like a regular reservation site but provides more information.  In addition to showing the number of paid passengers in each class of service, it also lists those on stand-by.  That's key because while a flight may look only 3/4 full, there may be 50 people on stand-by.  The other important piece of information the site provides is the prioritization of all on the stand-by list.  Pass-holders are lowest in priority, although among pass-holders we're prioritized by the hire date of the employee who gave us the pass. 

In order to get through security, you need a boarding pass.  By listing myself on the website as standing by for a specific flight, I'll receive a stand-by boarding pass.  Once at the gate, the excitement begins.  While waiting, I can monitor the stats on the reservation site.  If there are ample seats, the gate agents may opt to assign seats and hand out confirmed boarding passes to stand-by flyers.  More commonly, everyone boards the plane and the stand-bys wait anxiously for their name to be called.

I learned in Houston it pays to be close to the gate agent as they begin calling names.  I was 53rd on the stand-by list, with three open seats.  I figured I'd be spending the night in Houston.   Then I realized that the gate agent was starting to call names.  He'd say a name, glance around, and if no one immediately responded, he'd move on to the next name.  He was calling the names in a conversational tone and I suspect that many on stand-by didn't realize what he was doing.   I stood in front of him and he finally called my name.  Score!  He laughed at my excitement and gave me both my boarding pass and a hug before I walked down the jetway.

But when I had the pass in 2017, my name didn't always get called so I learned to be flexible.  One day, I didn't get on the flight from Houston to Tucson.  I checked the departures board and saw that a plane was getting ready to leave for Phoenix from a nearby gate.  I ran over, asked to fly stand-by and got on.  For $25 I took a one hour bus ride from Phoenix to Tucson.  Not as convenient but much better than staying at the airport to try the next day.

On January 1st, I'm hoping to catch the 7:22 a.m. flight from Orlando to Houston (can you tell Houston is a United hub?).  Business travelers won't be flying because of the holiday and some people may oversleep and miss their flight, which is why it's always better to try for early morning flights.

From Houston, I'm hoping to go to Guadalajara.  But if I don't get on that flight, I'll try for Oaxaca.  And Puebla.  And Buenos Aires.  I've researched hotels but made no reservations, since I'm not sure where I'll end up.  It's a different way of traveling.  And I'm looking forward to the adventure.

By the way, another Mexican tradition is to take your luggage for a walk on New Year's Eve.  The farther you walk, the more you'll travel in the new year.  I guess I need to invest in some yellow undies and get walking.