First class cheap flights airfare strategies

Going standby – beware of the pitfalls when trying to get those cheap flights airfare

If you are a smart traveller, you should always be looking to get those cheap coach or first class cheap international flight or first class cheap flights airfare tickets. The savings whether on these type of discount coach or discount first class airfare first class airfare tickets could certainly add up in the long run to get you a nice free second trip as flight tickets are known to make up a major portion of any trip.

However, if you could not find any of these cheap coach or first class cheap international flight or first class cheap flights airfare tickets, going standby at the airport in the hope of getting one may not be a good strategy.

Going standby denotes the meaning of going to the airport and sees if a flight has an extra seat you could occupy. Its sounds simple but there are the obvious pitfalls that may cause you a bundle if you do not know the rules of using this strategy correctly.

Well, the first thing to note is that there are likely no discounted coach or even those discount first class airfare tickets on a standby basis.

As such, it’s never a good idea to go to the airport at the last minute and hope to get such cheap coach or first class cheap international flight or first class cheap flights airfare tickets as it almost never will happen.

Note that some airlines have enforced the rule that you can only fly standby only on the same day of your ticket (if you have a ticket and you missed an earlier flight).

However, while this likely to be enforced on an outbound trip, considerable latitude are given by airlines on the return trip. In other words, you may be allowed to bend the same day rule on the return trip although again.

Still, if you don’t have a ticket in the first place, again, don’t hope of going to the airport at the last minute and hope to get cheap coach or first class cheap international flight or first class cheap flights airfare tickets.

One of the most important strategies to note is that the safest way to go standby is probably only for flights departing earlier than your scheduled flight on the same day.

What this means is that if you choose to go standby for later than your scheduled departure flights on the same day and then finds that you can’t get on board because all flights are full, the airlines may require you to pay the full fare for to obtain a higher priority waitlist status.

And if you are forced to leave on the following day, you could also be forced to pay the full fare also.

This will put to waste your effort of securing any discount first class airfare first class airfare or coach tickets you managed to obtain earlier.

Note that a waitlist is not a first-come first-served list as you may be led to believe in.

In reality, whether you stand as priority in the list may well depend on your fare ticket, your elite or frequent flyer status or whether you are flying premium (it still helps even if you your business or first class cheap international flight or first class cheap flights airfare tickets were actually secured in a sale) or coach.

It is of course best to be nice to the counter or gate agent and hopes that they will at least be sympathetic to your case, especially if you are flying on a lowly non-refundable discounted coach ticket. 

Editor’s notes: If you want to get further details on other tips, strategies and industry “secret” discounts that the average travellers or 90% of them do not really know, and sometimes may be just too sensitive to be publicised, invest in a copy of this fantastic book by Mellissa Obrien called “Travel Industry Secrets” It’s an absolute guide that will leapfrog you into the “real hidden” world of travel perks and discounts – and leaves you planning for a FREE second and third vacations (from the savings you make on the first one). Forget about the small cost - the returns and savings are 100-folds more, even if you only travel a few times a year. It’s a gem of a book and I absolutely recommend that you get it and read it page by page.

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Copyright 2006 - Standby pitfalls on getting that first class cheap flights airfare article.