# Airline ticketing: forced standby? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046 "2014-06-30T23:22:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/1 "2014-06-30T23:22:44Z")
Is it possible/legal/common that you can buy a ticket and pay for a seat, have a booking confirmation with that seat, and then be ticketed as ‘standby’ at the airport? I was under the impression that in order to fly ‘standby’ you had to buy a standby ticket, and that if you paid for a seat assignment, and were ticketed at the airport, they had to give you _a_ seat. I know that they are not always obligated to give you the specific seat you buy, though I believe it needs to be of at least the same price-point. A recent experience has me confused. The airline, Lufthansa, which Ive normally found to be high-quality, was not helpful when I attempted to figure out what was going on. Anyone have any idea? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/2 "2014-06-30T23:33:34Z")
Usually if the plane is overbooked they ask for volunteers to take a later flight. They offer incentives to make the later flight worth someone’s while. But if no one volunteers, someone is going to be bumped. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/3 "2014-06-30T23:45:07Z")
I did have something like that happen to me. It so happened that the airline seemed to have a combination of bad weather causing delays and a technical glitch that affected all computers. It took days to sort out, and they kept putting those whose planes were delayed into later flights, on and on. So I flew standby and was bumped from my original flight, in order to accomodate others who had previously been bumped. They did give me a food voucher, and had I been stuck overnight, also a hotel voucher. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/4 "2014-07-01T00:12:17Z")
Yes airlines overbook all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/5 "2014-07-01T00:28:41Z")
> [@DaphneBlack](#): > > A recent experience has me confused. With nothing more that that to go on, it’s hard to say. The airline could have have overbooked. There could be a medical patient needing transportation. An Arab Sheik needs an extra seat for his falcon (not kidding!!) Weather or technical problems could mean there’s a an extra dozen passengers needing to go where you’re going. They’ve been waiting for two days. Bad weather means they have to take a longer route, using extra fuel and causing a drop in available seats It’s almost endless. If you have a ticket, the airline will get you to where you want to go, but there is no guarantee as to when you’ll get there. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/6 "2014-07-01T00:37:40Z")
My son and his wife recently went to Puerto Rico. He had made the airline reservations months ago, including reserving seats. The seats reserved were regular old economy class seats, nothing special and available. When they checked in they were told they could not sit together as reserved and it would cost an additional $60 each to have seats together. They were told the same thing on the return flight. WTF was that nonsense? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/7 "2014-07-01T00:55:01Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Usually if the plane is overbooked they ask for volunteers to take a later flight. They offer incentives to make the later flight worth someone’s while. But if no one volunteers, someone is going to be bumped. I believe there are laws specifying the amount of compensation for passengers who are _involuntarily_ bumped. So I think that’s why the airline will offer incentives for someone to _volunteer_ to be bumped, because what they’re offering costs less than the statutory requirement. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/8 "2014-07-01T01:01:11Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I believe there are laws specifying the amount of compensation for passengers who are _involuntarily_ bumped. So I think that’s why the airline will offer incentives for someone to _volunteer_ to be bumped, because what they’re offering costs less than the statutory requirement. Wow. My son and his girlfriend voluntarily re-routed their arrival from Sacramento Airport to San Francisco Airport and got a total of $600 against future flights. Hard to imagine the airlines having to pay more. On the other hand, with future flight credit, they can expect a certain percentage of people to let the credits lapse, unused. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/9 "2014-07-01T01:11:25Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Wow. My son and his girlfriend voluntarily re-routed their arrival from Sacramento Airport to San Francisco Airport and got a total of $600 against future flights. Hard to imagine the airlines having to pay more. On the other hand, with future flight credit, they can expect a certain percentage of people to let the credits lapse, unused. Plus there’s the goodwill factor. You might pay as much, or even slightly more, than the legal requirement for _forced_ bumping to someone who _volunteers_ to be bumped. The financial cost is similary, but forced bumping leaves someone very dissatisfied and going around bad-mouthing the airline. Whereas the passenger who volunteered might feel he got a really good deal. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/10 "2014-07-01T01:20:07Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Plus there’s the goodwill factor. You might pay as much, or even slightly more, than the legal requirement for _forced_ bumping to someone who _volunteers_ to be bumped. The financial cost is similary, but forced bumping leaves someone very dissatisfied and going around bad-mouthing the airline. Whereas the passenger who volunteered might feel he got a really good deal. Heh - yep! The one time I volunteered to get bumped, was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving - flying from Indianapolis to Raleigh (with a changeover in Atlanta, I believe). They asked for volunteers; I went up and said “if you can get me to Raleigh tonight…”. The attendant did some clicking and said “yes, there’s a flight to Washigton DC, then a connecting flight to Raleigh, and there’s a seat on that”. Yay, thinks I - but it turns out the attendant did NOT verify availability of a seat on the flight from Indy to DC 😕:mad:. So I went standby on the first leg; was fortunate enough to get a seat (and my luggage was just one small carryone). Then I had to race through National Airport to get to the other gate - this was before they redid the place, and there was one very narrow and crowded hallway. I don’t _think_ I knocked anyone over… 😛 Long story short, I got there, and got a free round-trip ticket anywhere in the continental US. In the case of the OP, that does sound strange unless she didn’t get to the airport enough in advance of her flight (on the flight I referenced above, there was at least one person who didn’t check in early enough - and got involuntarily bumped). I hope she was able to get on the flight. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/11 "2014-07-01T03:03:44Z")
> [@DaphneBlack](#): > > Is it possible/legal/common that you can buy a ticket and pay for a seat, have a booking confirmation with that seat, and then be ticketed as ‘standby’ at the airport? Yes. An airline “confirmed reservation” is neither a reservation nor confirmed; the airlines use a different version of English than the rest of us. I had a fairly heated discussion with a ticketing agent once about this issue, particularly since I was at the airport well ahead of the necessary time and well ahead of many other passengers. She found me a seat, which I later regretted, since that was on September 10, 2001…and I was stranded the next day when air travel in the entire country was turned off after Bin Laden’s Folly. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/12 "2014-07-01T03:28:50Z")
Reminds me of once in Bangkok when a travel agent sold us tickets to Kathmandu. We didn’t realize we were only on standby, and we were told at the airport sorry but no go that day, try again tomorrow. There was nothing to do but check our luggage with the Left Luggage and go back the next day, when we did manage to board. We never used that travel agent again. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/13 "2014-07-01T04:16:28Z")
Thanks for the info, folks. The weird thing about this was that when I called the airline, the ticket was not listed as standby, but as the seat, which had been booked. Then, at the gate, the “standby” ticket was replaced with a ticket for the original seat after all! At no point was there any mention of “volunteering” either. No compensation was mentioned. So it seems possible this was not really a standby ticket? The person at customer service herself didn’t have a clue. A lot of anxiety… for no reason, benefitting neither the airline nor the passenger as far as I can figure out. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/14 "2014-07-01T09:10:19Z")
I am flying BA later this year and looked up their rules: > [@](#): > > 9b3) If we: > > cancel a flight; > delay a flight by five hours or more; > fail to stop at your place of stopover or destination; or > cause you to miss a connecting flight on which you hold a confirmed reservation; > you can choose one of the three remedies set out immediately below. > > Remedy 1 > We will carry you as soon as we can to the destination shown on your ticket on another of our scheduled services on which a seat is available in the class of service for which you have paid the fare. If we do this, we will not charge you extra and where necessary, will extend the validity period of your ticket. > > Remedy 2 > We will carry you to the destination shown on your ticket in the class of service for which you have paid the fare at a later date at your convenience and within the validity period of your ticket on another of our scheduled services on which a seat is available. If we do this, we will not charge you extra. > > Remedy 3 > We will give or obtain for you an involuntary fare refund. > > We will give you additional assistance, such as compensation, refreshments and other care and reimbursement, if required to do so by any law which may apply. We will have no further liability to you. > > 9c) Denied boarding compensation > If you are denied boarding against your will on a flight for which you have both a valid ticket and a confirmed reservation, we will pay you compensation and provide refreshments and other care as required by any law which may apply. This will not apply if you fail to meet the check-in and boarding requirements in clause 6 or we exercise our right to refuse to carry you under clause 5d3 or 7. They don’t specify what the compensation would be. No doubt I could look up the relevant law. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/15 "2014-07-01T09:40:28Z")
Like I mentioned, perhaps some last minute arrangements because of a delay in an earlier flight. Those people who for some reason not their own missed a connection are usually bumped to the next available flight with unconfirmed seats. That usually means people who have not done check in yet. Is it possible this happened in your case? ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/16 "2014-07-01T13:12:45Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I am flying BA later this year and looked up their rules: > > They don’t specify what the compensation would be. No doubt I could look up the relevant law. [http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publications/flyrights.htm](http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publications/flyrights.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/17 "2014-07-01T15:20:58Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > So I went standby on the first leg; was fortunate enough to get a seat (and my luggage was just one small carryone). Then I had to race through National Airport to get to the other gate - this was before they redid the place, and there was one very narrow and crowded hallway. I don’t _think_ I knocked anyone over… 😛 Ah yes, that reminds me of my flight home from Las Vegas a number of years ago. The plane took off over an hour late due to a “security incident” (ie, a moron who tried to bypass the line). I had a connecting flight in Salt Lake City, and we ended up landing about 10 minutes before my connecting flight was scheduled to depart. The flight attendands were very nice about it, and they let me get off the plane first. Naturally, my connecting flight was in the most far-flung part of the airport from where the first plane landed. I ran at top speed through the airport, leaning into turns so I didn’t have to slow down. I just barely managed to make the connecting flight. Somehow, my checked luggage made it onto the flight too. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/18 "2014-07-01T18:39:48Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Like I mentioned, perhaps some last minute arrangements because of a delay in an earlier flight. Those people who for some reason not their own missed a connection are usually bumped to the next available flight with unconfirmed seats. That usually means people who have not done check in yet. Is it possible this happened in your case? I suppose this could be it. But it seems like a very baroque way of doing things to me, and the woman on the phone was saying that her records showed more than 10 available seats on the flight when I called (1 hour pre-boarding). I can’t help but think that there was a fuck-up in the computer system and nobody wanted to say that. But it looks like it could be anything… ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/19 "2014-07-01T19:52:46Z")
I had something similar happen to me on a flight 2 weeks ago. I made the reservation months in advance, and even when I checked the assigned seat 3 days before the flight, I saw I had an aisle seat. Imagine my surprise when I printed out the boarding pass and it was for a middle seat 10 rows away. As for being “involuntarily bumped”, I seem to remember a time when the rule was, if they got you to your destination within 2 hours, you were guaranteed $200 compensation, and if it was longer than that, $400. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046/20 "2014-07-01T21:02:01Z")
I understand that sometimes airlines can bump you if the flight is overbooked. I thought that they asked for volunteers first, as mentioned above – in part to limit their liability! This situation seems different. I think there must be some distinction between bumping someone and changing the category of their ticket (but not on their own system, just at the check-in). Doing it, whatever it was, by reverse order of check-in time seems possible, though I feel like there should be a warning about that possibility if that’s true. There was no bad result here, so I’m really just spitballing – the check-in agent did not seem to think this was unusual, so I was curious if there’d been an error purchasing the tickets. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-ticketing-forced-standby/692046.md?page=2)