Ask Gadling: How do I standby for an earlier flight?

by Grant Martin on

It wasn’t too long ago that it was easy enough to walk up to the counter of an earlier departing flight to a destination of your choice and hitch a ride. The notion, at least back then, was that the empty space you saved on your next flight was insurance for the airline in case something went wrong – you were one less passenger that they had to deal with.

These days of a la carte pricing brought and end to that perk. Simply put, any benefit that a passenger might be able to reap was identified and squashed by the airlines, in this case, by means of a fee. That said, it’s still possible to stand by for an earlier flight, you just need to know the lay of the current land.

Lets start with the basics: in order to have a chance at standing by on an earlier flight, check to make sure that the routing and airline are identical. If you’re flying on American from Los Angeles to Seattle, for example, you can neither fly a two leg flight from LA-Portland-Seattle nor can you fly on the American Airlines codeshare operated by Alaska Airlines.

There also has to be space on the flight. Mind you, can still join the standby list on a full flight, but chances are low that you’re actually going to be awarded a ticket.

View more Ask Gadling: Travel Advice from an Expert or send your question to ask [at] gadling [dot] com.

Not sure how full the flight is? Check out seatcounter.com before you even leave home or work to see your chances of getting a seat. Or, give the airline a quick call and ask for “availability” on the flights prior to yours.

Second, you usually have to be willing to pay. This fee ranges from $50 on upwards and is only waived for some elites on some airlines. American Airlines and Delta, for example, will let elite passengers standby for free, while almost ALL elites on United have to pay (get with the program guys!). Southwest doesn’t charge anyone.

Of course you can always try to sweet talk your way out of this fee. The best way to do this is to analyze your later departing flight and try to reason with the gate agent about your itinerary. If the later flight is overbooked, for example, they may waive your standby fee in lieu of paying to bump a later passenger. If the later flight is delayed or canceled, the same may hold true. There’s also an outside chance that they can forget or take pity on you, so it doesn’t hurt to try to standby (and then balk when they try to charge you).

The key to the whole standby game, however, lies in empowered passengers knowing available routes and loads. To get a head start on this, do your savvy web research (seatcounter) or even call the airline on the way to the airport. Once educated, you have a bit of leverage for negotiating your way onto a flight.

Liquids soon to be allowed back on planes

by Grant Martin on

It looks like beer runs to Istanbul may be back on the table again, as the feds are reconsidering the ban on liquids greater than 3oz. According to the folks with the Associated Free Press, bigwigs at the International Civil Aviation Organization meeting in Montreal have been hinting that new technology in the baggage scanning world will soon be able to detect malicious liquids at security checkpoints. The technology could be widespread and integrated into airports by 2012.

This means that cases of wine from Argentina, packs of beer from Minneapolis and, well, large bottles of toothpaste and contact lens solution may soon once more be allowed to fly with their owners in the cabins of passengers jets. Of course this also means that that battle for overhead bins may begin once more, with desperate passengers trying to cram a weeks worth of luggage into an microscopic rollaboard. Still, the benefits will still outweigh the costs.

What will truly be interesting to see is how the airlines react to reduced to income from checked baggage fees. It wouldn’t surprise us at Gadling Labs if they either secretly try to block the ease on liquids restrictions or incorporate some hardcore checked baggage policies in the future.

Department of Transportation mulls expanded passenger delay rule

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The Department of Transportation is thinking about getting even stricter with the airlines. After implementing a rule last spring that involves heavy fines for carriers that keep passengers on a plane on the ground for at least three hours, the DOT is already considering expanding the scope to small airports and international flights.

MSNBC reports:

“The situation is much worse than the [official] statistics indicate,” said George Hobica of AirfareWatchdog.com. “We have to include every airport, every type of plane and every type of flight.”

Unsurprisingly, the International Air Transport Association isn’t crazy about Hobica’s approach, with spokesman Steve Lott saying, “If DOT goes ahead with this, they’re going to cause a much larger problem than the one they think they’re trying to solve.”

The final rule won’t come down until the spring, so there’s plenty of time for both sides to fight this out.

For the airline sector, this measure seems to be seen as a signal of something much worse – the prospect of broad regulation and constraints on its ability to operate effectively in the manner to which it has become accustomed.

For its part, DOT won’t announce a final rule until next spring, but you can expect a lot of others to weigh in before then. Hundreds of last-minute ideas were lobbed over to the DOT, according to MSNBC, addressing all kinds of passenger and watchdog hot buttons, such as: advertising, fee disclosure and compensation for those denied boarding. The big one, of course, was the issue of delays on the tarmac.

International carriers oppose the expanded rules – shocking, right?! Lott, taking the standard industry stance, raises the issue of cancellation instead of risking a $27,500 per passenger customer fine, telling MSNBC, “I don’t think getting stranded in a U.S. city for a day or more is necessarily helping passengers.”

This may be a risk, but the data tells the only reliable story:

Meanwhile, as the airline industry and consumer advocates press their points of view, two truths regarding tarmac delays remain. Delays of three hours or more for domestic flights are down substantially since the original rule went into effect – there were only three in July, says DOT, compared to 161 during the same period last year – and international flights do present a much more challenging scenario.

[photo by williamcho via Flickr]

Body scanners used as porn by airport security

by Sean McLachlan on

It had to happen sooner or later.

The Nigerian newspaper This Day has reported that security officials at Lagos airport are getting their jollies by watching female passengers go through a full-body scanner.

Nigerian investigative reporters visited the airport during a slow period when security officials had time to spare. The journalists found some of them hanging around the scanner display. Since the scanner blurs the face in an attempt to give anonymity, the officers were hurrying over to the line to peek at the passengers before going back to the scanner to check out their favorites.

The scanner was installed after the failed attack by underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was from Lagos, yet technicians have revealed a full-body scan wouldn’t have caught him. An Israeli security expert who helped plan security at Israel’s super-strict Ben Gurion Airport says body scanners don’t work. Israeli airports don’t use the device.

Many Nigerians feel it is against their religion to expose themselves to a stranger, while others fear the effects of radiation. The investigative journalists witnessed passengers objecting to go through the scanner until security turned off one of the metal detectors, giving them the choice of using the full-body scanner or waiting in a longer line.

$11.5 million buys little security at Newark Liberty Airport

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Security gaps are so big at Newark Liberty International Airport you can drive a truck through them. Literally. Inside the terminal, the TSA goes through bags and confiscates oversized fluid containers, but no inspection occurs when trucks and vans drive through security checkpoints and out onto the tarmac. Security company FJC is responsible for protecting the airport, reports Fox 5, for which it is paid $11.5 million. The company is also responsible for security at New York area airports JFK and LaGuardia.

According to Fox 5:

The exclusive Fox 5 video shows FJC security guards stopping trucks at the checkpoint, then walking around the truck using a mirror to look at the undercarriage of the vehicle, but never actually examining the cargo inside the truck. Over and over, FJC guards do nothing more than glance inside trucks that are filled with cargo. The cursory inspections of the trucks’ contents lasted about 5 seconds and never actually involved a guard entering a single vehicle. After which the FJC guards simply waved through each and every truck. It is a security process that totally surprises counterterrorism expert Bill Vorlicek, who screened the video.

The range of risks to which the airport, passengers and employees are exposed is wide. Explosives, in particular, could cause mayhem. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates that “an average delivery truck can carry anywhere from 10,000 to 60,000 tons of explosives,” reports Fox 5.

Port Authority COO Ernesto Butcher told Fox 5 the security lapses were “unacceptable.” The report continues:

“Vehicle inspections are just one of a series of multilayered checks to ensure the safety of cargo being brought to the secure side of the airport, but they are critical and will be continually monitored,” Butcher said in a statement. “Port Authority officials have re-emphasized to all FJC security guards and their supervisors the need for continual diligence and proper inspection techniques during their shifts.”