Standby help

[Hufty]

I am planning on travelling standby to the US and back in a few months and wanted to ask some advice. I would like to travel between LHR and LAX and see there are about 6 airlines that operate that route direct. I was wondering if anybody had tips for me to save me being stranded. I have been told that it would be prudent to buy standby tickets on all these carriers just so I have a backup plan, then redeem them all and get my money back when I return to the UK. Is that a sensible thing to do?

Also, is it better to try airlines like United and Air NZ where there will be less chance of staff travelling than ther emay be with BA or VS?

Any help, tips would be apreciated as it will be the first time I have used standby across the Atlantic!!

Ta

Hufty.

[Avman]

I've given up the stand-by travel thing. First of all, it ain't that cheap anymore, you're less likely to get an upgrade, and it's just far too much hassle. However, based upon many years of stand-by travel experience I'd say there's no hard and fast rule. Generally, it's a good idea to try and avoid peak days/times. That may be a little difficult on LHR-LAX route in August mind. Some carriers are not in too much of a hurry to reimburse unused s/a tickets and some may impose an admin charge. Go for carriers with the highest frequency of flights. Aim for midweek flights (Tuesdays can be good) and aim for the first flight of the day. Pax may miss connections and not show, but these will accumulate over the day and fill later flights.

[Llademos]

Tip 1 - use an airline with multiple dailies, and go for the first flight

Tip 2 - Pick an airline that also travels to SFO and/or SAN; if you get offloaded from LAX you can switch - it's not farr either as an internal flight or a pleasant drive.

I've always travelled sby for the last 10 years or so, never had any major problems.

Ll