Tell me about your experience flying stand by to catch a cruise overseas?

[graceinga]

Hi Everyone -

 

Just wondering if anyone has flown non-rev to catch a cruise outside the US before and what your experience was like? We were thinking of trying it for a cruise out of Southampton, UK and would plan on trying to fly over a few days early to allow for not getting our 1st or 2nd choice on flight. Not worried about the flight home, just getting there. It would be with Delta but curious about anyone's experience.

[CarlaMasterson]

Hi Everyone -

 

Just wondering if anyone has flown non-rev to catch a cruise outside the US before and what your experience was like? We were thinking of trying it for a cruise out of Southampton, UK and would plan on trying to fly over a few days early to allow for not getting our 1st or 2nd choice on flight. Not worried about the flight home, just getting there. It would be with Delta but curious about anyone's experience.

 

My husband and I flew standby on Air Canada to Venice for a cruise out of Bari Italy in May of this year. We flew Friday night. Stayed overnight in Rome and took a train to the cruise port Sun morning. It was stressful. I am not sure I would do standby again for overseas. Good luck.

[Crism]

We haven't nonrevved over from a cruise, but we have come back. The first time was from BCN-FRA-BOS on Lufthansa. Barring the fact that they checked my rollerbag TWICE, it wasn't bad and we got seats on both flights. The second time was FCO-DTW on Delta which was fine also.

 

Depending on the airline benefits you get, be ready for ANYTHING over there. Bigger cities like AMS and FRA have misconnects and seat availability will not reflect that...so anything goes. If you work for a US domestic carrier, have your ZED fares ready in case the flights fill up. I've had decent luck traveling on non-US carriers using ZED fares. Also, if you're a crewmember (cabin or flight), always offer to occupy a cockpit or cabin jumpseat. This has saved a few friends of mine multiple times!

 

Edit: We do nonrev domestically to cruises but ALWAYS go the day before and grab a cheap hotel. It's NOT worth risking the day-of for ANY reason.

Edited August 27, 2018 by Crism

[Thorben-Hendrik]

Buy a lottery ticket.... much less stressful and about equally successful...

 

Depending on the time of the year flights are totally full!:rolleyes:

[PCWalton1]

The way I micro manage I would not be able to manage the stress. ;p :D

[taglovestocruise]

Flying in a few days early and paying for a hotel and meals would wipe out any savings. On our last flight from Lax to Heathrow Royals Air2sea had many airlines and flights priced at about $250.00 pp economy one way. Take your free flight home.

[gerif]

Buy a lottery ticket.... much less stressful and about equally successful...

 

Depending on the time of the year flights are totally full!:rolleyes:

So true. I have a friend whose company allows her to fly standby for free but due to most flights being full or even overbooked now she hasn’t bothered to try to take advantage of this in years.

[ONECRUISER]

The way I micro manage I would not be able to manage the stress. ;p :D

Yeah I couldn't do it. Take a 3hr to Florida cruise several times a yr and always fly in 2 full days early...

[cpayne]

We gave up flying non rev outside the US yrs ago. We save our frequent flier miles for overseas flights. Get a good credit card with a mileage rewards

program and start accumulating your miles that way. We charge EVERYTHING, but are diligent about paying the entire balance in full each month.

 

 

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[Passrider76]

Have done so several times but not for a few years. The older I get, the less brave I am! Loads being what they are these days, we now use our miles.

 

Time of year and how many flight choices is also a factor. If another city looks better than LHR you could always look for a cheap fare on EasyJet....we did that a couple of times.

[GUT2407]

And what will you do if you don’t get a flight?

[suspaul]

The way I micro manage I would not be able to manage the stress. ;p :D

 

 

 

I’m with you!

 

 

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[edspec]

I'm known as pretty gutsy to my friends and co-workers, but no way would I do this...and we can fly free Space A...okay, $10 apiece. I

[MnMomW3Boys]

I think it all depends on your seniority,

We only ever got stuck flying home once from Europe and then all we did was take a different route via Scotland. Start checking flights and see how many non revs get out and their senority and see where you would fall. Good luck

[pilot]

We do it all the time. There are many options on Delta. Not sure where you are located, but check ATL, MSP, DTW. Also you can fly Virgin for free (plus tax). If you are not traveling during the summer give yourself a few days to enjoy the UK, and go a few days early.

 

 

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[adirondacksailor]

My husband is retired Delta, so we’re not at top of DL standby list, but we have done over a dozen European and Asian cruises and nonreved to all. We go over early on a day that business looks good. I’ve always found available business seats over just to hit the ground running, but coach home is fine. Going a few days early, the once or twice we couldn’t get business to the cruise city, we flew to another city. For example, flew to Milan instead of Venice and took train to Venice. Your having computer access to number of empty seats on a flight makes it all manageable. With Delta, you have dozens and dozens of daily flights to Europe from various departure cities and so many zed options once there. We always, always go 2 or 3 days early to see the sights at port city area. I would never try arriving day of cruise!

I don’t think I’m an especially laid back person, but, I never stress about it as there are literally hundreds of options available to get there.

[adirondacksailor]

Lol, a qualifier to my post above. I never nonrev to a Caribbean cruise. Delta domestic standby is impossible. I buy my Southwest full fare and relax.☺️

[Sofac870]

I’ve always flown standby before a cruise except once where I went confirmed on AA because tickets were cheap. Never had a problem. We usually fly out 2 days before the cruise, one time we flew in day of.

 

Always have a backup plan, can you buy ZEDs with other airlines if needed? At my airline getting to Europe in the summer can be difficult, sometimes you have to be creative.