How do you fly to china on standby on united airlines?

Answer 1

There are two kinds of "standby".

One happens when you bought a ticket, but for some reason weren't able to get on the plane your ticket was for. Maybe the flight was overbooked. Maybe you were a little late getting to the gate. Maybe the flight was cancelled.

Whatever the reason, you're going to be placed on standby status for the next flight (depending on the circumstances, you may or may not be charged an additional fee for this).

This is the kind that most of us are likely to experience.

The other kind is "nonrevenue" passengers, usually airline employees and their families (airlines used to offer discounted standby tickets to pretty much anyone on the basis that they'd rather get SOME money for a seat than have it go empty and get NO money for it, but that's mostly gone away by now as airlines have gotten more savvy about filling flights). These people travel free, or at least at reduced fares, but if the airline has a choice between putting a paying passenger in a seat or a nonpaying passenger in a seat, guess which they're going to go for?

In either case, standby passengers literally "stand by" (well, they can sit, I suppose) the gate and wait to see if there are any seats left open after all pre-reserved passengers have checked in. If there are, the airline will start giving out the standby seats, in some kind of priority order (how much you paid for your ticket, why you're on standby ... if it's the airline's fault you're going to be higher priority than if it was yours, whether you're a member of the frequent flier club and what tier you're at, possibly other criteria, and finally, all else being equal, by when you checked in for standby).

The bad thing about standby is that you have no guarantee of a seat. In the old days this wasn't so bad, because flights regularly did have empty seats. Now, though, airlines have gotten a lot more intelligent about scheduling and booking flights, and you could potentially be stuck in the airport watching several full planes depart before you finally get an open seat ... only to be bumped at the last minute by a late reservation.

This is just an annoyance if you're at home, because you can, well, go home at night to wait for the next day to see if there will be open seats. However, you'll have to spend the whole day at the airport, because if you're not there when your name comes up next on the list, too bad buddy, that seat will go to someone who IS there.

It's a disaster if you're away from home. You'll be paying for another night in a hotel. Even worse, it might be in a foreign country, and your authorized stay will be ticking down.

Bottom line: for most people, it's not worth it. Just buy a reserved seat. If you literally can't afford to travel any other way (and can find an airline that still sells the discounted standby seats) or if you're willing to take the gamble, then fine, but don't come whining to us when you spend all the money you saved on tickets to buy hotel stays and airport food.

Answer 2

Airline staff and family members can do so as can Frequent fliers. It is more difficult for other fliers but not impossible if you have a valid visa.