Even with those confiscatory change fees, the airlines always offered an out for passengers who needed to make last-minute alterations to their flight: the ability to wait on standby, free of charge, for any available seat on another flight the same day. But that's just another freebie that's quietly being taken away. Most airlines now offer something called "confirmed standby" instead: you can get an available seat on another flight the same day, but it will cost you — $50 on Delta, American or Continental and $75 on United. The latter even goes one further, by charging you $50 even for an unconfirmed standby seat.