I am trying to plan a last-minute award travel from WAS-STX. The outbound flight on May 26th is not a problem, but the return flight is - I want to return on the 29th, but the only option is an American Airlines STX-SJU-BOS-WAS (nice for a mileage run, but not my cup of tea when I'm not getting miles). The other option would be to return a day later on US. Could I fly standby on American for a better routing? Or, could I book the US flight and try to fly standby a day earlier? I didn't know what their policies were, and the phone agent didn't seem to know either. Thanks for your help!

Kelly

I would call US again and ask the agent the rules on standby...they should have had an answer for you, at least for a US award. You may need to call AAdvantage customer service at AA for their standby policy on award tix. Don't tell them it's a US award - they'll probably just refer you back to US for an answer. The gate agent doesn't see that your ticket is a US award - they just see your class of service(which denotes that you are on an award).

Frankly - if you have the time, book the guaranteed US routing that gives you the least connections. STX-SJU-BOS-WAS seems a bit much. Then, go to the airport the day early and see about standby. Perhaps you'll want to make a call the night before and see how seats are looking.