US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Standby pecking order with award ticket

I am buying an Award ticket DCA-BOS because of lack of availability of the walk-up $110 fare over Easter. (Marathon might be another reason.)

I hope to return earlier than the day that I booked. Last fall I flew this route on an award ticket. I arrived a bit over an hour early and put myself on the standby list. They let on at least 20 odd standbys before closing the gate -- I was out of luck. I think there may have been cancellations earlier in the day.

Does status meaning anything when you are standing by on an award ticket?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gnaget:
I am buying an Award ticket DCA-BOS because of lack of availability of the walk-up $110 fare over Easter. (Marathon might be another reason.)

I hope to return earlier than the day that I booked. Last fall I flew this route on an award ticket. I arrived a bit over an hour early and put myself on the standby list. They let on at least 20 odd standbys before closing the gate -- I was out of luck. I think there may have been cancellations earlier in the day.

Does status meaning anything when you are standing by on an award ticket?</font>

A flew standby on a bump voucher last year and they told me that I was at the bottom of the list even though I had status.

So I guess we won't see you at the DC dinner?

I guess your mileage may vary. My wife and I were due to fly out of Boston the Monday evening of the President's Day blizzard this year on award tickets. We went to the airport early Monday morning to try to standby on an earlier flight. At the gate we were called to get on the plane ahead of a number of other standby's and the plane went out full with some standby passengers left at the gate. It turned out to be the last flight out of Boston to Charlotte that day and very nearly the last flight of any kind before they shut down the terminal. We would probably have been stuck in Boston for several days if we had not been able to get on that flight. (My wife and I are BOTH Gold Preferred and US Airways Club members if that made a difference.)

[This message has been edited by rtpflyer (edited 04-11-2003).]

The day after the marathon is usually a zoo at Logan. Lots of slow moving people (and I'm not even referring to TSA). I'm not certain as to early availability to DCA, but in most years, everything is usually oversold before noon through PHL and CLT. Not only will you be dealing with runners, but for many businesspeople Patriots Day is a holiday and they begin their workweek with a Tuesday departure.

P.S. Good luck if you're running. I'll look for you in Hopkinton.

Alysia, yes, unfortunately it does preclude my attendance.

Atlantic, I feel rather pathetic when I run 4-5 miles and realize that my pace is that of an elite marathon runner! I just happen to have some personal business in Boston on Thursday and figured I would stay the weekend.

Actually, Etour tells me that things look worse on Monday than Tuesday for flights. I only had the option booking a Monday 6 am via LGA (!) or a 7 pm on the Tuesday. I picked the latter.

Q fares are sold out Sun, Mon and Tues. A bit surprised about Sunday -- that must be due to Easter. Also, the downsizing of the planes does not help. I predict many OP upgrades to F......

[This message has been edited by gnaget (edited 04-11-2003).]