Understanding SDC - did I get a bad answer?

Hi folks,

I'm just now into Gold for the first time, and I'm trying to understand the SDC benefit.

The way it's written on the website, I can simply call in at T-23:59 from my first segment, and change (for example) LGA-ATL-BNA to LGA-DTW-BNA, as long as there's space open in my same fare type.

So, I can't change LGA-ATL-BNA to LGA-BNA, and I can't change from Main Cabin to Economy Comfort, fair enough.

I've got LGA-ATL-SAN coming up this week, and it was half the price with a 6-hour layover at ATL. There are plenty of seats on the earlier ATL-SAN, but I only want to switch if I can confirm an aisle seat. Long layover is better than five hours in 26B.

When I asked a DL agent to confirm this for me last night, he said confirmed SDC is only available in the event of IRROPS, and otherwise all I can do is standby on the flights I want.

As a bonus question - if I do a confirmed SDC, do I end up on the upgrade list as if I'd bought that flight from the beginning?

Thanks!

SDC = Same Day Confirmed.

You can't SDC until the SD, so if your flight is "this week" you're too early.

The agent may have meant that there's no inventory on that flight in your fare bucket, in which case you could still SDS for that flight (since you'll be at the airport anyway) and in that case you can tell the gate agent you only want to clear if there's an acceptable seat.

Incidentally, how did you buy your ticket? 6 hour layovers aren't legal for domestic travel. Did you buy two one-ways?

1. You can only SDS if your coach fare class isn't available on the flight you want; if your fare class (Y B M S H Q K L U T X V, NOT including basic economy E) is available then you SDC. However, in IROPs, the fare class availability rule no longer applies and you can be rebooked onto a flight even if only full Y is available, although in the case of IROPs, I wouldn't call it SDC.

2. After you're confirmed onto a flight, you can go onto the upgrade list, so yes, with SDC you can be upgraded the same as if you had been ticketed on the flight from the beginning, with the same priority.

Yes

Good point. If it's a broken fare ore separate tickets/PNR, T-24 counts from the scheduled departure time of the second flight, assuming that OP is trying to change the second flight....and if this is part of an international ticket, the rules are somewhat different.

It is not simply "fare type", there must be inventory in the originally purchased "fare class" for coach tickets. If you bought a V fare, there must be inventory in the V bucket for the flights you want to SDC to. Otherwise, you can only stand-by and the routing must be the same. You also cannot SDC from a connecting flight to a non-stop.

If you buy a C+(W) fare or F fare, there only needs to be an open seat (note that it must be a purchased fare, not an upgrade). Although you still cannot SDC from a connecting flight to a non-stop.

......or an upgrade supported with instruments that has been confirmed, although IME the ticket needs to have been reissued too.

That was just a dumb DL agent that you probably spoke to. A question I have for you is how did you book a 6-hour domestic layover in ATL (the max layover time in ATL for D-D is 4 hours and anything longer than that is a stopover). To answer your bonus question if you SDC (not SDS!) you will be treated like your a regular PAX and will be in your normal UG list spot and could clear in advance if RU space is still available. (Very Rare) Its impossible to know if your fare class is avalible unless you call (or have a ExpertFlyer account) If you post your flight info that you and original fare class here, someone with an EF account on here can check if your fare class is available.

That's not correct. In addition to the fare bucket (not just fare type) requirement that has been noted, your purchased fare must also permit the desired routing between origin and destination. (A DTW connection may well be permitted LGA-xxx-BNA -- I'm making the point more broadly.)

There's a free inventory checker at bcdtravel.com. Although it only returns a limited flight selection and you have to enter a captcha for every search. When I tried LGA-BNA, it only returns the non-stop flights (which wouldn't be an option for OP).

My mistake - the layover at ATL is just a hair under four hours - still, longer than I'd like.

So, if my ticket is booked in U, there needs to be space in the U bucket - fair enough, EF shows it's still U9.

If I want to get onto a different flight or a more direct routing, I'm simply paying the SDC fee, rather than receiving it for free as a Gold benefit?

Thanks all!

Potentially interesting/useful site, but it asks for my name, employer, and email.

No SDC allows you to change routing. Just not from connecting to nonstop. SDS doesn't allow routing changes. No fee as GM.

Officially you can change the routing only if you don't have a broken fare, but many agents won't notice or check for this.