Jan 4, 2015, 2:01 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
This wiki was created to distill SDC (and related standby) down to a set of rules in the hopes of benefiting others.
The official "rules" can be found here. In practice, some of the rules almost always apply, and some are more flexible.
Note there have been reports of SDC to one segment removing confirmed CPU upgrades on downline segments. If maintaining the confirmed upgrade is important then these changes should be handled with care.
Most Frequently Asked Question: When do I call/go online to make the change?
Follow this flowchart:
Question 1: Are you within 24 hours of your currently scheduled UA(*) operated flight that you're trying to change off of? If yes, continue to Question 2. If no, continue to answer 1.
Question 2: Are you within 24 hours of the first UA operated flight you're trying to change on to? If yes, continue to to Answer 2. If no, continue to Answer 1.
Answer 1: No, you cannot call/go online yet to make an SDC.
Answer 2: Yes, then you can call/go online to make an SDC.
General Baseline Rules
These are the general rules that usually apply to SDC's; falling outside these rules usually requires payment of a full change fee and the fare difference:
How to SDC
SDC can be accomplished in a few different places (in rough order of likelihood of being able to get the rules bent):
Please note that the United.com “change flight” link before checking in within T-24, is broken. The website may not show all available options and will often attempt to collect the change fee rather than the SDC fee (if any).
NB: An SDC where the original itinerary (in one direction) has three or more segments cannot be done online.
Nuances and Loose Rules
Now for the hard part: figuring out where the flexibility is in the rules. This list is compiled from the responses to people saying "Can I do X?" where X is something that is not clearly permitted by the rules. One's likelihood of success here depends a bit on the method used for the SDC.
For each item, the following codes apply:
Y = officially permitted and possible using any method
A = not permitted but perhaps possible using an agent (phone/counter), perhaps having to HUACA
A* = mixed reports of success with an agent (phone/counter),
N* = possible only if you find a very accommodating agent
N = little or no reported success.
If you encounter issues with an agent (phone or counter/gate), you can ask the agent to reference GG SDC. Additionally, GG SDC line 61 specifically references that fare classes are supposed to level out 3.5 hours before departure, so you might be able to use that to your advantage if fare classes have not leveled out and you're trying to ask an agent to open up the correct inventory or force you onto the flight.
Note -- as of 11/27/2017: A datapoint indicates that UA may have updated its GG rule regarding leveling out to state the following:
Standby
You may stand by if seats are not available in the purchased fare class. In these cases, the same-day change fee will apply, but will not be charged unless you are assigned a seat on your alternate flight. Changes in routing are not allowed when standing by. Standby may be requested on the day of departure at an airport kiosk or with a United representative at the airport. Once you are added to the flight standby list, you can check your real-time standby status at united.com/flightstatus or on your mobile device at mobile.united.com/info.
Instead of paying a same-day change discounted fee, can I stand by for my desired flight for free?
No. The only time you may standby for free is when the fare does not have any penalties for making changes, or when standing by involuntarily due to a flight irregularity.
Can I pay the same-day change discount fee with cash?
Cash will only be accepted by a United airport representative when the change is available to be confirmed, not for standby travel.
original posting by mgcsinc, initiated by jackal
Previous threads:
UA Same-Day Travel Change (SDC) Fees/Questions *now with WikiPost* {pre-2015 Archive}
The official "rules" can be found here. In practice, some of the rules almost always apply, and some are more flexible.
Note there have been reports of SDC to one segment removing confirmed CPU upgrades on downline segments. If maintaining the confirmed upgrade is important then these changes should be handled with care.
Most Frequently Asked Question: When do I call/go online to make the change?
Follow this flowchart:
Question 1: Are you within 24 hours of your currently scheduled UA(*) operated flight that you're trying to change off of? If yes, continue to Question 2. If no, continue to answer 1.
Question 2: Are you within 24 hours of the first UA operated flight you're trying to change on to? If yes, continue to to Answer 2. If no, continue to Answer 1.
Answer 1: No, you cannot call/go online yet to make an SDC.
Answer 2: Yes, then you can call/go online to make an SDC.
General Baseline Rules
These are the general rules that usually apply to SDC's; falling outside these rules usually requires payment of a full change fee and the fare difference:
- The departure time of the first segment of the old itinerary and the departure time of the first segment of the new itinerary must both be within 24 hours of the moment that the change is made.
- Only applies to UA/UX operated flights, domestic or international. Changing from a non-UA operated to UA operated may be possible.
- The ultimate origin and destination airports must remain the same.
- Routing can be changed (addition, deletion, or change of connection points) but the routing rules of the original fare usually apply.
- All remaining unflown segments in single fared itinerary are considered together (i.e., if you're flying WWW-XXX-YYY-ZZZ, you can go to a kiosk at XXX and potentially fly XXX-AAA-ZZZ or XXX-ZZZ direct).
- SDC can be done an unlimited number of times, and can therefore be used to extend a trip indefinitely (pending availability).
- SDC costs $75 for Members and Silvers - the fee is waived for Golds and up (plus any applicable fare difference, see below). *G's may also get free SDC, although there is no mention of this in the official rules. Once in-route, fees for an earlier connecting flight may be waived per GG SDC Line 118.
- Non-elites on the same PNR benefit from any waived fees for SDC.
- No fare difference is charged so long as there is availability on all of the new segments in the originally ticketed fare class. Fare class availability in all classes often opens up after T-24 and almost always opens up at T-3 unless the plane is very full.
- SDC on bulk tickets, including United Specials, is not permitted.
- SDC is permitted on both domestic and international itineraries.
How to SDC
SDC can be accomplished in a few different places (in rough order of likelihood of being able to get the rules bent):
- United mobile app
- Kiosk
- Phone
- On united.com, right now only the "Search Other Flight Options" button during On-Line Check-In (OLCI) works. This has spotty availability, particularly if the change would involve paying an additional fare due to fare bucket non-availability.
- Counter/Gate (although reports are that most airport agents are not familiar with the SDC policy and may not allow you to SDC to a valid itinerary--you can try to direct them to look up GG SDC, but they often won't understand that what you're trying to do is permitted by those rules)
NB: An SDC where the original itinerary (in one direction) has three or more segments cannot be done online.
Nuances and Loose Rules
Now for the hard part: figuring out where the flexibility is in the rules. This list is compiled from the responses to people saying "Can I do X?" where X is something that is not clearly permitted by the rules. One's likelihood of success here depends a bit on the method used for the SDC.
For each item, the following codes apply:
Y = officially permitted and possible using any method
A = not permitted but perhaps possible using an agent (phone/counter), perhaps having to HUACA
A* = mixed reports of success with an agent (phone/counter),
N* = possible only if you find a very accommodating agent
N = little or no reported success.
- Violating various non-routing fare rules (day/time, minimum stay, etc.): Y
- Change destination to ultra-close airport (see the old S*FAR/STANDBY): A
- Change destination to a co-terminal: N*
- Change destination to an entirely different place: N
- Change itinerary at the beginning to include illegal layovers (> 4 hours): N*
- Change itinerary at the layover point (using kiosk, app, or agent) to create an otherwise illegal layover: Y
- Change itinerary at the beginning to add a layover point not permitted by the routing rules: N*
- Change itinerary at a layover point to add another layover not permitted (either in terms of number of segments or routing rules) by the routing rules: Y
- Change to a flight exactly 24 hours before or after the original flight: N*
- Change to a flight exactly 24 hours before the original flight, if the previous day's flight has been delayed: Y (based on one report)
- Combining separately-fared segments to do SDC (e.g. XXX-YYY+YYY-ZZZ -> XXX-ZZZ): A
- Change UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment to UA metal: A
- Change from UA metal to UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment: N (see post 1813 for one exception)
- Change from UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment to a different UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment: ??
- Change on a non-UA ticketed segment: N* (with potential dire consequences)
- Change from an upgraded flight into Y on the new flight: Y
- Change from a GPU-upgraded flight into J/F on the new flight: A
- Change from a CPU-upgraded flight and get confirmed into available R space on the new flight: N*
- Change from an instrument-upgraded flight and get confirmed into available R space on the new flight: A*
- Non-elite on different PNR benefiting from Elite's waived-fee SDC: A
- Change at origin airport after tendering a checked bag: N
- Change at layover airport when a bag has been checked: N
If you encounter issues with an agent (phone or counter/gate), you can ask the agent to reference GG SDC. Additionally, GG SDC line 61 specifically references that fare classes are supposed to level out 3.5 hours before departure, so you might be able to use that to your advantage if fare classes have not leveled out and you're trying to ask an agent to open up the correct inventory or force you onto the flight.
Note -- as of 11/27/2017: A datapoint indicates that UA may have updated its GG rule regarding leveling out to state the following:
Code:
EVERYDAY AWARD AND REVENUE BUCKETS ARE TO LEVEL OUT WITHIN 2H OF DEPARTURE
You may stand by if seats are not available in the purchased fare class. In these cases, the same-day change fee will apply, but will not be charged unless you are assigned a seat on your alternate flight. Changes in routing are not allowed when standing by. Standby may be requested on the day of departure at an airport kiosk or with a United representative at the airport. Once you are added to the flight standby list, you can check your real-time standby status at united.com/flightstatus or on your mobile device at mobile.united.com/info.
Instead of paying a same-day change discounted fee, can I stand by for my desired flight for free?
No. The only time you may standby for free is when the fare does not have any penalties for making changes, or when standing by involuntarily due to a flight irregularity.
Can I pay the same-day change discount fee with cash?
Cash will only be accepted by a United airport representative when the change is available to be confirmed, not for standby travel.
original posting by mgcsinc, initiated by jackal
Previous threads:
UA Same-Day Travel Change (SDC) Fees/Questions *now with WikiPost* {pre-2015 Archive}
UA Same-Day Travel Change (SDC) Fees/Questions (with Wiki) {Archive}
Jan 4, 2015, 12:51 am
#46
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
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I checked again united.com.
"You may not, however, change routing when standing by." - That meaning is SDS(Same Day Standby) must be same routing required.
I see that only SDC is possible for routing changed. Therefore, I need to make a reservation for many flight booking for popluar routing.
Thank you for your reply.
"You may not, however, change routing when standing by." - That meaning is SDS(Same Day Standby) must be same routing required.
I see that only SDC is possible for routing changed. Therefore, I need to make a reservation for many flight booking for popluar routing.
Thank you for your reply.
Jan 4, 2015, 12:44 pm
#47
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: SAN
Programs: UA Gold/1MM
Posts: 661
CLD / SAN standby question
I am flying CLD-LAX-ORD tomorrow? Can I show up at SAN to standby on an earlier nonstop flight? I asked UA phone rep and the answer was not without $200 change fee + fare difference but I thought to ask the forum if this can be done.
Jan 4, 2015, 12:53 pm
#48
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco/Sydney
Programs: UA 1K/MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Something, IHG Gold, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 8,147
No. The routing can change, but the end-points must remain the same.
There is a potential exception for this for multi-airport cities (DCA/IAD and JFK/LGA), but not any others.
There is a potential exception for this for multi-airport cities (DCA/IAD and JFK/LGA), but not any others.
Jan 4, 2015, 1:05 pm
#49
Moderator, Omni, Omni/PR, Omni/Games, FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Between DCA and IAD
Programs: UA 1K MM; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 67,108
By the rules, no. That said, you may get an agent at SAN who is receptive and who will make the change--or he or she may stand pat and insist on the $200 at a minimum (plus potentially the fare difference).
I have actually done this before in the opposite direction--e.g. showed up early at LAX for my flight to OAK, and asked to switch to LAX-SJC (LOL, back when UA actually flew those!). The GA made the change without batting an eye. But I've also had to pay the "service fee" when misreading fare rules on an IAD-specific fare (although it had the "standby permitted from DCA" text in it, it *also* had text saying fare was valid from IAD only).
If there are irrops at all with either of the CLD-LAX or LAX-ORD flights, then you have a much better chance of it.
I have actually done this before in the opposite direction--e.g. showed up early at LAX for my flight to OAK, and asked to switch to LAX-SJC (LOL, back when UA actually flew those!). The GA made the change without batting an eye. But I've also had to pay the "service fee" when misreading fare rules on an IAD-specific fare (although it had the "standby permitted from DCA" text in it, it *also* had text saying fare was valid from IAD only).
If there are irrops at all with either of the CLD-LAX or LAX-ORD flights, then you have a much better chance of it.
Jan 4, 2015, 1:10 pm
#50
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,739
CLD and SAN are not considered co-located airports. You cannot switch between the two except in the rare case it is to UA's advantage, such as the last LAX-CLD flight has left and you are willing to accept LAX-SAN.
Jan 4, 2015, 1:12 pm
#51
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco/Sydney
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Posts: 8,147
Jan 4, 2015, 2:15 pm
#53
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco/Sydney
Programs: UA 1K/MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Something, IHG Gold, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 8,147
A change of origin is going to require the ticket to be re-issued, which almost certainly can't be done by someone at the airport. Thus they are going to have to make a call to have it done, and without a good reason (eg, waiver) I simply can't see happening...
Jan 4, 2015, 3:36 pm
#54
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 60
UA 24 Hour Standby Policy
I am 1K of UA, and have enjoyed the 24hr standby policy very much. \But I plan to postpone a returning flight 5 days from PVG - EWR. Is it possible to use the "other flight options" to postpone the flight everyday for 5 days? My ticket is B Cabin.
Jan 4, 2015, 3:42 pm
#55
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: DEN
Programs: UA MP Gold, 1MM, Global Entry
Posts: 470
By Standby you mean SDC? It is possible but not guaranteed. Maybe others here can estimate how probably such a process might be for you. I would think that high season from a Mexican tourist airport could pose a challenge to get that many successful SDC's strung together. If at any point in the attempts to SDC you do not see an available flight prior to your desired departure date, you will need to pay to change your ticket or else lose the flight as a no show.
Jan 4, 2015, 3:44 pm
#56
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
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Posts: 66,772
possible yes -- guaranteed no. You can not deffer to the same flight the next day. So routes only once day do not work. But for a free SDC, you can not do the change until you are within 24 hours of the old and new flight at the same time. So in this case you will need to change to one of the 1-stop routes and back to the non-stop -- each day.
Jan 4, 2015, 3:46 pm
#57
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Posts: 10,907
By Standby you mean SDC? It is possible but not guaranteed. Maybe others here can estimate how probably such a process might be for you. I would think that high season from a Mexican tourist airport could pose a challenge to get that many successful SDC's strung together. If at any point in the attempts to SDC you do not see an available flight prior to your desired departure date, you will need to pay to change your ticket or else lose the flight as a no show.
SDC = Same Day Change.
Very different than Standby. Same Day Change confirms you on the flight. Standby just puts you on the standby list and you may or may not get on the flight.
Jan 4, 2015, 7:53 pm
#58
Used to be 'joony'
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: NEC
Programs: General Member!
Posts: 203
Has anyone noticed SDC being more difficult T-24? At about T-30ish, all the fare classes were open down to N9 then zeroed out at about T-26. Then it generally stayed zeroed or Y1 until T-4.
Jan 4, 2015, 9:50 pm
#59
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: SFO South Bay
Programs: UA 2MM
Posts: 3,052
I am considering a Standard (not Saver) Domestic First Class Award ticket. Can I SDC on these? If so, what fare bucket do these book in to??
Jan 4, 2015, 10:30 pm
#60
Moderator: United Airlines
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