FinallyFlying

That's why I'm confused.

All I see in fare rules:

STANDBY PERMITTED FOR EARLIER/LATER SAME DAY FLIGHTS OTHERWISE WAITLIST AND STANDBY NOT PERMITTED.

And, under "Permitted Combinations":

NOTE - THE CITY PAIRS BELOW ARE CONSIDERED THE SAME POINT-BWI-WAS FLL-MIA FLL-PBI MIA-PBI LAX-ONT LAX-BURLAX-SNA ONT-BUR ONT-SNA BUR-SNA NYC-EWR NYC-HVNNYC-HPN NYC-ISP EWR-HVN EWR-HPN EWR-ISP HVN-HPNHVN-ISP HPN-ISP OAK-SFO OAK-SJC SFO-SJC

When I called to ask about changing the flight (in advance, not standby) the fella in India told me I could not leave out of SFO, period. I HAD to go back from Oakland. I called right back, and the next (American agent) said, sure I could go out of SFO if I paid the $100 change fee....

I didn't ask about standby out of SFO yet but wanted to be armed with Flyer talk knowledge in advance.

exerda

I have taken advantage a few times to fly out of DCA when ticketed out of IAD, and several times to return to DCA when ticketed to IAD. Since I'm often connecting in ORD when flying through either, these as co-terminals work very well for me.

You can technically stand by for the US-codeshares ex-DCA, but it is much more difficult.

exerda

You need to find a bit in the penalties section about "Standby"; the bit you cited is about fare construction, where those airport pairs ARE considered the same point (if the fare is published for each), not standby:

The bit about "unless restricted by the airport provisions of the fare" is important, too. If you see something in the fare rules that says, "Travel must include IAD" or anything like that, you CANNOT stand by at DCA regardless of standby rules (unless you hit irregular ops or have a friendly GA willing to bend the rules). You used to see this a lot with fares put out there to drive DH out of business--you could be ticketed IAD-ORD-CLE, for instance, but HAD to fly to/from IAD and not DCA. You see the same thing ex-BWI for fares competing with WN.

Renard

So if I understand this correctly, I could ask to do this 'same day': I bought a UA ticket that is bos-clt-aua on US metal. I prefer to fly UA bos-ord-aua . If there is room that day on the ua flights, I can pay the same day standby fee for the confirmed seat on the UA metal?

#10

Has anyone tried to get the $25 confirmed standby a day or two prior to scheduled flight? How many CSR's to find a friendly willing to accomodate on an exception basis?

UAalltheway

I don't think it has anything to do with friendliness. The system will only allow the confirmed standby to be done within 4 hours of the flight you're trying to get on.

Example: If i wanted on a 7am JAX-ORD flight, but was sceduled on an 10am one, I could call at 3am to try to confirm on the earlier flight (4 hours before).

#10

But what if I call for the 7am flight at 3am two days before by scheduled flight???

Renard

I would say the answer would be no. It's 4 hours not 52. Sorry.

#10

Thanks for your replies. I apologize for not being clear. I am willing to call 4 hours before the flight that I want to take, but I want to go out a day or two earlier than my currently scheduled flight.

UAalltheway

Errr.. it's just 4 hours. 48 + 4 hours is DEFINITELY not going to help anything. 4 hours. end of story. Sorry, charlie..

Hahah, yeah. Agreed..

Renard

It's same day standby only....so they'll only do this if the flight you want to take is the same day as the one you're ticketed for. What you're looking to do would be a change fee plus fare difference...so likely big money.

#10

Darn, Renard, you have seen through my seemingly innocent question.

dcgators

You can only request the $25 same-day confirm within 4 hours of departure time of the flight you are trying to switch to. And either "H" class or your original booking class must me available to do this.

thegingerman

Nope, not by the rules. Officially you have to travel the same routing. Someone may bend for you, of course, but I'd say that's unlikely.

findingneema

Is that restriction in the standby section of the ticket rules? I couldn't find it on the UA web page on same-day standby and Expedia for some reason can't find the rules for my OAK-BNA $109+ flight. It is confirmed though

My situation is this:
Outbound, OAK-LAX-ORD-BNA, great for miles, but it's a red-eye that gets me to Nashville Saturday morning, when Friday night would definitely be preferable. I was hoping to standby for an early morning flight out of OAK (either the mile-friendly OAK-IAD-BNA or the explus OAK-DEN-BNA).

Return, I have BNA-DEN-OAK. If I take the 2:19 pm BNA-DEN (instead of the 5:11pm), I can get a explus RJ, and since I'll be *Silver by October, a shot at E+. So, while this standby would fit into the routing rules, for those who know this route, would I actually be able to get an E+ seat for the long RJ flight?

Thanks, I'm learning a ton every single day.