Originally Posted by
eb31
I'm flying from LAX to JFK tomorrow, confirmed at 1:45PM but would like to take one of the earlier flights. I had planned on flying business on my flight (using 500 mile upgrades) but wanted to try standby for a flight earlier in the day. However, the earlier flights are basically full other than for business class seats so I wanted to fly standby and use my 500 mile upgrades to fly biz class. With this in mind, is it possible for me to be able to stand by and be awarded an upgrade if there are no coach seats to begin with? I have been on the phone with customer service and haven't been able to completely figure this out. Thanks and all of your help is appreciated.
Regards,
eb31
No. In general, with exceptions that don't apply in your case, if you are ticketed in coach your standby must clear into coach. If there are passengers already ticketed in coach who have requested upgrades, they should be upgraded first, before any standbys are cleared. Then the standbys are cleared, and then if there are still upgrades available and time for the gate agent to do it, the standbys who have requested upgrades can be cleared.
Doesn't mean it will happen that way. You can get to the airport early and try. Try to get to the gate an hour before scheduled departure, talk to the gate agent before they start boarding people to explain what you want to do.