Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
DL = Delta, SC = SkyClub, the Delta airport lounges.
When you SDC = Same Day Confirmed, your ticket must be reissued. It would probably take an agent doing some sort of waiver on the computer system for you to avoid the $50 fee. If you have no FF status on DL, they will not allow you to decide to go standby. Technically, you will not go standby: for $50, they will change your ticket within three hours if a seat is available on the desired flight and at that point you will be CONFIRMED on the flight, not just standby. I would be very surprised if you can do this without the fee, lounge or not, unless there is some problem such as your original flight being very late or cancelled.
Thank you for the explanation! Yes, it is for a domestic flight. I have skymiles transferred over from the NW days, which I don't know if that means I have FF status (allow me to reiterate that I am a
complete ignoramus in these matters and I don't fly often due to a fear of flying). Are you saying that if you're not FF, you
can't change your flight for an earlier one for $50? Also, to complicate matters, this trip is arranged by a company that's flying me out, my skymile number was never involved - if I was indeed a FF, would the fact that the company is paying for it render me non-FF status?
And allow me to ask a few more questions: if there's an earlier flight, say 7am, where there's about 10 available first class seats and one coach seat still open, what are my chances of getting on that flight via paying the $50 fee to transfer over to "standby"? I would imagine the airline would offer some coach folks to upgrade to first class, rendering a few seats freshly available, but then again, I don't know for sure if things still work like that. Would they offer someone on "standby" status the first class seat for $50 or for whatever rate they were planning to charge the other coach travelers?
Once again, thanks for taking the time to explain to someone like me.