Originally Posted by
westau
Also if there is a lot of empty seats on the earlier flight you can do same day standby for free. It would save you the $25 and you would still get it as long as the flight isn't close to full already.
A "lot" (relative of course) of empty seats can fill up with standbys on business destinations seen mostly on earlier Friday returns. The Oops moment is when a handful of Elites may trump your check-in priority on standby.
Full BC fares of course can get free confirmed even if it means coach seating due to lack of BC availability. So there are a number of variables...
On top of that though rare if IROPs occur it pretty much slims the chances standby earlier. Though if your later flight is part of that IROP you might get confirmed on availability if you are already there ready to go.