Originally Posted by
evanderm
Generally, BA won't let you standby as a matter of policy like AA does on domestic itineraries. They will, if your ticket is flexible, change your booking if there's space and within the terms of your booking class for the appropriate fees.
There's anecdotal evidence of BA staff moving you onto another flight if one is oversold and there's plenty of space on the other but usually there has to be a sound operational reason for the staff to facilitate the change. (In fact, I've successfully changed my flights on a non-flexible discount economy ticket, however that was for the shorthaul sector from AMS only, but that's because my flight was oversold by 50 and had already checked in full whereas the flight leaving AMS sooner was going with empty seats and I was at the airport early enough).
Think of it this way... you'll have more time to enjoy the CCR at T5
Yes, that's what I suspected...an extra 90 mins in the CCR is fine...although there's always an argument for getting passengers on their way if there's space available. You never know what could happen with that later flight: the flight itself could have mechanical problems or another flight could have trouble and they might need the seats to re-route passengers. Generally, a low probability, but you never know what's going to occur and I generally think it makes sense to fill up empty seats when there's an opportunity.
BTW, sorry about the typo in the title...(also, I did a search on "Standby," and reviewed the first two and didn't find a relevant thread...these boards are getting very cumbersome to search.)