Call US the day before travel and ask how does Standby availabilty looks for the earlier flights. Get to the airport at least 2 hours early before people began to check in so the elites won't jump ahead of u and get higher priority on the standby list. You should be in good condition if u follow this. If one ticket person doesn't put u on the list, then try another or wait till they change shifts. If u happen to notice a numb new agent then u will be in good shape.