Originally Posted by
FWAAA
"Standby" from Europe to the USA on AA? I don't think such an animal exists. Most TATL (and TPAC) tickets do not allow standby. If you need to return home early, you'll likely pay at least a change fee and perhaps some additional fare. Some fare rules are more forgiving of date changes on the inbound after the outbound departure than they are of date changes before you've commenced travel. You should check the rules applicable to your discount fare.
Thanks, I will look into the fare rules. I wouldn't expect this to cost nothing, but I don't want to run the risk of the huge new fares I didn't pay. If it was just a change fee, I'd be alright with that. I've been to Europe literally dozens of times, but have never had to consider the possibility of coming home early. The "personal responsibility" part of this has me in a bit of a fog right now, so I appreciate everyones input and why I reached out to the FT community for advice.
I may be even using the wrong terminology. Is it possible to do something like CFC on a TATL route? I'm not necessarily expecting to be able to show up at BCN on a random day and say, "I want to fly home today". Just looking for advice on what my chances are if I make the outbound and then try to get home earlier than planned.