hscottm

All:

(Yes, I have read the wiki and am trying to pull out a specific question for SDC that I am worried about)

I am hoping to be able to do a SDC on an international itinerary for the first time - have done domestic plenty esp when I havent cared about keeping upgrades. Short version: There was a good business (P) class fare sale from PIT to PEK, but the only cheap flight I could get within a day of preferred is an EVENING departure on the 9th to IAD, with the IAD-PEK flight the next day (10th). This means I end up getting to PEK a day later (11th) than I would have preferred (and its my first time in China).

I hope to be able to try to SDC around the 24-hr check in time on the evening of the 8th, to hopefully confirm a departing MORNING flight on the 9th through any gateway to PEK and arrive on the 10th. (The total change fee for anything like this of course like $5k)

Two questions - 1) From others' experience, how often do things like this work out for you for INTL trips? Does class of service matter much? What all should I be worried about or be checking for - just P class inventory to and through the other gateways? Wiki notes that inventory tends to "open up" a few days early which helps this process but my experience is P opening on the outbound PIT leg to gateway is what likely will foil me.

2) A Chinese colleague of mine is flying economy (G class I think) on the same outbound itinerary and is also hoping to SDC like I described above - but has no status. I know that means the SDC will cost money, but does the status influence whether options show up? We would either both switch, or neither.