Originally Posted by
Beetlesauce
So I have A-List and Companion Pass for this year. I have an upcoming nonstop trip with a companion friend. Flight is at 8:45pm. We now want to take the earlier nonstop flight at 12:30pm. I know I can do a same day standby and take the earlier flight (with seat availability) and have done so several times by myself. I've never done same day standby with a CP.
My question is that if there are available seats for the earlier flight, does the same day standby rules apply to my CP friend as well since we have to both travel on the same flight? Or do they have to pay some fare difference?
What if the flight was booked using rapid rewards points?
Or is it not allowed at all and we have to stick to our originally booked departure time?
It's not allowed. I won't defend this Southwest policy, but it's their airline and their rules.
If your original flight had a schedule change by Southwest at some point, call and request a free change. A flight delay would allow a change, but that's unlikely to be posted hours before scheduled departure. Unless you want to try a high-risk and companion-unfriendly game of deleting the companion, clearing standby, then re-adding the companion, you will need to pay up. I recommend buying an advance purchase fare before they become unavailable.