Originally Posted by jsloan

Silver isn't nothing -- it will get you through to UA ahead of the masses, and may increase your likelihood of getting a more experienced agent (although those are few and far between these days).

What class of service are you booked in? It's hard to tell from your prices, which sounded like business class at first but now sound like economy when you're talking about sub-20K for the domestic leg.

I suspect there's an excellent chance that a party of 2, with status, could clear into economy on an earlier flight via standby. That said, you might get an agent at your departure airport to take pity on you and confirm you early, especially if the later flight looks at all dicey.

That said, though, it seems to me that you may be focusing on the wrong problem. Your goal isn't to get to IAH -- it's to get to SYD. If the IAH flight is mucked up, are there other options to get you to LAX or SFO in time to catch those departures? Alternatively, does IAH-AKL operate on your date? There's a possibility UA would put you onto that if you misconnected (no guarantees; some agents will insist on needing award space for routing onto a partner, even during IRROPS, even though it's not supposed to be necessary).