I flew from MSN (stops omitted) AMS – CDG in “Z” this past June with a 10 hour layover in AMS. I planned to spend the day in AMS enjoying the sites. When I arrived in AMS it was raining, I went to the KL transfer desk in the international terminal to see if I could get an earlier flight to CDG. After watching the people in front of me leave unsatisfied, I was surprised that after a 5 minute consultation with someone that looked like a supervisor, my agent said that I could fly on an earlier flight. All worked out well, or so I thought.

I returned to the states CDG-AMS (overnight layover in nice weather) - (stops omitted) MSP – MSN. When I was boarding the flight to MSN I was told that I didn’t have an e-ticket for that segment. Upon further review, NW’s computer was never updated with the KL flight change and showed that the coupon from AMS-CDG was never used and the MSP-MSN portion was somehow locked. After a few minutes on the phone, the agent printed a paper copy of my AMS-CDG coupon and said that I could fly on it and that things would all workout in the end.

I got home, everything worked out. So, my advice is that you should try for the stand-by but be prepared to have issues down the line.

Ben