Originally Posted by Deltahater
Just to clarify:
If I am going standy on an earlier flight on the same day, there is flexibility on the routing as long as the start and end is the same?
For example:
LAS-DFW-SAT booked. I can now go LAS-ORD-SAT, right?
ORD-SAT booked. I can go ORD-DFW-SAT?
In the last example it would clearly not be about getting home sooner, but adding a segment.
Intuitively, that makes sense, but then again we all know that intuition and airline policies are archenemies...
The answer here is actually quite clear, but finding it out, in my experience, requires that you bump up against the rule (as I did). You can do what you did as long as you have the same fare code for both legs of your connection. If you have different fare codes for each leg (i.e. it's ticketed as two back-to-back one-way tickets), no amount of pleading, logic, EXP desk calls, anything will get you on the alternative flights. In my case I was looking to stand by on a mostly empty non-stop, vs. 2 packed connecting flights, and they absolutely refused to let me on the non-stop. I tried the EXP desk, Admirals Club, gate, asked nicely in all cases, and had absolutely no luck.