curb wrote: Pardon me for not being an AA expert, but I understand their free/$25 confirmed standby policy to be available only on the day of travel. Chfmikeokc called four days out and was told at that point he could only pay the change fee and rebooking into a more-expensive fare class. I assume that due to the medical emergency, he had neither the time nor the patience to wait until the day of travel to take advantage of free/$25 confirmed standby. If that is the case, I agree with his decision to simply go full-fare on WN.


Curb: But could he not have made a reservation on WN for the day of travel (as a backup) and tried the AA reserved standby that morning?? If he gets it, saves $$, and cancels the WN reserv. If no standby, uses the WN reserv.

If one cannot spend 15 minutes to save $300+, then one must be loaded and no need for advance reservations.