Same Day Change - Most Effective Process
 

I have an upcoming trip where, if things happen on time, I will probably want to request a Same Day Change. I've looked through some of the other posts addressing SDCs which offer varying advice and outcomes for SDCs. But since this the first time I've attempted an SDC on AC, I thought I'd ask the experts.

I'll be arriving in YYZ on an international flight, onward to YVR, flying in J (P fare), AC metal all around and am SE. I currently have a 4 four hour layover (ugh!) and the goal would be to attempt to get on an earlier flight if my inbound is on time.

So, what's best - request an SDC by calling the concierge on the day or talking to the folks in the YYZ lounge?

I SDC all the time by emailing the concierge. As long as your fare includes free SDC and you have no checked luggage I find it to be best. Plus you can be very specific and clear with your requested flight numbers.

No checked bags.

Most importantly: be certain the flight you're trying to SDC on to is a widebody; perhaps only ~40% of the frequencies are.

If OP's primary goal is to get home earlier, how is this relevant? If OP can SDC to a flight 45 minutes earlier with a widebody or 3 hours earlier with a narrowbody, the narrowbody is probably just fine.

Absolutely, 100%, this.

Thanks all!

I will try the email route next week and will see how that works.

For email, just make sure you give it time. If you're going to send it before departing your international origin, that's fine.

But don't expect a 5 minute turnaround. If you're going to do it in Toronto, call, or do it in the MLL.

Same day confirmed change
 

I apologize if this has already been asked. I am booked on an economy flex ticket from YYT to YYZ. It says that you can request a same day change for $75 for an earlier/later flight. How does this work?

Thanks in advance!

This can be done upon checkin - at the airport, or via OLCI as long as you're attempting on the day of your flight (not 24 hours before).

For future, there is a search function that would have pulled up many threads on this topic.

Thanks - that is exactly my plan.

Just FYI - many of the P-Fares on international routes don't allow SDC without a fee. Often it is $100. Make sure you know what the rule is in the fare basis which you are booked under. Also - most of them also prohibit same-day standby.

Good to know. In my case it's a Flex fare, so hopefully this will work.

For mysterious reasons, stupid Egencia hides the actual fare basis/rules for some reservations and I can't be bothered to call an agent.

In the system, JCDZP on North American flights always seem to get it for free.

I've done free SDC on quite a few P fares that did not "allow" free SDC.

Before they became free, I've also been charged a fee on a Z fare where the fare rules said it was free.

So can I ask the Concierge in advance to do a SDC on the day off ? i.e. can I send them an email on Mon to process a SDC on Thursday ? I understand the SDC will not be processed till Thursday but will they accept this or will they ask me to contact them on Thurs ?

I was taking the "Same Day" part pretty literally and was going to ask first thing on that day (about 12 hours before desired flight).

But would be curious to see the response to [MENTION=233669]vernonc[/MENTION]'s question.

I would not ask this of the Concierge, and I suspect you may get routed to the SE Desk. Though YMMV.

I would only ask on the same day of a flight.

Yeah I don't think asking the concierge to remember to do it 4 days later, especially when they, working 7 days a week, might be off (or even not on shift) is that fair.

And of course, none of this helps the non SE who don't have (non airport) concierge access.. OLCI on day of is clearly the correct way to do this - if AC IT permits it. Which in my experience, it sometimes does.

Ok, here is an example. I have a SFO-YYZ red eye flight departing at 10.40pm. I am quite sure my meetings for the week will end early so now I want to change to the 4.40pm flight. OLCI will only be available based on my original flight - or am I missing something ? So I got to stay up to 10.40pm previous night to do a OLCI and change to earlier flight assuming it allows me too ? I would also want to snag a decent seat in Y so I do not want to wait for airport checkin.
And re the concierge question, this is a central email and phone line so should not be too difficult to queue it in a task list. Anyway, whatever.
I do not normally change flights so pardon the ignorant questions from a SE.

Many years ago, I had sent the YVR concierge an email to ask about standby for a booking a few weeks in the future. They gave me the answer.

Day of, I called. They had already processed my request, because they'd made a note of it.

I certainly wouldn't depend on that, but it's definitely possible.

So the concierge desk said they would only do SDC on the calendar day of the flight, not 24hrs before. I need to call in on the day of the flight.

To report back, in my case I reached out by email on the day of my flight (about 11 hours before the SDC target flight) to get an earlier connecting flight. The Concierge said they would need to talk to me over the phone and called me within a few minutes of me being available.

Due to some complexity that was never explained, the Concierge also had to speak with someone in AC (I presume Reservations) before making the change. While I was on hold, things went sideways with my first flight. So in the end I opted not to proceed with the SDC due my very late departure which would have made connecting to the onward 'changed' flight impossible anyway.

So, overall a not bad experience although not seen through to the end. But I would try it again should the opportunity arise.

I understand the same day part of SDC.
What I was checking was whether I could make the request of the concierge a day in advance and they could process on the day of the flight.
As per my example, if I check in for my flight at 10.40pm PST tonight, I can (hopefully) make a SDC for tomorrows flight. But my option now is to stay awake after midnight to call AC or do the SDC sometime in the morning to make their calendar day requirement.

remember folks the harder SDC is to do (stay up till midnight local time for SE100k or go physically to airport for non SE), the more likely there will still be space available on desirable flights to change to :)

Interesting. We're you speaking to someone at the airport? The good thing about AC centralizing the concierge desk at YUL is that they can use both RESIII for bookings and DCS for airport functions. They can't print you a boarding pass or take you through Z1, but I find this better than having to talk to a concierge that ultimately just ends up being an intermediate party talking to a normal agent over the phone...

Probably frees up airport concierges too.

Apparently [MENTION=233669]vernonc[/MENTION] doesn't get the same SDC privileges* as [MENTION=599574]canadiancow[/MENTION] :p

* https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30090824-post21.html

No, I do not :-(
However I did call in at 24 hrs before my original dep time of 10.45pm PST and got my flight changed to an earlier one. So it was not quite calendar day either but maybe it was the right day at the YUL call centre based on EST.

I had my butt parked in the lounge in SCL and called the Concierge from there. Not sure where they were located.