Oneworld Sapphire flying standby
 

I just purchased 2 tickets through Travelocity ARN-VIE then VIE-LHR; the price was very reasonable. They put us on the AB evening flight for VIE-LHR, we would like to get to London earlier, with my Oneworld status would AB allow a free standby. I see AB has a non stop around 11:30.

Going standby with a non flexible ticket seems to be a north american thing. AB nor any other european airline I frequent won't allow you to take the earlier flight without paying a change fee and repricing to the currently available fareclass.

Thanks - you are probably right on the NA thing, when I fly home from trade shows I always book the later flight then rush to see if I can make the earlier flight. AA allows this free for Platinums.

I assume when I put in my AA number I will be allowed to book seats and board before the general public? My outbound is DFW-FRA-TXL-CPH on an AA J award so I will be on AB the last 2 legs and can check on the VIE-LHR.

Priority boarding is quite reliable. But for chosing preferred seats you should absolutely call AB to reserve those seats. If done online via AA there are many reports that those seat assignments are thrown out of the system 30 hours before flight when boarding starts, as AB charges for those seats and seems not to bother to check if those pax with assigned seats by third-party systems hold status.

I cancelled the Travelocity ticket (24 hour no penalty) and rebooked on the AB site; was able to get the non stop on Niki Air Arn-Vie at 11:45 and the non stop BA code share Vie-Lhr evening flight. They had us on Baltic Air with a 30 minute lay over, it also looks like to me they charge very high seat/luggage fees. I paid $100 extra but feel much more comfortable. The site also let me put in my AA #, I hopefully will now be able to call and book seats.

Oneworld Sapphire flying standby
 

No such thing as standby. Priority boarding is a hit or miss in terms whether they announce it or not. If they don't announce it you can still board at the beginning of the process.