steve32

I've been able to move up a morning flight to a red-eye flight the night before without any fees at a couple airports.

Of course I was already within security at the time (on MRs), so that may have made a significant difference.

For one, I knew the earlier flight was very full, so I was also asking for a sticker upgrade to FC (I was still Plat at the time), and the GA was quite impressed with my sticker balance being 38 at the time (representing 95,000 flight miles of earning). I don't know if that factored into the decision. I did get in and upgraded.

Steve

Hayden

In the past, this came up a lot on the SFO-ORD redeyes, when the direct flight was often quite a bit more expensive than SFO-DFW-ORD--but SFO-ORD left at about 11:50 pm, and SFO-DFW left at about 12:10 am "the next day."

As a Plat and EXP, the phone agents were consistent in saying "you can't do it." The airport folks were sometimes willing to be flexible, sometimes not--and they were much more flexible on the one occasion when SFO-ORD was fairly open.

-Hayden

Dreamworks

Bear with me as this is perhaps off the OP's topic and it is also the most basic of questions, but I looked and couldn't find the direct answer. So let's just say that I am flying BOS-DFW-SAN-LAX-BOS for a long weekend (3/6-3/10) to see a friend. The intent was to take the redeye back to BOS and arrive the morning of the 11th.

Turns out the 10th isn't a holiday. I know you're thinking, "What holiday would it be, moron?" And you would be right. But stay with me. So now I'm looking to fly out maybe on the morning of the 10th to get back to Boston. I'd try the evening of the 9th, but the above posts have talked about the difficulty of that.

So do I just show up at SAN on Monday morning and hope to find some flight all the way home? Or will they fly me to DFW and then I'll need to wheel and deal from there as well? I'm a lowly Gold. Thoughts?

And before you jump on me, realize that I've already told myself over and over about the poor mental calendar I have. Thanks a lot.

vrbaba

You can certainly go through LAX (if there is an earlier flight and get on an earlier flight to BOS) - going standby all the way.

You may be able to go through DFW (and probably prefer it that way, as there are more options). It all depends on the GAs mood. I would suggest you try at the ticketing agent first before the security checkpoint if they can find you a confirmed earlier flight to BOS for $50 (or free, who knows). If not, ask them if they can place you on a standby to the next flight to DFW, which should be easy, and then to BOS. If still unsuccessful, go inside and try with the GAs.

benzguy80

it gets worse with age. my mental compass is a really poor substitute for GPS or even the real thing.

and if I could just remember where I put all those mental notes I keep taking ...

Eventine

I flew DFW LHR DFW in October. I was booked on the 2pm return flight. A colleague had a flight that departed around 10, so we traveled together from the city to LHR and I decided to try to go stand-by on the 10am flight to DFW. The counter agent was adamant that this was not possible. FWIW, I am a mere Gold and was flying economy.

BUT, the good news is that the 10am flight had mechanical problems and arrived at DFW about an hour after the 2pm

oklAAhoma

If my memory serves correctly, that matches most reports here. Those who have been allowed to go stand-by for international travel seem (at least imho) to be in the minority.

thecleave

Any current experiences with standing by a day early? We are booked on AA 197 BOS-SFO Saturday night, and I just found out what I thought had to do on Saturday morning isn't happening. (I am also curious as to why AA 183 doesn't operate on Saturdays.)

SuperSnoop

I've found that actually showing up at the airport will get you a decent deal; usually just the change fee without the fare different.

we2sparks

I will be on the red-eye (12:30 am on Monday) out of Las Vegas to DFW and was wondering if anyone has tried to stand by for the last flight before the red-eye (6 pm ish out of LV)

BrianV

I may have missed something, but does your fare have restrictions.

I unfortunately always fly economy with restrictions and generally find myself screwed for prior-day stand-bys. The owner of our company always flies on unrestricted, mainly because he almost always changes his plans.

However, I think exceptions should be made in this particular case since ORD+Weather is a Lose/Lose for the customer and AA; they should let that one slide, but I doubt there's a policy in place.

Frankly speaking, if they'll do it for $150 only (no difference in fare), than that's a pretty fair compromise for someone who bought a restricted fare.

seeyoo

I actually postponed by 1 day and did not paid any fee. My Original Flight was DFW-ORD-CVG and DFW-ORD flight was delayed leaving only 20 mins transit time so I may miss ORD-CVG Flight. I explained situation at AA Ticketing counter and asked If I can fly the day after with non stop flight from DFW-CVG. She agreed and did it with no fee and she also said that they may not do this favor again in future to me.

steve32

Why the luckiest guy in the world? Is your husband a hair gel company chemist who was carrying all the company prototype hair gel lots from the secret formulation lab to the secret test lab?

Steve

AAaLot

two experiences:

a)
Day 1 MIA-ORD
Day 2 ORD-TVC

Was allowed to standby for ORD-TVC on Day 1, but I was already at the airport (my MIA-ORD was early...in theory MIA-ORD-TVC in Day 1 would have been an illegal connection). The date on the ticket actually showed up as Day 2, so the GA might have been in error or not cared.

b)
Day 2 TVC-ORD-DFW

Bad weather was [obviously] coming into TVC. The personnel at TVC said they would have to charge fees, etc., but suggested I call the EXP desk directly. I told them I could either travel today, or not at all [since bad weather was coming and did come]. The phone changed the ticket at no charge. So I flew Day 1 TVC-ORD-DFW.

thedoorchick

A month ago I remembered this possibility too late to actually try it. Was on a sorta-MR from DFW-LAX-ATL-DFW (not a pure MR as I planned it for miles but chose destinations based on knowing people there I could pay a visit to). My friend in ATL bailed on me the day I was going there from LAX. I just went to a hotel intending to take my planned flight home the next day, and later it occurred to me that I should have just walked a couple of gates down and tried to get back on another plane going back to DFW that night. Argh.

Oh well. Sounds like my chances would have possibly been slim anyway.