rownada

What class of service will I get if I currently hold a A class domestic booking and request the free 'same-day' standby on a later flight?

How does will these stand-by'ees rank in relation to upgraders I wonder.

What if it is a 3-class transcontinental?

ijgordon

Well, you'll get first class subject to availability, but you can also elect to stand by for coach. I'm assuming this is a paid YUP type fare booked into A, not a mileage upgrade. You would probably be booked back into "A" but maybe "F" depending on how the gate agent processes it.

Should be ahead of upgrades, as it is a paid first class ticket.

Well, usually YUP fares that book into A specifically forbid travel on the 3-class transcontinental routes, so the agent may cite the rules of your fare for denying you the ability to standby. If they did allow it, you'd only be eligible for Business class. But if you're actually on a Round-the-World First Class fare that books into A then you'd be eligible for First class.

martin33

Is that true for voluntary standby? You have to be confirmed on the flight to even get into an upgrade queue. Class A is extra confusing because it is used for both upgrades from Business and paid discount First.

Assuming you're on an AONEx fare or the like, the booking is definitely good for 3-class First. The question is whether you could get confirmed before or after J/D-class confirmed folks who are waitlisted for A.

If you were involuntarily rebooked, in all likelihood they would just grab an F-inventory seat for you with no standing by.

ijgordon

Well, I think everyone would probably agree that if you are on an F class ticket, you don't need to be confirmed into coach and get into an upgrade queue, you would standby directly for first class. Although it's worth mentioning that on CO, the default is to clear even paid full fare FC pax into coach first, if you want to stand by directly for FC it requires some manual intervention by the agent.

So the question is how do the gate agents treat YUP fares booked into A. For almost all intents and purposes they are first class fares. But no, I can't speak with definitive authority as to how the agents process them on the standby list. Obviously per the fare rules you can stand by for coach, but since you can confirm these fares directly into FC at the time of booking even if coach is sold out, I don't see why you couldn't clear directly into F at the gate, bypassing Y altogether.

martin33

agreed. I've never fully understood the inner workings of the standby list processing. I agree that one would hope an AONEx would clear before any upgraders if F (but not A) was available at flight time, but what if F was "sold out"? Would the standby AONEx flyer still take precedence over the confirmed upgraders? are the answers different for YUP? would it be different if Y is zeroed out as well? paging an expert....