donotblink

If you were booked in O class or higher (regular economy), you can standby for an earlier or later flight, provided that you have OneWorld Elite Status or are active milatary. Usually, you can select that you want to standby for a particular flight online using the same day flight change link on aa.com, both your original flight and your chosen standby flight will then show up in your PNR online.

You can also request standby at the gate.

You would need to fly the same routing, i.e. if you are flying MIA/CLT/EWR you can not standby for MIA/EWR. If you missed the list flight of the day you *might* get lucky and have a generous gate agent put you on standby for a flight the next day, but they're not obligated to do that.

You can somewhat get a sense of the load factors for a flight through expert flyer, look at the flight that you're interested in and see the number next to "Y", if you see Y-7, that *might* be a decent indicator that there will be some empty seats in Y, but YMMV.

Adelphos

I've stood by on many award tickets out of DCA and have always been allowed to standby with no fee. That said, I was an elite when doing this. Generally, phone agents and AA twitter do not seem to know the real rules for standby when it comes to award tickets. However, gate agents always seem to be willing to put you on the standby list.

miadukes

Yes that I understand as I have already done this once before but for an earlier flight. I have never done it for a later flight. So then as long as I request it thru the app, my ticket will not get cancelled if I do not show up for the initial flight in the morning? That is my biggest concern..Also as to the bolding, so what does that mean IRL, if for whatever reason they cannot place you on a later flight that same day, does your ticket just go to waste?

donotblink

I'm confused, are you booked in B or not?

https://www.aasaleslink.com/en-US/do...AQ_06Mar17.pdf
18. Will customers ticketed on Basic Economy fares be eligible to purchase Same Day Flight Change and/or request flying standby on the same day as travel? No Same Day Flight Change or Same Day Standby offerings are available to customers ticketed on Basic Economy fares, regardless of their elite status

redtop43

I've never done this particular trick, but I think they would tend to book you out the next day. The AA website is mute on this point. But as much as the airlines have become jerks about making traveling tolerable, they will mostly try to get you where you're going sooner or later. Still I wouldn't push my luck, especially on the last flight of the day and triply so if there are IRROPS that will cause them to reaccommodate pax with mucked-up connections.

redtop43

Without addressing this specific situation, and noting that I can't remember the last time I traveled on an award ticket without status, I've found AA to be extremely flexible with changes on award tix.

donotblink

IRL, I've asked gate agents to put me on same day standby for earlier flights to co-terminals (JFK/LGA) or on direct routing and been denied multiple times. I've been told that it's not possible to do in their system. I've never been in your exact situation, because I don't want to risk having missed my flight, but I would not bank on changing your routing or going to a co-terminal.

miadukes

I have not bought a ticket. I was looking at what available and need to make this one way as cheap as possible and the option to standby for a later flight would allow that but having never done it and the website linked here a few times is nto really useful other than to say i quality, I wanted to ask people who have actually done it.
The BE option is the cheapest but we have already established that I cannot standyby for that. So then I will just look at regular economy. So no I have not booked a ticket yet.

miadukes

Yeah that is what I wonder, if the end of the day comes and they haven't been able to accommodate, what would happen. that is what I am most curious about.
I am not changing any routes or anything just a later flight the same day.

nrr

"Guessing" availability on later (or earlier) is not a god idea.
Expert Flyer has a 5 day free trial, you can see real availability on various itns. So, if the flight(s) you want to standby on are showing all 0's, I wouldn't gamble on getting a seat.

wetrat0

You keep asking this and I think you've gotten the answer several times. You can standby for a later flight as Gold; it works exactly the same as standing by for an earlier flight. As others have said if you do not make it on the same day, you may be out of luck. That is the official program: same day standby is only for flights on the same day. "IRL" obviously anything is possible, but you shouldn't plan your travel assuming you'll get an exception to the published rules.

The reason not a lot of people are reporting their experiences about what happens if you miss the last flight of the day is that most FTers are experienced travelers who (a) know how to use EF to check loads and (b) wouldn't purposefully give up a confirmed ticket for a later standby unless they had pretty good reason to believe they would get on. I would never stand by for the last flight of the day if I really had to get to where I was going; hence, I don't have any experience to report back. I don't even stand by for earlier flights unless I'm either already at the airport or the flight is showing Y2 or better before I leave for the airport.

AAdamE

I have wondered this myself and have gotten different answers from different phone and gate agents. Most commonly I have been told that you would lose your ticket if you cannot standby on another flight with the same route that day. While that may be the "policy" we all know there are always exceptions. If I were you I would consider things like:

• Day of departure - is this a weekday or a weekend - if it's a weekend there are going to be considerably less business travelers with elite status and your chances of clearing standby are much higher
• Number of daily flights on this route - If there are multiple flights that day are you trying to get on the last flight of the day or the second to last?
• Admirals Club - I've seen the agents in the admirals club perform diving miracles of modern aviation - are you an AC member? If not check out the meetup thread on here, or buy a one day pass.

Lastly, being gold you have a pretty big AAdvantage, considering most elites want an earlier flight not a later one (as evidenced on this thread). The majority of the people that you would be competing against are non-revs, and folks who missed an earlier flight which you have priority over if they are non-elite.

lds89

The other piece I'd advise is be at the gate. Before boarding, go up to the GA, and ask to make sure you're on the standby list. They'll say you are and make a mental note that you are present.

Many, many times I've seen the GAs clear the standby list at the end of boarding and give tickets to people physically present. They're also far less likely to give the seat to a non-rev below you on the list if you're present and watching them. I find that standby clearing doesn't necessarily always follow the list the way the upgrade list (almost always) does.

miadukes

My main question that I keep asking and don't seem to get a clear answer is if I do not show up to the 6:30am flight and have selected the standby option for the 7pm flight, does my ticket get cancelled or does the system realize that I am trying to fly later. That is my main concern, not so much missing flight, wasting ticket. etc. Yes I am concern with the latter but not as much as let's say I go about my normal day at 6:30am and even though I have selected a later standby and then I look at my app later in the day and discover that my flight has been cancelled because I did not get to a gate or anything in that morning flight. I already did my 5 day free trial for EF and for the moment have no plans to spend $99 just to look at seat space since I would hardly ever have a chance to actually clear an upgrade as a gold and don't fly enough that it matters.

miadukes

Thanks, Yes I did that few weeks ago when I flew the same route. I did purchase a ticket for way later and did standby for a much earlier flight and I presented myself at the gate twice, once at the beginning and once towards the end when it all but seemed hopeless that I was going to get on and i was the last one to get a BP for that flight and get on. So that one worked out.