Nov 8, 2015, 3:40 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
American Airlines Same Day Standby Policy and Discussion
(Not to be confused with SDFC / Same Day Flight Change - see links below)
Standby has its own rules and peculiarities: (As of 14 Jan 2016)
Same-day standby
Standby for a fee (waived for AA Elites)
For $75 on domestic flights, you may standby on an earlier flight under the following conditions:
*Standby between NYC-LON is offered for $150.
AAdvantage elite members may use the standby option for earlier or later flights.
Though it appeared those with checked bags were being denied SDS, JonNYC clarified that AA affirmed AA Elites are allowed to SDS if they have checked bags. Link.
Complimentary standby
Get complimentary same-day standby with:
Complimentary same-day standby is also available for:
Link
The following passengers may standby at no charge based on availability:
Link
Q. What happens to my upgrade if I stand by for another flight?
Your upgrade and position will be lost. You can not be added to the upgrade list on your desired flight until you have cleared from standby. At that point, it may be too late to request your upgrade, given upgrade requests are normally processed prior to the standby list.
See "Airport Upgrade and Standby List" / Order, PALL List and issues (FT)
Previous posts have been archived and can be read here
Standby is not the same thing as SDFC / Same Day Confirmed Flight Change:
See "Domestic" Same Day Confirmed Flight Change / SDFC / CFC / "Standby" or
International Same Day Flight Change / SDFC / SDC / CDC
(Not to be confused with SDFC / Same Day Flight Change - see links below)
Standby has its own rules and peculiarities: (As of 14 Jan 2016)
Same-day standby
Standby for a fee (waived for AA Elites)
For $75 on domestic flights, you may standby on an earlier flight under the following conditions:
- Standby is not allowed for international flights*.
- Has the same origin and destination
- Is for the same calendar day of departure
- Is marketed and operated by American Airlines or American Eagle
- Changes to another multi-city airport or to different connecting cities are not allowed
- You can standby for your originally purchased cabin (not upgraded cabin)
- Standby means upgrades on the original flights are lost (you can not be on an upgrade list until your standby has cleared)
- Standby pax may be required to gate check carry-on baggage
- Standby is prioritized - see "PALL List" link below
*Standby between NYC-LON is offered for $150.
AAdvantage elite members may use the standby option for earlier or later flights.
Though it appeared those with checked bags were being denied SDS, JonNYC clarified that AA affirmed AA Elites are allowed to SDS if they have checked bags. Link.
Complimentary standby
Get complimentary same-day standby with:
- Unrestricted Economy Class (Y fare), Business or First Class tickets
- American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum, Platinum Pro or Gold status and companions in same record
- oneworld® Emerald, Sapphire or Ruby status and companions in same record
- AirPass membership
- First and Business Class MileSAAver award tickets
- AAnytime award tickets
- Choice Plus fares
Complimentary same-day standby is also available for:
- Active U.S. military personnel traveling on orders or personal travel
- Active U.S. military dependents traveling on orders
Link
The following passengers may standby at no charge based on availability:
- Customers who purchase unrestricted Economy Class fares (Y class of service)
- Customers who purchase Business or First Class tickets
- Active U.S. military personnel traveling on orders or personal travel
- Active U.S. military dependents traveling on orders
- American Airlines AAdvantage® Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro, Platinum or Gold members
- oneworld® alliance Emerald, Sapphire or Ruby members
- Customers flying on the same reservation as an American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum or Gold member or oneworld alliance Emerald, Sapphire or Ruby member regardless of frequent flyer status or fare type
- AAirpass® members
- First and Business Class MileSAAver® Awards
- First, Business and Economy Class AAnytime® Awards
- Customers who purchase a Choice Plus fare
Link
Q. What happens to my upgrade if I stand by for another flight?
Your upgrade and position will be lost. You can not be added to the upgrade list on your desired flight until you have cleared from standby. At that point, it may be too late to request your upgrade, given upgrade requests are normally processed prior to the standby list.
See "Airport Upgrade and Standby List" / Order, PALL List and issues (FT)
Previous posts have been archived and can be read here
Standby is not the same thing as SDFC / Same Day Confirmed Flight Change:
See "Domestic" Same Day Confirmed Flight Change / SDFC / CFC / "Standby" or
International Same Day Flight Change / SDFC / SDC / CDC
Same Day Standby / SDS (not SDFC) Rules & Discussion (master thread)
Apr 22, 2022, 1:10 am
#796
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, Hyatt Glob, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, Total Wine & More Reserve
Posts: 4,529
Mrs. njvandy and I booked an AA domestic flight using BA Avios. I have since swapped out our BA credentials for our AAdvantage numbers. I know we can't make any changes in advance without going through BA and the change fee probably negates the value (it was a 5k Avios redemption).
And it is possible to apply for a voucher on the BA website in order to cancel an Avios reward booking, which now appears to trigger a refund if I understand the website correctly. Prior to that, you would get a voucher worth what you paid in Avios + taxes/fees that could be used to rebook another reward flight, which was a hassle.
Jul 17, 2022, 10:33 pm
#797
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Bergen County NJ
Programs: AA EXP, UA1K B6 Mosaic 1, Amtrak Select, Marriott Plat , AMEX Plat (noted for club access reference)
Posts: 786
Award tickets are eligible, though it doesn't stipulate if they have to be AA award tickets. It would also allow any time same day (earlier or later).
https://www.aa.com/i18n/plan-travel/...day-travel.jsp
https://www.aa.com/i18n/plan-travel/...day-travel.jsp
Oct 14, 2022, 12:52 pm
#799
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: AA Executive Platinum/Million Miler, Marriott Titanium Elite-Lifetime, Hilton Gold
Posts: 3,217
Oct 14, 2022, 12:56 pm
#800
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: AUS / GRK
Programs: AA, HHonors, Hertz
Posts: 13,492
Standby is not allowed for international flights*.
Oct 15, 2022, 12:19 pm
#801
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 2,094
No standby on Web Special award tickets?
I booked what I now see is a “Web Special” award ticket, which states that it can’t be changed.
Can I go standby on an earlier flight with one of these award tickets? I am Executive Platinum, if that matters.
At the Admirals Club, the agent wouldn’t; she said that the flight that I want to move to is my connecting flight (from another airport) so she couldn’t do it from the airport where my first flight was from, and she said that there was no delay so she couldn’t put me on the standby list for that reason, too.
She was perfectly nice but I couldn’t figure out the real reason why I couldn’t be added to the standby list.
UPDATE
Another agent handled my standby request with a smile.
I’m confused: legally, can you go standby on Web Special award tickets, or not?
Thanks.
Can I go standby on an earlier flight with one of these award tickets? I am Executive Platinum, if that matters.
At the Admirals Club, the agent wouldn’t; she said that the flight that I want to move to is my connecting flight (from another airport) so she couldn’t do it from the airport where my first flight was from, and she said that there was no delay so she couldn’t put me on the standby list for that reason, too.
She was perfectly nice but I couldn’t figure out the real reason why I couldn’t be added to the standby list.
UPDATE
Another agent handled my standby request with a smile.
I’m confused: legally, can you go standby on Web Special award tickets, or not?
Thanks.
Last edited by WeekendTraveler; Oct 15, 2022 at 3:25 pm
Oct 15, 2022, 5:40 pm
#802
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,640
I booked what I now see is a “Web Special” award ticket, which states that it can’t be changed.
Can I go standby on an earlier flight with one of these award tickets? I am Executive Platinum, if that matters.
At the Admirals Club, the agent wouldn’t; she said that the flight that I want to move to is my connecting flight (from another airport) so she couldn’t do it from the airport where my first flight was from, and she said that there was no delay so she couldn’t put me on the standby list for that reason, too.
She was perfectly nice but I couldn’t figure out the real reason why I couldn’t be added to the standby list.
UPDATE
Another agent handled my standby request with a smile.
I’m confused: legally, can you go standby on Web Special award tickets, or not?
Thanks.
Can I go standby on an earlier flight with one of these award tickets? I am Executive Platinum, if that matters.
At the Admirals Club, the agent wouldn’t; she said that the flight that I want to move to is my connecting flight (from another airport) so she couldn’t do it from the airport where my first flight was from, and she said that there was no delay so she couldn’t put me on the standby list for that reason, too.
She was perfectly nice but I couldn’t figure out the real reason why I couldn’t be added to the standby list.
UPDATE
Another agent handled my standby request with a smile.
I’m confused: legally, can you go standby on Web Special award tickets, or not?
Thanks.
Oct 22, 2022, 12:40 pm
#803
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: AA EXP / 1MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, IHG Gold
Posts: 198
What is the cutoff time to be added to domestic standby list for an earlier flight? Arrived at gate 22 minutes prior to departure, very open flight, door was open and all standby had already cleared.
ExPlat flying in first but would have taken any open seat for the 30-min flight.
When I arrived, boarding was pretty much already wrapped up, but there were a few stragglers they were calling for. They didn’t close the door til t-11 so it should have been plenty of time for gate to process and give me a seat. As mentioned, flight went out with a bunch of open seats.
ExPlat flying in first but would have taken any open seat for the 30-min flight.
When I arrived, boarding was pretty much already wrapped up, but there were a few stragglers they were calling for. They didn’t close the door til t-11 so it should have been plenty of time for gate to process and give me a seat. As mentioned, flight went out with a bunch of open seats.
Oct 22, 2022, 1:00 pm
#804
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: AA-EXP
Posts: 618
What is the cutoff time to be added to domestic standby list for an earlier flight? Arrived at gate 22 minutes prior to departure, very open flight, door was open and all standby had already cleared.
ExPlat flying in first but would have taken any open seat for the 30-min flight.
When I arrived, boarding was pretty much already wrapped up, but there were a few stragglers they were calling for. They didn’t close the door til t-11 so it should have been plenty of time for gate to process and give me a seat. As mentioned, flight went out with a bunch of open seats.
ExPlat flying in first but would have taken any open seat for the 30-min flight.
When I arrived, boarding was pretty much already wrapped up, but there were a few stragglers they were calling for. They didn’t close the door til t-11 so it should have been plenty of time for gate to process and give me a seat. As mentioned, flight went out with a bunch of open seats.
Oct 22, 2022, 1:26 pm
#805
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: AA EXP / 1MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, IHG Gold
Posts: 198
I gently pushed to see if they were sure they couldn’t accommodate an exec plat with a paid F ticket, coming from an international destination, and both he and the other male agent gave sassy attitude and told me I wasn’t going to get a different answer, they were busy working the flight and trying to get out time, and that I could go to customer service down the corridor (obv that would have done nothing). I was very polite the whole time, and they were being pretty rude.
If there was a technical / IT reason to not be able to add me at T-22, I would have understood, but not if it was due to agent laziness.
Oct 22, 2022, 2:26 pm
#806
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 2,094
Can phone agents give confirmed flight changes?
I have 2 flights tomorrow (with a connection). When I did “Same-day flight change” in the app, it put me on standby for two later flights.
I’d like to go later in the day, but now it says that no more flights are available. Further, when I click on “same day flight change” in the app, instead of showing two flights as either confirmed or standby, it shows nothing. And AA.com shows me on standby for flights that aren’t the same as what the app shows.
Can a phone agent put me on new confirmed flights even if the app and AA.com can’t?
Thanks.
I’d like to go later in the day, but now it says that no more flights are available. Further, when I click on “same day flight change” in the app, instead of showing two flights as either confirmed or standby, it shows nothing. And AA.com shows me on standby for flights that aren’t the same as what the app shows.
Can a phone agent put me on new confirmed flights even if the app and AA.com can’t?
Thanks.
Oct 23, 2022, 4:16 am
#807
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 2,094
How to avoid ticketing issues when going standby on a later flight?
When you are added to the standby list for a later flight, and so you then don’t take your original flight, the result is some kind of glitch with the ticket, requiring a ticket agent to fix it. The ticket agent this morning called it a “missing segment” or something and had to get a supervisor for assistance.
When you are put on the standby list for a later flight, and don’t take your original flight, why can’t AA have the process be smooth enough so that you can, without any help, just get pass (reading “You’ve been placed in the standby list”) to get through security (either online, at a kiosk or in the app)?
When you are put on the standby list for a later flight, and don’t take your original flight, why can’t AA have the process be smooth enough so that you can, without any help, just get pass (reading “You’ve been placed in the standby list”) to get through security (either online, at a kiosk or in the app)?
Oct 24, 2022, 2:42 am
#808
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: RBKC
Programs: AA EXP and Eurostar Carte Blanche
Posts: 3,851
Yep, saying that they “weren’t adding anymore” but not that they couldn’t. Reason given was that they were trying to get out on time. Like I said, they finished boarding early, and there was no one else there - they were just paving some stragglers.
I gently pushed to see if they were sure they couldn’t accommodate an exec plat with a paid F ticket, coming from an international destination, and both he and the other male agent gave sassy attitude and told me I wasn’t going to get a different answer, they were busy working the flight and trying to get out time, and that I could go to customer service down the corridor (obv that would have done nothing). I was very polite the whole time, and they were being pretty rude.
If there was a technical / IT reason to not be able to add me at T-22, I would have understood, but not if it was due to agent laziness.
I gently pushed to see if they were sure they couldn’t accommodate an exec plat with a paid F ticket, coming from an international destination, and both he and the other male agent gave sassy attitude and told me I wasn’t going to get a different answer, they were busy working the flight and trying to get out time, and that I could go to customer service down the corridor (obv that would have done nothing). I was very polite the whole time, and they were being pretty rude.
If there was a technical / IT reason to not be able to add me at T-22, I would have understood, but not if it was due to agent laziness.
Oct 24, 2022, 3:14 am
#809
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
Yep, saying that they “weren’t adding anymore” but not that they couldn’t. Reason given was that they were trying to get out on time. Like I said, they finished boarding early, and there was no one else there - they were just paving some stragglers.
I gently pushed to see if they were sure they couldn’t accommodate an exec plat with a paid F ticket, coming from an international destination, and both he and the other male agent gave sassy attitude and told me I wasn’t going to get a different answer, they were busy working the flight and trying to get out time, and that I could go to customer service down the corridor (obv that would have done nothing). I was very polite the whole time, and they were being pretty rude.
If there was a technical / IT reason to not be able to add me at T-22, I would have understood, but not if it was due to agent laziness.
I gently pushed to see if they were sure they couldn’t accommodate an exec plat with a paid F ticket, coming from an international destination, and both he and the other male agent gave sassy attitude and told me I wasn’t going to get a different answer, they were busy working the flight and trying to get out time, and that I could go to customer service down the corridor (obv that would have done nothing). I was very polite the whole time, and they were being pretty rude.
If there was a technical / IT reason to not be able to add me at T-22, I would have understood, but not if it was due to agent laziness.
Oct 24, 2022, 4:50 am
#810
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: AA EXP / 1MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, IHG Gold
Posts: 198
Only after that had I mentioned the other stuff, but their unwillingness to accommodate had nothing to do with it being an Intl to domestic connection.