Basic standby question
 

Flying BA LHR-CDG next Saturday in paid J, but on a restricted fare.
(If it matters, ticket was issued by AA as part of a JFK-LHR-CDG-JFK itinerary.)
If I show up early at LHR, will BA allow me to travel standby on an earlier LHR-CDG flight? How about an earlier LHR-ORY flight?

Yes they will be delighted to move you to an earlier flight and change airport.

Just offer your credit card and approve the charges.

What are the change fees and is there availability in the booking class? That will determine whether you can take an earlier flight

There is no "standby" - only confirmed changes

OP - If your question is whether BA will do for you what AA does for you as an EXP, e.g. provide a free SDC (Same Day Change), the answer is No.

This is exactly the type of insider knowledge that keeps me coming back to FT again and again.

There is no insider information that allows for changes outside that which the fare allows

Travel from UK is not like travel in the USA and can expect that will have to travel on the flight booked. If wanting to take another flight, then need to be properly rebooked onto the new flight

You guys are such rules followers! ;)

Which is better than asking a question, getting an accurate answer and then being insulting and demeaning to those that give an answer that is not the one wanted

BA does not do standby for regular passengers and will not normally make changes ( esp ex London ) outside of the policies of the fare

Unless of course your booked aeroplane is overbooked when they might allow this. Very difficult to be sure when overbooked though.

There would be no harm in asking - I have arrived early at LHR on a long haul and was allowed on an earlier than booked domestic connection as a result of a polite enquiry with no fees to pay.

Probably depends upon that days loads - the worst that will happen is an apologetic " I am sorry it is not possible"

There is no harm asking, but in terms of a free change expect to be told no. Then if you are told yes it will be a nice surprise

You may be offered the option on payment of a change fee, they will tell you how much it is and you can decide if X hours in paris earlier is worth that

If you have hold luggage they are likely to be more reluctant to make any change

Sometimes if I've made good time on a flight into LHR, and everything ends up going smoothly (bags, coach, traffic, etc), I've found myself at LGW earlier than planned and potentially able to catch an earlier flight to JER.

Each time I've asked nicely and would say I'm successful around 50% of the time. No fee.

Thanks for the very helpful responses (and the great laugh, Dave Noble). I've inquired of my travel agent what the cost of the change would be. If it's overly expensive, I guess I'll decide on Saturday whether I'm up for several hours in the lounge if I go to LHR early and am told no. (The load on the flight preceding mine doesn't make me optimistic, unless, it being Christmas Eve, they take pity on me!)

By the way, once one parses through the responses, this is the type of information that people should be able to come to FT for. It's useful to know that BA have no rules permitting a free or reduced price same-day standby or confirmed change, as many of us with status are accustomed to in the US, but that a polite inquiry will sometimes yield a positive result, even if it cannot be assured.

I'm guessing Mr Noble's 0330 reply was driven by the sauce rather than tact or humour.

Standalone Plus short haul fares(non-HBO) have exactly such a feature, in Economy only.