CO flight Stand By Question
 

Hi FTers,

Need you advise.
Have a flight tomorrow heading to EWR.
My flight is scheduled for 10 PM but I'd like to get there a bit earlier.
There's another flight 3 PM that has some available seats.
What would be the best option getting on that flight?
I was planning to show at the airport before 3 PM flight leaves and ask GA if they can get me on that flight.
Not sure if I should check in on my 10 PM flight (to get the BP to pass the security) or I should talk to the CO staff at the check in desk at the airport before the security.
What are the chances for my plan to (not)work? Are there any fees involved?

Thank you.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/10993890-post55.html

If anything is unclear after taking that in, let us know. It should cover all the details.

There is a travel advisory for EWR right now, so I'm guessing you should be able to change to the 3pm without any fees.

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...elnotices.aspx

Also, in addition to the SDC mentioned by sbm12, you should be aware of the travel waiver that has been issued to EWR that should allow you to change even outside the 24 hour window, so you might be able to confirm on that 3 pm flight right now:
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...elnotices.aspx

Beat me to it aba030! However, it is worth noting that the OP is a Plat according to their profile, so no fees would be paid anyway.

Thank you for your responses.
My problem is that I will not know when I want to leave up till ~ noon tomorrow. So calling the CO now is not an option.
I was hoping just show up at the gate ~2 PM (after I check in for 10 PM) and nicely ask if I could get into the plane.
As for the waiver they'll pull "same fare bucket" rule (mine is W) so out of luck in there :).
Main reason I'm asking is that it happened for me once. I had 4 PM flight, showed up ~ 2:30 PM and earlier flight was delayed and still was at the gate. GA asked me if I'd like to leave earlier, which I did and they put me on an earlier flight without paying any fees.
So basically I'm trying to see how common this is and what are the chances for this happening again :)

In that case, yes, they will likely put you on assuming there are seats, just ask to standby if they can't confirm you. I have done this before.

So the process would be the same, I guess.
Check in for 10 PM. Go to the airport, go to the gate and tell the GA that I'd like to fly earlier if only possible.
Will let you know how it works :)

The rules are the same whether you ask 20 hours or 20 minutes prior to the flight.

Rules can be waived - and the weather waiver opens up flexibility, too - but the rules for standby say that it isn't free for anyone other than platinum elites.

Under normal operations, Continental does not have standby most the most part with the exception of if you are traveling on FF miles. When you check in on line if earler flights are avalaible 12 hours ealier or latter, it gives you the option of changing your flight, this is a confirmed seat with a $50.00 charge. Sometimes the 12 hour window can be up to 24 hours depending on the market.
For FF miles, you can standby for an earlier flight, still pay $50.00. In other circumstances you can standby but this is airport controlled only from a CO airport agent, including the PC.

This is not true. The rule for all CO flights is 24 hours. The details are in the FAQ post.

Seriously, where do you come up with some of this stuff?

Sorry If I was not correct but sometimes you get different answers to quesitons about these type of rules.

If the fare is the same you can do the same day change for $50.00 within 24 hours of your scheduled departure. If the fare is different you can standby but this is airport controlled. Also if the same fare is not avaliable after your scheculed departure you can't standby.
I have 680,000 lifetime miles with CO so I have been on alot of flights and again the rules at times change.

The rules are clear in this case though - it is 24hrs before the new flight, and has been for some time. And to be clear - it's the fare class that has to be available - not necessarily the same fare. CO will proactively open up fare classes around 24hrs before a flight if there is lots of space, and 3.5hrs before a flight if there is less space (as decided by CO) specifically for the purposes of SDC.

I thought I'll give everyone an update how this didn't work for me :)
It didn't work just because the flight I wanted to take, got cancelled due to the storm in the east coast.
So I had to take the red eye, which was overbooked (volunteers were offered 400$ for seat).
Departure was a bit delayed, so DTV was complimentary (red eye, nothing to watch).
BTW saw another FTer in the same row as mine :) Had yellow "FTer Priority" tag on his backpack.