Same day change and stand-by
 

Yes, same day change will allow you provided the same fare class is avalaible to take a flight as much as 24 hours prior to your scheduled departure, paying only a change fee, only $25.00 if you are Gold status.
I thought the rule allowed standby for a flight if the same fare class was not avaliable. I found out the hard way standby for a flight is only allowed the same DAY. This can be confusing since SDC allows changes when it is not the same DAY.

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The policies for SDC and "standby" are identical in terms of timing. The only difference is whether you clear when you request it or at the gate. You still have to pay for it. There isn't really such a thing as "standby" in the traditional sense anymore, same calendar day or otherwise.

So how do I do this:
let's say I have a ticket for a flight on 3:00 PM on Wednesday.
SDC should allow me to do the change to same flight 3:00 PM on Tuesday (still within 24 hrs).
Do I just go to the airport and hope that they will issue me a new ticket in there?

They probably won't let you do that. The 24 hr rule is hard and fast, you can't change your Wed ticket UNTIL 3:00 Tuesday, and by that time the door will be closed and it will have pushed back. You can take a later flight the night before or earlier flight that morning, but those are the only options for getting where you want earlier.

Let me see if I get this. If I fly into "a" at 8 PM and had an original flight leaving the next day at 5 PM, can I go to the TA when I arrive in the PM and ask for a seat on the 6 AM flight out the next morning or do I have to wait and show at the airport at 5 AM to see if they will accommodate me. As a plat, will they give me a standby for free or will they make me pay? This is still somewhat confusing to me.

Not gonna happen. Same flight the day prior is not covered by the SDC policy. Think of it more like a 23:59 deal. ;)

You can ask that night and it's free as a plat. Or to avoid a trip to the ticket counter, just call the elite desk. There might not be availability at that point though, as some buckets don't open until T-3hrs. If they can't confirm it ask if they'll tell you how many seats are left. That should give you an idea if there will be seats in the morning. You might have to wake up early to call and confirm it, then either head to the airport or go back to bed. Make sense?

You can ask starting at 5pm the day prior to your scheduled departure (within 24 hours of the originally ticketed departure). At any point after that you can ask at a counter, call in or go through the OLCI process to see if the earlier flight is available.

As a platinum you would get the SDC for free.

It may have been outside the policy, but I was able to change to the same flight on the previous day, i.e. exactly 24 hours before my scheduled flight, with the help of a PC agent. The only confusion was she wanted to charge the fee for SDC, but that was quickly cleared up when I reminded her I was a Plat.

CO Rule #1: Always deny a request when possible.

CO Rule #2: Always attempt to charge fee, even if unwarranted.

CO Rule #3: Only waive fee in #2 above if allowed by policy and upon specific request from customer armed with knowledge of such policy. Then play dumb like you weren't aware of said policy.

CO Rule #4: Only when caught by said customer, document record to absolve of any wrong-doing and make the customer liable for our own screw-ups.

Definitely not the experience I was reporting on ... The agent quickly went to work attempting to make the change I requested without any pushback. It did take a few minutes, and a phone call, to make it happen, all while the agent was handling other PC customers.
Personally, I'm happy the agent was focused on making my change, and not my status.
The question of a fee was immediately dismissed when I mentioned my status, with no questions and no "playing dumb"

Somehow I remember reading that same-day flight change/standby is FREE if you are taking an earlier connection than the one you're booked. But if you request SDC at starting point then the fee does apply.

I think there was a footnote before on the SDC rules, but I don't see it anymore.

Anyway, my friend (CO Silver) has a long layover at IAH tomorrow and would like to take an earlier flight to SFO, but I guess she'll have to pay the $50 fee.

I just found a thread dated April 29, 09 where there is discussion on CO implementing FREE changes for earlier connection:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/conti...g-sdc-s-2.html

Post # 27


But somehow that's not reflected on the CO website --and the elite line don't know about it and want to charge my friend $50 for the earlier connection at IAH.

Well said.
I experienced all of the above more than once.
#2 - all the time.

Per the FAQ: (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/10993890-post55.html)

SDC on a connecting itinerary
 

I'm trying to depart today about 20 hours before my scheduled departure. THe rule says you can 'standby' when your original fare code is not available. With most fare buckets opening up ~3hrs before a flight, It would be easy to confirm my MCO-IAH flight. However, factoring in the 2.5 hours to IAH and the schedule of onward flights to SDF, the connection won't hit the 3hr mark at the time I'm trying to leave MCO.. Will they let me go as far as IAH and try my luck to continue from there today- I would stay at IAH at my own risk. Or will they say they can only clear me to IAH if they can also clear me to SDF?

thanks.

Do the same rules apply for a same day change for a later flight?

Yes.

If you cannot confirm the new flight before your scheduled departure time I'm pretty sure you cannot just go standby at that point but otherwise the rules are the same.

Can I SDC on an all-CO metal award ticket booked with United miles?

Sorry if this has been answered already somewhere else, but I cannot find the answer.

If I same day change to a flight that is a longer routing, do I earn original ticketed EQM or actual BIS EQM? As an example, traveling DEN to SJO thru IAH is 2428 EQM, but if all the stars align, and I could possibly SDC to a DEN to SJO thru EWR for a BIS of 3831 EQM what would my OnePass account be credited. Would it also work in reverse, netting less EQM??

You would earn what you fly.

Yes, but as stated before, they can only rebook you for free if the agent sees availability in the same fare bucket, and, as mentioned, other fare bucket seats are not "released" for stand-bys until ~ 3 hours before flight time.

I did this recently, and was advided by the person on the elite line to:

CANCEL my reservation for a 9:30 AM flight, call up 3 hours before the redeye flight I wanted shortly after midnight. Since my flight itinerary was "cancelled", I had to call in and give my conf. # and it took them a second to "find" my old res. and re-book me as a standby.

The good news? I still got upgrades on both legs home...

Hmmm, I did the same day change to a later flight this past weekend but was not informed of the 3-hour rule by the elite line. It got particularly complicated because I booked my flight with a MeetingWorks code and the elite line couldn't make any modifications to the reservation. Originally they said they could make the same day change with only the same day change fee. (I was within a 24-hour window, not a 3-hour window.) However, they then saw my ticket was booked with the code and they said only the MeetingWorks dept was allowed to make changes to my reservation. Unfortunately, the MeetingWorks reps had left the office by the time I called. The elite line was able to cancel my reservation and I rebooked the next morning with a MeetingWorks rep but had to pay a fare difference along with the same day change fee. They made no mention of a 3-hour rule. Although I'm not sure if my fare bucket would have been available even with the 3-hour rule - all of the flights only had a few seats left.

I SDC'd yesterday. No problem at all. Not a mention of a fee. Actually I was lucky that I called when I did. 10 minutes later and all would have been gone due to a 735 going tech at the gate in ATL.

I'm surprised that you had a problem SDCing w/a MeetingWorks code -- I did not have that problem & was tkted w/the same code, and was able to SDC on-line when the alternate flts were offered to me. I have had to deal with the MeetingWorks reps when I've had to make a change to a tkt outside the 24 hr window.

Maybe it's because the flts you were looking to change to -- were already very full, as you pointed out! I don't find that the '3-hr rule' necessarily applies to every flt, as I've seen some flts where the fare buckets open up at the 24 hr mark!^ Of course, as you experienced, the situation can change at any given moment!

Deleted - Got related info in the thread.

I am little confused on the policy for SDC.

Scenario 1 already happened: I was trying to change my flight from a 1 PM to a 6 PM and was told several times that I had to pay the difference in fare class... is this true?

Scenario 2 upcoming: This coming Monday I have an early flight. I might finish up work in time on Sunday to take the last flight back (about 12 hours earlier). Can I do a same day change? The cost should be $50 right? Should I not check in at T-24? How can I get through security the night before my flight if I need to get to the airport for SDC?

Thanks!
NDtraveler

#1: There was probably no availability in your fare class, at the time you called (& thus you would be subject to the fare difference), & clearly, you couldn't wait until the 3-hr window to see if the appropriate fare bucket would open up!

#2: At the T-24 mark, you can do OLCI & see if there is availability on other flts (there would be a tab that says 'other flight options') with availability in your fare class. If there is not availability on the flt you are looking to SDC to -- call the elite desk & ask them to see if there are seats available, which will give you an idea of how many seats might potentially be available when the fare buckets do open up (T-3 or earlier). Then you will need to keep checking back to see if the SDC option (in your fare class) becomes available. If you go to the airport (the day before) -- any changes would be made at a check-in desk -- before security!

Apologies to bump up this old thread, but I want to confirm my understanding of all the posts and FAQ I've read:

If I am flying A-B-C (departing A@8AM and B@10AM on Thu) - and I want to extend only my layover at B for a few hours or a day, it appears possible, correct?

In other words, can I call @ 24hr mark for the B-C segment to Same Day Change to a later flight (say departing B@5PM instead, or possibly even the next day @8AM Fri)?

If it is possible, I'm presuming a call at Wed@5PM would work to get on flight B@5PM on Thu.

Also, to extend it further, can I make an additional change afterwards to push B@8AM on Fri (make a second call on Thu@8AM)?

Presuming that the same fare class is available at the time of call.

Thanks in advance.

Yes, all that is possible in theory. If the flight is full the fare bucket may not open until T-3 hours, which doesn't help you.

I haven't tried on the phones but the gate agents have always been perfectly happy to put me on an earlier connecting flight (for free) if there is space.

(I have done this at both at originating airports before the first flight of the day, and also at the connecting airport if I have no checked-through bags. No one has ever asked for money, but if they did I suppose I'd adopt the normal strategy of looking for a friendlier GA :D)

Hey, I have a CO ticket with CO flight numbers operated by United. My guess is I can´t change this ticket to CO flights using the "same day free change" for One Pass Platinums.

Anyone has been able to do it? or am I stuck with UA flights. The thing is I have a tight conection from CO separate tickets and flights. If I miss my conection to UA, can I ask them to put me on next day as a stand by passenger without them cancelling my ticket for no show? or should I call UA and tell them I will not make my flight?

I believe that you can utilize your SDC options since you're ticketed on CO & the flts are code-shared, -- but only within T-24 of the flts in question! You should call the CO elite line, if you are not offered options at OLCI. Just a reminder that if the fare bucket you're booked in - is not available at the time, you would be responsible for the fare difference, unless there is a schedule change to the flts, in which case you wouldn't be charged the fare difference. The only fee that is waived, as a Plat, is the SDC fee!

Thanks mnmag!!!

My idea is just to switch my flight BOS-SFO-SAN on @6pm to BOS-SAN @6 or 7am through IAH or EWR next day. Any CO flight BOS-XXX-SAN next morning will work. I am booked on CO with CO flight numbers operated by UA on the return and will be arriving at BOS with CO with 20 minutes to make my connection and still need to change from Terminal A to Terminal C.

Well, will work on that CO code share at T-24. Thanks.

I have UA tickets with UA flight number operated by CO.
Can I still ask SDC? Should I call UA or CO? When I booked this tickets, I asked to enter CO OnePass number instead of UA MP number. I'm not sure if that makes difference, though...

You'll get CO rules. Work through them for changes.

My flight is tomorrow at 1pm EWR to MCO. I want to do a SDC to an earlier flight but right now the class of service T is not available. I have already been upgraded for my 1pm flight.

Should I check in now on OLCI or should I wait to see if the class of service changes for the other flights and not check in till closer to my departure time?

Right now most of the flights are in Q COS..

I see the 7:30am flight (CO1592) at T9 so you should be able to change to that one. And I'd bet you get upgraded again as soon as you do. Checking in now should present that option to you and won't affect your ability to change again in the future.

Thank you.. I didn't know that. I checked the site just as you said. I would take any other flight before 1pm but 7:30 is hard because I have to leave here at 5am to get to EWR on time. I am going to wait to see if the other flights open up now that I know how to do it. Thanks again
Marylyn