Standby question
 

Anyone had experience standing by for a flight from a different airport (and not co-terminal) to the one listed on the ticket.

A friend is scheduled to fly from SJC-STL later this week on TW, but is down in LA now, so they have to catch a LAX-SJC flight on AA. There happens to be a TW flight departing LAX for STL nonstop at about the same time as their LAX-SJC segment- any chance that TW would let them go standby on the LAX-STL flight? I know that you can standby for earlier flights from the same airport, but this is a little different situation. Also, who would you check w/ in this case first- AA or TW?

It helps that AA/TW share a terminal at LAX for these particular flights, but they're not officially integrated yet...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It depends on the type of ticket the friend has. If it is a nonrefundable, then the rules say you can't change the routing. And technically, standbys are not permitted. However, I would suggest first calling TWA and explaining the situation and asking them politely if they could make an exception and allow you to standby for the LAX flight. If the agent says no, politely hang up and try again. At some point, you could ask to speak with a supervisor. If someone says yes, be sure they document your friend's record in the computer.

Another possibility is they might give your friend a confirmed seat on the LAX flight for the $100 change fee - as a favor.

If the ticket is refundable, then there is no problem - it can just be rebooked.