Jan 5, 2018, 8:16 pm
Last edit by: leftysauce
This wiki was created to distill SDC (and related standby) down to a set of rules in the hopes of benefiting others.
The official "rules" can be found here. In practice, some of the rules almost always apply, and some are more flexible.
Present Eligiblity policy 2023
Premier members may be able to get another flight for free. If your original cabin isn’t available, you may have to pay a price difference.
All other travelers may be able to get another flight within 24 hours of the original flight. You may have to pay a price difference even if the same cabin is available.
Note there have been reports of SDC to one segment removing confirmed CPU upgrades on downline segments. If maintaining the confirmed upgrade is important then these changes should be handled with care.
Most Frequently Asked Question: When do I call/go online to make the change?
Follow this flowchart:
Question 1: Are you within 24 hours of your currently scheduled UA(*) operated flight that you're trying to change off of? If yes, continue to Question 2. If no, continue to answer 1.
Question 2: Are you within 24 hours of the first UA operated flight you're trying to change on to? If yes, continue to Answer 2. If no, continue to Answer 1.
Answer 1: No, you cannot call/go online yet to make an SDC.
Answer 2: Yes, then you can call/go online to make an SDC.
General Baseline Rules
These are the general rules that usually apply to SDC's; falling outside these rules usually requires payment of a full change fee and the fare difference:
How to SDC
SDC can be accomplished in a few different places (in rough order of likelihood of being able to get the rules bent):
Please note that the United.com “change flight” link before checking in within T-24 is broken. The website may not show all available options and will often attempt to collect the change fee rather than the SDC fee (if any).
NB: An SDC where the original itinerary (in one direction) has three or more segments cannot be done online.
Nuances and Loose Rules
Now for the hard part: figuring out where the flexibility is in the rules. This list is compiled from the responses to people saying, "Can I do X?" where X is something that is not clearly permitted by the rules. One's likelihood of success here depends a bit on the method used for the SDC.
For each item, the following codes apply:
Y = officially permitted and possible using any method
A = not permitted but perhaps possible using an agent (phone/counter), perhaps having to HUACA
A* = mixed reports of success with an agent (phone/counter),
N* = possible only if you find a very accommodating agent
N = little or no reported success.
If you encounter issues with an agent (phone or counter/gate), you can ask the agent to reference GG SDC. Additionally, GG SDC line 61 specifically references that fare classes are supposed to level out 3.5 hours before departure, so you might be able to use that to your advantage if fare classes have not leveled out and you're trying to ask an agent to open up the correct inventory or force you onto the flight.
Note -- as of 11/27/2017: A datapoint indicates that UA may have updated its GG rule regarding leveling out to state the following:
The practice of fare leveling all fares for all flights at a specific time appears no longer in effective -- it does happen in some case but appears to be more variable
Standby
For all fare classesother than Basic Economy (N class) you may standby if seats are not available in the purchased fare class. There is no longer a fee for Standby. In these cases, the same-day change fee will apply, but will not be charged unless you are assigned a seat on your alternate flight. Changes in routing are not allowed when standing by. Standby may be requested up to 24 hours of original departure on the day of departure at an airport kiosk or with a United representative at the airport or UA app. Once you are added to the flight standby list, you can check your real-time standby status at united.com/flightstatus or on your mobile device at mobile.united.com/info.
Instead of paying a same-day change discounted fee, can I stand by for my desired flight for free?
YesNo. The only time you may standby for free is when the fare does not have any penalties for making changes, or when standing by involuntarily due to a flight irregularity.
Can I pay the same-day change discount fee with cash?
Cash will only be accepted by a United airport representative when the change is available to be confirmed, not for standby travel.
Standby Nuances and Loose Rules
All nuances assume request is made within 24 hours of scheduled departure to a flight within 24 hours of the request.
For each item, the following codes apply:
Y = officially permitted and possible using any method
K = Perhaps not officially permitted, but kiosk will allow.
A = not permitted but perhaps possible using an agent (phone/counter), perhaps having to HUACA
A* = mixed reports of success with an agent (phone/counter),
N* = possible only if you find a very accommodating agent
N = little or no reported success.
Mileage Credit after SDC
SDC is considered a voluntary change, so your credited PQM & PQS will be credited based on the route you actually fly. Your PQDs should not change and therefore for your RDMs will not change. Occasionally if you fly a fewer number of segments, your PQD will credit wrong, but a call to MPSC should correct that.
Previous threads:
UA Same-Day Travel Change (SDC) Fees/Questions (with Wiki) {Archive}
UA Same-Day Travel Change (SDC) Fees/Questions *now with WikiPost* {pre-2015 Archive}
The official "rules" can be found here. In practice, some of the rules almost always apply, and some are more flexible.
Present Eligiblity policy 2023
Same day changes
Premier members may be able to get another flight for free. If your original cabin isn’t available, you may have to pay a price difference.All other travelers may be able to get another flight within 24 hours of the original flight. You may have to pay a price difference even if the same cabin is available.
Most Frequently Asked Question: When do I call/go online to make the change?
Follow this flowchart:
Question 1: Are you within 24 hours of your currently scheduled UA(*) operated flight that you're trying to change off of? If yes, continue to Question 2. If no, continue to answer 1.
Question 2: Are you within 24 hours of the first UA operated flight you're trying to change on to? If yes, continue to Answer 2. If no, continue to Answer 1.
Answer 1: No, you cannot call/go online yet to make an SDC.
Answer 2: Yes, then you can call/go online to make an SDC.
General Baseline Rules
These are the general rules that usually apply to SDC's; falling outside these rules usually requires payment of a full change fee and the fare difference:
- Not available for Basic Economy (N class) tickets
- The departure time of the first segment of the old itinerary and the departure time of the first segment of the new itinerary must both be within 24 hours of the moment that the change is made.
- Only applies to UA/UX operated flights, domestic or international. Changing from a non-UA operated to UA operated may be possible.
- Must be issued on UA ticket stock (ticket number begins with 016)
- Award tickets are eligible, but an award change may be a better option (not restricted to 24 hours)
- The ultimate origin and destination airports must remain the same.
- Routing can be changed (addition, deletion, or change of connection points) but the routing rules of the original fare usually apply.
- All remaining unflown segments in a single fared itinerary are considered together (i.e., if you're flying WWW-XXX-YYY-ZZZ, you can go to a kiosk at XXX and potentially fly XXX-AAA-ZZZ or XXX-ZZZ direct).
- SDC can be done an unlimited number of times, and can, therefore, be used to extend a trip indefinitely (pending availability).
SDC costs $75 for non-PremiersOnly premier members as of 1 Jan 2021- No fee for Premier (plus any applicable fare difference, see below). *G's may also get free SDC, although there is no mention of this in the official rules. Once in-route, fees for an earlier connecting flight may be waived per GG SDC Line 118.
- Non-elites on the same PNR benefit from any waived fees for SDC.
No fare difference is charged so long as there is availability on all of the new segments in the originally ticketed fare class. Fare class availability in all classes often opens up after T-24 and almost always opens up at T-3 unless the plane is very full.The practice of fare leveling all fares for all flights at a specific time appears to no longer be in effect.- SDC on bulk tickets, including United Specials, is not permitted.
- SDC is permitted on both domestic and international itineraries.
How to SDC
SDC can be accomplished in a few different places (in rough order of likelihood of being able to get the rules bent):
- United mobile app
- Kiosk
- Phone
- On united.com, right now only the "Search Other Flight Options" button during On-Line Check-In (OLCI) works. This has spotty availability, particularly if the change would involve paying an additional fare due to fare bucket non-availability.
- Counter/Gate (although reports are that most airport agents are not familiar with the SDC policy and may not allow you to SDC to a valid itinerary--you can try to direct them to look up GG SDC, but they often won't understand that what you're trying to do is permitted by those rules)
Please note that the United.com “change flight” link before checking in within T-24 is broken. The website may not show all available options and will often attempt to collect the change fee rather than the SDC fee (if any).
NB: An SDC where the original itinerary (in one direction) has three or more segments cannot be done online.
Nuances and Loose Rules
Now for the hard part: figuring out where the flexibility is in the rules. This list is compiled from the responses to people saying, "Can I do X?" where X is something that is not clearly permitted by the rules. One's likelihood of success here depends a bit on the method used for the SDC.
For each item, the following codes apply:
Y = officially permitted and possible using any method
A = not permitted but perhaps possible using an agent (phone/counter), perhaps having to HUACA
A* = mixed reports of success with an agent (phone/counter),
N* = possible only if you find a very accommodating agent
N = little or no reported success.
- Violating various non-routing fare rules (day/time, minimum stay, etc.): Y
- Change destination to ultra-close airport (see the old S*FAR/STANDBY): A
- Change destination to a co-terminal: N*
- Change destination to an entirely different place: N
- Change itinerary at the beginning to include illegal layovers (> 4 hours): N*
- Change itinerary at the layover point (using kiosk, app, or agent) to create an otherwise illegal layover: Y
- Change itinerary at the beginning to add a layover point not permitted by the routing rules: N*
- Change itinerary at a layover point to add another layover not permitted (either in terms of number of segments or routing rules) by the routing rules: Y
- Change to a flight exactly 24 hours before or after the original flight: N*
- Change to a flight exactly 24 hours before the original flight, if the previous day's flight has been delayed: Y (based on one report)
- Change to a flight exactly 24 hours after the original flight, if the original flight has been delayed: Y (at least in the app)
- Combining separately-fared segments to do SDC (e.g. XXX-YYY+YYY-ZZZ -> XXX-ZZZ): A
- Change UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment to UA metal: A*
- Change from UA metal to UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment: N (see post 1813 for one exception)
- Change from UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment to a different UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment: ??
- Change on a non-UA ticketed segment: N* (with potentially dire consequences)
- Change from an upgraded flight into Y on the new flight: Y
- Change from a PointsPlus-upgraded flight into J/F on the new flight: A
- Change from a CPU-upgraded flight and get confirmed into available PZ space on the new flight: N*
- Change from an instrument-upgraded flight and get confirmed into available PZ space on the new flight: A*
- Non-elite on different PNR benefiting from Elite's waived-fee SDC: A
- Change at origin airport after tendering a checked bag: A - 60 minutes prior to both flights required
- Change at layover airport when a bag has been checked: A - 60 minutes prior to both flights required
- Change a bulk fare: A*
- Stand-By to later flight, then SDC after original flight departs to flight within 24-hours of new Stand-By flight: Y
Code:
EVERYDAY AWARD AND REVENUE BUCKETS ARE TO LEVEL OUT WITHIN 2H OF DEPARTURE
The practice of fare leveling all fares for all flights at a specific time appears no longer in effective -- it does happen in some case but appears to be more variable
Standby
For all fare classes
Instead of paying a same-day change discounted fee, can I stand by for my desired flight for free?
Yes
Can I pay the same-day change discount fee with cash?
Cash will only be accepted by a United airport representative when the change is available to be confirmed, not for standby travel.
Standby Nuances and Loose Rules
All nuances assume request is made within 24 hours of scheduled departure to a flight within 24 hours of the request.
For each item, the following codes apply:
Y = officially permitted and possible using any method
K = Perhaps not officially permitted, but kiosk will allow.
A = not permitted but perhaps possible using an agent (phone/counter), perhaps having to HUACA
A* = mixed reports of success with an agent (phone/counter),
N* = possible only if you find a very accommodating agent
N = little or no reported success.
- To a flight the previous calendar day: A*/N*/K (app allows this)
- To a flight after your ticketed flight, on the same calendar day: Y
- To a flight the following calendar day: N*
- Request Standby at an airport other than departure airport: Can now request Standby via app 24 hours in advance
- Make request calendar day before scheduled flight to flight same day as scheduled departure: K
Mileage Credit after SDC
SDC is considered a voluntary change, so your credited PQM & PQS will be credited based on the route you actually fly. Your PQDs should not change and therefore for your RDMs will not change. Occasionally if you fly a fewer number of segments, your PQD will credit wrong, but a call to MPSC should correct that.
Previous threads:
UA Same-Day Travel Change (SDC) Fees/Questions (with Wiki) {Archive}
UA Same-Day Travel Change (SDC) Fees/Questions *now with WikiPost* {pre-2015 Archive}
UA Same-Day Travel Change (SDC) Fees/Questions -Free STBY for all, SDC for all elites
Jan 13, 2023, 8:29 pm
#16
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NYC suburbs
Programs: UA LT Gold (BIS), AA LT Plat (CC SUBs & BD), Hilton Dia (CC), Hyatt Glob (BIB), et. al.
Posts: 3,290
Have there been changes to UA SDC procedures recently?
I’m certain that I’ve changed to earlier or later flights the same day, same origin and destination, sometimes different connecting cities, occasionally the night before ticketed morning flights, without additional charge, including when the change is to a different booking class, MANY times. I recall reading that within 24 hours (of flight times) all booking classes “even out” or “zero out”.
Trying to do a SDC for tomorrow’s SLC-IAH-LGA itinerary to one of two SLC-DEN-LGA itineraries because SLC-DEN-LGA is 2 hours less flight time than SLC-IAH-DEN. One DEN connection would allow me to depart at the same time and arrive 2 hours earlier, the other would allow me to depart 2 hours later and arrive at the same time. LT Gold, both SLC-DEN-LGA itineraries are showing plenty of available seats.
Full desktop website errored out twice. Mobile app showed significant additional fares. Just spoke to a UA phone agent and her supervisor, both told me that since there is no “T” class availability in the flights I’d like to change to I would have to pay $196 or $133 to make the change.
I’m pretty old, Medicare eligible for 2 years, really hope I’m not remembering this incorrectly. Thank you.
I’m certain that I’ve changed to earlier or later flights the same day, same origin and destination, sometimes different connecting cities, occasionally the night before ticketed morning flights, without additional charge, including when the change is to a different booking class, MANY times. I recall reading that within 24 hours (of flight times) all booking classes “even out” or “zero out”.
Trying to do a SDC for tomorrow’s SLC-IAH-LGA itinerary to one of two SLC-DEN-LGA itineraries because SLC-DEN-LGA is 2 hours less flight time than SLC-IAH-DEN. One DEN connection would allow me to depart at the same time and arrive 2 hours earlier, the other would allow me to depart 2 hours later and arrive at the same time. LT Gold, both SLC-DEN-LGA itineraries are showing plenty of available seats.
Full desktop website errored out twice. Mobile app showed significant additional fares. Just spoke to a UA phone agent and her supervisor, both told me that since there is no “T” class availability in the flights I’d like to change to I would have to pay $196 or $133 to make the change.
I’m pretty old, Medicare eligible for 2 years, really hope I’m not remembering this incorrectly. Thank you.
Jan 13, 2023, 8:40 pm
#17
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 2,279
Have there been changes to UA SDC procedures recently?
I’m certain that I’ve changed to earlier or later flights the same day, same origin and destination, sometimes different connecting cities, occasionally the night before ticketed morning flights, without additional charge, including when the change is to a different booking class, MANY times. I recall reading that within 24 hours (of flight times) all booking classes “even out” or “zero out”.
Trying to do a SDC for tomorrow’s SLC-IAH-LGA itinerary to one of two SLC-DEN-LGA itineraries because SLC-DEN-LGA is 2 hours less flight time than SLC-IAH-DEN. One DEN connection would allow me to depart at the same time and arrive 2 hours earlier, the other would allow me to depart 2 hours later and arrive at the same time. LT Gold, both SLC-DEN-LGA itineraries are showing plenty of available seats.
Full desktop website errored out twice. Mobile app showed significant additional fares. Just spoke to a UA phone agent and her supervisor, both told me that since there is no “T” class availability in the flights I’d like to change to I would have to pay $196 or $133 to make the change.
I’m pretty old, Medicare eligible for 2 years, really hope I’m not remembering this incorrectly. Thank you.
I’m certain that I’ve changed to earlier or later flights the same day, same origin and destination, sometimes different connecting cities, occasionally the night before ticketed morning flights, without additional charge, including when the change is to a different booking class, MANY times. I recall reading that within 24 hours (of flight times) all booking classes “even out” or “zero out”.
Trying to do a SDC for tomorrow’s SLC-IAH-LGA itinerary to one of two SLC-DEN-LGA itineraries because SLC-DEN-LGA is 2 hours less flight time than SLC-IAH-DEN. One DEN connection would allow me to depart at the same time and arrive 2 hours earlier, the other would allow me to depart 2 hours later and arrive at the same time. LT Gold, both SLC-DEN-LGA itineraries are showing plenty of available seats.
Full desktop website errored out twice. Mobile app showed significant additional fares. Just spoke to a UA phone agent and her supervisor, both told me that since there is no “T” class availability in the flights I’d like to change to I would have to pay $196 or $133 to make the change.
I’m pretty old, Medicare eligible for 2 years, really hope I’m not remembering this incorrectly. Thank you.
Jan 14, 2023, 12:27 am
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,387
Have there been changes to UA SDC procedures recently?
I’m certain that I’ve changed to earlier or later flights the same day, same origin and destination, sometimes different connecting cities, occasionally the night before ticketed morning flights, without additional charge, including when the change is to a different booking class, MANY times.
I’m certain that I’ve changed to earlier or later flights the same day, same origin and destination, sometimes different connecting cities, occasionally the night before ticketed morning flights, without additional charge, including when the change is to a different booking class, MANY times.
Full desktop website errored out twice. Mobile app showed significant additional fares. Just spoke to a UA phone agent and her supervisor, both told me that since there is no “T” class availability in the flights I’d like to change to I would have to pay $196 or $133 to make the change.
* since I started flying UA regularly around the time of the CO merger, about a decade ago. I can’t speak to policies before that.
Jan 14, 2023, 9:21 am
#19
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Sydney,Australia
Programs: UA 1K, QF Gold
Posts: 1,141
I am booked on UA863 SFO-SYD tonight in Prem Plus (A), I would rather take UA829 tomorrow night as would prefer to stick around here a little longer and upgrade looks better. My thought process was this morning to try to change to a SFO-LAX-SYD flight thats within 24 hrs and a long layover and then when 829 is within 24 hrs switch to that if possible. I am fine with the outcome of having to go to LAX anyway. I am not seeing any free SDC options in the app though, I presume this is because the domestic leg has no A as no Prem Plus? Is this something a 1K agent would be able to do, put me in Y for the domestic and then A for the international and all be good?
Jan 14, 2023, 9:56 am
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,387
I am booked on UA863 SFO-SYD tonight in Prem Plus (A), I would rather take UA829 tomorrow night as would prefer to stick around here a little longer and upgrade looks better. My thought process was this morning to try to change to a SFO-LAX-SYD flight thats within 24 hrs and a long layover and then when 829 is within 24 hrs switch to that if possible. I am fine with the outcome of having to go to LAX anyway. I am not seeing any free SDC options in the app though, I presume this is because the domestic leg has no A as no Prem Plus? Is this something a 1K agent would be able to do, put me in Y for the domestic and then A for the international and all be good?
If your mind is set on SDC, and you don’t mind living on the edge a bit, I’d consider waiting until 8:10 PM tonight and then trying to change directly, without an intermediary, with the understanding that if it failed, you’d have to be at the airport posthaste. You can get a pretty good idea of how successful you might be by keeping an eye on A inventory during the day (which you’d need whether you had the intermediate LAX flight or not). You could set an ExpertFlyer alert for A < 2 as a warning that your plan is in peril. (EF is a paid service, but they offer a free 5-day trial that would suit your needs).
Note that there are currently 6 seats blocked for upgrades in Polaris, and that you probably won’t be one of those passengers unless you’re on the flight before T-24.
That said, have you tried changing to the flight that you want using the regular change tool? If this is a return of a round-trip ticket, and your original fare is valid for travel on a Sunday, you may be able to change now for free, skipping any of the drama. Give it a try.
Jan 14, 2023, 10:06 am
#21
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Sydney,Australia
Programs: UA 1K, QF Gold
Posts: 1,141
Thanks so much for the detailed answer, I would maybe be tempted to live on the edge but probably won't thrill my other half so may just have to suck it up and take the original.. Sadly just changing it to tomorrow throws up a charge of 3100AUD 
Jan 22, 2023, 4:07 pm
#22
Join Date: May 2017
Location: YEG, SFO, VCA, JR JY-13
Programs: hahaha
Posts: 921
I asked this question upthread about a month ago and got no responses: "Who's higher on the standby list, non-UA *G or Premier Silver, since I am both?"
I attempted to answer the question myself by swapping both numbers at check-in (of course, that's really hard to do on this airline for some reason, as noted on plenty of other threads...lol)
So I didn't. I simply stayed with my non-UA *G number.
On Saturday I flew LAX-SFO, I assume this route is elite heavy because of the 70+ on the upgrade list for CPU. There were 25 on standby. My name was #1 for the full 24h I had checked in, and I checked that list often. I assumed the other 24 people had no status and were doing the free standby.
I was bored and waited at the gate for my new boarding pass and chatted with someone who ended up telling me his name, and I asked if he was the guy #2 on the waitlist. He had 1K bag tags and said that he had "status" which I assume was current.
So there you go, I don't know how, but I was ahead of UA's home Premier members on the waitlist. It was an O/D flight and booked on 014 stock and they even let me choose an Y+ seat which I didn't think was still offered to *G flyers.
Is this surprising (that as a foreigner I was atop the list)? I found it so! Only three people cleared I believe.
I attempted to answer the question myself by swapping both numbers at check-in (of course, that's really hard to do on this airline for some reason, as noted on plenty of other threads...lol)
So I didn't. I simply stayed with my non-UA *G number.
On Saturday I flew LAX-SFO, I assume this route is elite heavy because of the 70+ on the upgrade list for CPU. There were 25 on standby. My name was #1 for the full 24h I had checked in, and I checked that list often. I assumed the other 24 people had no status and were doing the free standby.
I was bored and waited at the gate for my new boarding pass and chatted with someone who ended up telling me his name, and I asked if he was the guy #2 on the waitlist. He had 1K bag tags and said that he had "status" which I assume was current.
So there you go, I don't know how, but I was ahead of UA's home Premier members on the waitlist. It was an O/D flight and booked on 014 stock and they even let me choose an Y+ seat which I didn't think was still offered to *G flyers.
Is this surprising (that as a foreigner I was atop the list)? I found it so! Only three people cleared I believe.
Jan 22, 2023, 4:46 pm
#23
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 180
I asked this question upthread about a month ago and got no responses: "Who's higher on the standby list, non-UA *G or Premier Silver, since I am both?"
I attempted to answer the question myself by swapping both numbers at check-in (of course, that's really hard to do on this airline for some reason, as noted on plenty of other threads...lol)
So I didn't. I simply stayed with my non-UA *G number.
On Saturday I flew LAX-SFO, I assume this route is elite heavy because of the 70+ on the upgrade list for CPU. There were 25 on standby. My name was #1 for the full 24h I had checked in, and I checked that list often. I assumed the other 24 people had no status and were doing the free standby.
I was bored and waited at the gate for my new boarding pass and chatted with someone who ended up telling me his name, and I asked if he was the guy #2 on the waitlist. He had 1K bag tags and said that he had "status" which I assume was current.
So there you go, I don't know how, but I was ahead of UA's home Premier members on the waitlist. It was an O/D flight and booked on 014 stock and they even let me choose an Y+ seat which I didn't think was still offered to *G flyers.
Is this surprising (that as a foreigner I was atop the list)? I found it so! Only three people cleared I believe.
I attempted to answer the question myself by swapping both numbers at check-in (of course, that's really hard to do on this airline for some reason, as noted on plenty of other threads...lol)
So I didn't. I simply stayed with my non-UA *G number.
On Saturday I flew LAX-SFO, I assume this route is elite heavy because of the 70+ on the upgrade list for CPU. There were 25 on standby. My name was #1 for the full 24h I had checked in, and I checked that list often. I assumed the other 24 people had no status and were doing the free standby.
I was bored and waited at the gate for my new boarding pass and chatted with someone who ended up telling me his name, and I asked if he was the guy #2 on the waitlist. He had 1K bag tags and said that he had "status" which I assume was current.
So there you go, I don't know how, but I was ahead of UA's home Premier members on the waitlist. It was an O/D flight and booked on 014 stock and they even let me choose an Y+ seat which I didn't think was still offered to *G flyers.
Is this surprising (that as a foreigner I was atop the list)? I found it so! Only three people cleared I believe.
Jan 22, 2023, 4:57 pm
#24
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,830
The vast majority on the standby list tend to be employees or their families / friends, not paying customers. I would be very surprised you would be ahead of a paying high status customers. The other passenger could have been on a NRSA ticket (Non-Rev Space Available employee ticket) . They could have status but that does not count if on NRSA ticket.
Jan 25, 2023, 10:28 am
#26
Join Date: Jan 2023
Posts: 1
Changing UA award ticket to direct
I booked a UA award ticket from ORD to LHR in J for March. What I booked was a good price - but the actual ticket is ORD-BOS in Y and then BOS-LHR in J, which is probably why it's a good price. I am United Silver.
Wondering if I could expect to have a chance of changing to ORD-LHR direct in J on the day of travel, if there is a J seat available on the day of? The United policy seems to be:
Premier members have extra flexibility for flight changes made within 24 hours of departure. Premier members may be able to confirm a seat on another flight within 24 hours of your originally scheduled departure time for no cost at all.* If a Premier member’s original ticketed fare class isn’t available on the new flight, a fare difference may apply. If your original ticketed fare class isn’t available, you can always stand by for free.
That seems to imply that I might be able to pull this off, but curious if anyone has a different interpretation here and/or any personal experience and/or if there are any nuances for award travel.
Wondering if I could expect to have a chance of changing to ORD-LHR direct in J on the day of travel, if there is a J seat available on the day of? The United policy seems to be:
Premier members have extra flexibility for flight changes made within 24 hours of departure. Premier members may be able to confirm a seat on another flight within 24 hours of your originally scheduled departure time for no cost at all.* If a Premier member’s original ticketed fare class isn’t available on the new flight, a fare difference may apply. If your original ticketed fare class isn’t available, you can always stand by for free.
That seems to imply that I might be able to pull this off, but curious if anyone has a different interpretation here and/or any personal experience and/or if there are any nuances for award travel.
Jan 25, 2023, 10:33 am
#27
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,015
Almost zero chance of your award inventory being available on day of travel. You can’t just switch if a seat is available, the award inventory has to be available, also. If there’s an open seat, you’ll probably see a fairly large mileage increase to swap.
Jan 30, 2023, 8:24 am
#28
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: UAL Gold/1MM, AS MVP Gold, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 24
Have not seen such tight restrictions before. This is for a EWR-YUL-LHR-EWR round trip on 016 stock. The outbound is UA-coded/AC metal, and the return is UA. What are my chances of SDCing to (assuming fare class availability) or getting on the standby list for the UA daytime nonstop on the day of departure? Thanks for all the expertise on this thread!
Jan 30, 2023, 9:14 am
#29
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,459
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Have not seen such tight restrictions before. This is for a EWR-YUL-LHR-EWR round trip on 016 stock. The outbound is UA-coded/AC metal, and the return is UA. What are my chances of SDCing to (assuming fare class availability) or getting on the standby list for the UA daytime nonstop on the day of departure? Thanks for all the expertise on this thread!
Have not seen such tight restrictions before. This is for a EWR-YUL-LHR-EWR round trip on 016 stock. The outbound is UA-coded/AC metal, and the return is UA. What are my chances of SDCing to (assuming fare class availability) or getting on the standby list for the UA daytime nonstop on the day of departure? Thanks for all the expertise on this thread!
However, the fare rules aren't a factor in determining SDC possibility. In your case, the issue is AC metal — not allowed by policy. However, sometimes agents will move you over on request, so your only chance is getting lucky with who you ask. I think most likely to get it done at the airport, but that's still a toss-up.
Jan 30, 2023, 4:33 pm
#30
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 343
I looked through the FAQ, but didn't see an exact answer, so here goes:
I am booked on a paid nonstop from SFO to RDM tomorrow on the morning flight (there's a morning and evening flight each day). Would like to SDC (or standby) for the same flight exactly one day later (same time, flight number, etc, just 1 day later). Is the correct strategy to wait until it's <24 hours to tomorrow night's flight, SDC for that and then wait until it is <24 hours to the following morning's flight (Wednesday morning flight -- the one I want) and SDC a second time for that? Thanks!
I am booked on a paid nonstop from SFO to RDM tomorrow on the morning flight (there's a morning and evening flight each day). Would like to SDC (or standby) for the same flight exactly one day later (same time, flight number, etc, just 1 day later). Is the correct strategy to wait until it's <24 hours to tomorrow night's flight, SDC for that and then wait until it is <24 hours to the following morning's flight (Wednesday morning flight -- the one I want) and SDC a second time for that? Thanks!