Seat Assignment on Standby Flight
 

I'm wondering if anyone has any info on how seats are assigned when you go on standby for a different flight.

I know that requested upgrades carry over, but in a situation where you stay in one cabin, how is your seat assigned? Does the GA pick the exact seat? does it look to your MP preferences for Window/Aisle?

I've had what i'd call in-cabin mini-downgrades -- confirmed in E+ window going to E- middle in the back, but also mini-upgrades. For example, I got an an earlier flight, and instead of my regular E+ window, i got the much coveted endless legroom exit row seat on the 733.

I've also gotten EQS bonuses when i was rebooked into a Y fare.

Is anything taken into account when re-booked?

When you are on standby you get whats left. Considering the GAs attempt to fill E+ last, the odds are you will end up there. The reality is, you'll get whatever is left. May be E+, may not be.

Mine never have. I always have to re-request.

I've actually declined a stand-by when it became apparent that I would be moving from a good E+ seat to a bad E-. Obviously, you don't want to do this at a busy gate with a harried agent trying to get the flight closed and off but in smaller stations I'd rather sit and read until my original flight leaves than try to cram into a torture rack in back.

As a 2P, the OP would probably be offered E+ if available, although the GA would probably first give you a window or aisle in E- if available. Or a choice. I have twice been offered exit-row middle or last-row [aisle/window].

Really? The only time i ever even used an e500, I went for standby expecting E-, but when I got my BP for the new flight, the GA said "oh look, you even made first!" I hadn't made any motion to re-submit the ug nor had i mentioned it to the GA, so I just assumed it carried over.

I know, it's such a hard balance to strike. Most of the time they practically hand the BP to the person boarding the flight... I can only imagine the blank look when they had over a BP with 26E and you hand it back.

Funny - I've taken an E- (middle seat) standby over an NC seat on P.S. transcon as I'd prefer to get home then risk endless delays into JFK.

As for the question, it depends on how much time the agent has.

It's definitely a tricky game to play, and I'm still trying to figure out the best strategy. With status, you'll obviously be one of the first to clear the list. You will usually get middle seats that were never sold.

The problem lies, however, in the fact that there will be people who A. are not at the gate 10 min prior to departure, and B. those people have E+ or window/aisle seats.

So now you're already seated in your not-so-comfy middle seat, and the person waaaaay down the standby list from you (possibly not even a MP member) will now get that nice E+ aisle seat.

It's frustrating to watch, but I can't figure out a way around it. Risky idea to turn down a seat assignment hoping that someone else won't show.

When one stands by for a flight, unless the GA is willing to break the rules, you first clear standby into your purchased COS and only then are you added to the upgade list. If they follow the rules, all upgrade requests of pax originally scheduled on the flight should be accommodated first. Then standbys, then upgrades of standby pax. In the situation described here, if it's important to get a good E+ seat, then just politely ask the GA if there's anything better and that you're willing to wait by the gate to see if anything frees up at the 10 minute mark.

The key -- at least for 1Ks -- is to use confirmed standby whenever possible. This gets you a seat -- any seat -- in time to rise to the top of the upgrade list when that time comes.

IME, the computer automatically assigns a seat in the rear of the plane. The GA usually has to override it to give an elite E+. They are usually pretty good about it, but of course some GAs can be lazy.

That makes sense, considering that when i did get thrown in the back middle, the GA was very rushed and handing out a million BPs at once. I do notice that when the GA has more time, it yields a better seat.

reviving my own thread to ask:

does your booking class get changed at the gate? I've got several examples of being booked in Q and getting the mileage credit bonus because i went standby and was rebooked into Y.

Nice inadvertent benefit, anyone else experience this?

It's happened to me before, and I went from being booked on an award ticket to receiving 500 miles (it was a short hop)!

I'm not positive about this, but for whatever reason it seems that UA computers will try to "rebook" you into your original booking class (if available). Often, your original fare bucket is gone, so as kind of a hack the system just throws you into Y.

It's sort of a bank error in your favor kind of thing - the UA IT system isn't really geared to handle it well, and lots of COS bonuses end up being the result.

then i'll just keep going standby!