United Standby Policy

a belated thanks to contributors above.

I'm booked in first on a 530pm flt tmw, and there are 4 flights before me that i'm trying to get on. As recently as 3 hours ago, you could buy tickets for all four, but now the two earliest/soonest ones are listed, but showing all cabins having no availability for purchase. Mine isn't even listed for some reason.

For those with experience, should I give up on getting to the airport mighty early to try and get on those two that now appear "sold out?"

The difference could be three warm hours of sleep. I have *G, so that might help, but I think there are really 5 or 6 seats still "for sale" for those remaining flights at this time........

Any and all thoughts appreciated! happy xmas

It's a holiday weekend, there have been a number of cancellations for weather. *G status won't help if there are displaced passengers trying to get somewhere.

I should ask though, are you flying paid-F? If so, you may be able to change your ticket for free. In addition, F-passengers (if paid-F, not upgraded) have higher standby priority.

If you don't mind hanging out in airports, I'd suggest that you show up early. For all you know, a bunch of people on the earlier flights will be no-shows due to irrops, flat tires, or standby via other routings.

If you're at a station without the monitors listing standby, you might want to confirm with the GA if you are on the list, though you should have been given a departure management card that printed out at OLCI. If not, check with a check in agent and they can print one for you (maybe the kiosk's will do it to - I'm not sure when you've OLCI'd). Earlier check in will give you an edge over someone else, all else being equal (i.e. status, fare paid, etc.)

If I'm planning on standing by, I usually call reservations the night before or morning of and ask about my chances by giving them the flight number of what I am looking to clear onto. They won't give you exact numbers of seats available or anything, but will generally tell you if the flight looks really full, or with several or many empty seats, or that it looks good/not good. Seatcounter is another place to get information - you have to take the info. with a grain of salt, as this lists the number of seats UA is willing to sell in each class, not how many seats are actually available. If Y = 9, there are 9 or more seats left to sell, as it gets lower than that, you could be looking at a situation where the UA might be willing to sell the seats, but will result in overselling the flight.

Note that if you standby for a flight and don't make standby on the first one, the list is supposed to be transferred to the next flight to the same destination (assuming its not what you are already confirmed on), but its always a good idea to confirm at the new gate that your name was transferred properly.

thanks for all your help - i think i'm going to go in early and see what can happen. i can, i suppose, sit around the lounges all day and read

unavaca writes: "If you don't mind hanging out in airports, I'd suggest that you show up early. For all you know, a bunch of people on the earlier flights will be...standby via other routings."
Here's another trick that's gone with the bygone days. I used to go standby on flights to co-terminals, for example ORD to SFO (or OAK or SJC). Now, these standby lists have made it trickier by listing you for standby on a very specific flight. I'm not sure if it's possible to get listed for standby on multiple flights, especially with the advance check-in. I used to just actively meander gate to gate to check on availability (especially when multiple flights are delayed and/or cancelled). It wasn't a matter of hanging out in airports but going gate to gate very quickly as boarding sequences went. At a place like ORD, it could mean quite a bit of walking, and a fairly decent workout. But now these lists are electronically updated. I have not noticed if status helps much. I no longer have UA status, but even being plutonium elite in *A or CO doesn't help too much with UA standby. On CO, I routinely go standby and get upgrades automatically, not so on UA.

My understanding is that you can only be on standby for one flight at a time. If you do not clear standby for a given flight, your request should roll over to the next available flight.

I have had occasions where I asked a GA to take me off the list for a particular flight and put me on the next (or even a subsequent to that) flight's list, when, for example, I know I'm not going to clear, or that I'll end up in an E- middle on a transcon if I do clear. I think there should be some slight advantage to doing that in that one tiebreaker on the DM list is time added to the list, and by adding earlier (rather than waiting for the rollover to the next flight when they close out that one), I could potentially be a few slots higher on the list.


I still do this. Basically, if there are multiple flights going out in close sequence, I like to check on the status at each gate--even though I am only on one standby list at a time. If I'm 18th with 18 seats left on one flight, but the other has only 5 on the list, I'll ask the one GA to remove me and then go to the other and get added. And in irrops situations, this is really a key, as a lot of people are just waiting in line at the CSR desks and thus I may have a leg up on them (and I can be checking flights to nearby alternate destinations, too--e.g. another WAS area airport, or even RIC, if it's not looking good on that ORD-IAD flight...).


UA status helps immensely in standby situations. I have in the past had times where as a 1K, I was the only person to clear standby, and times as a 1P where I barely made the cut or just missed it. Status is in fact the #1 factor within a given standby priority (e.g. BP5A) in sorting the list, followed by fare and then time added to the list.

I don't know if *A status factors in at all on UA, though I can say that when flying other *A airlines as a *G pax, I typically cleared standby fairly easily.

What is United's standby policy on a passenger booked for a codeshare that is actually United metal? Also, is it possible to use e500s after clearing the standby list?

Thanks!

yes e500s can be used on a codeshare on UA metal (but UDU will not) -- but obviously you will be among the last to clear if space is available.

I am booking award travel...there are three flights on the outbound and 4 on the return (I did not even know they would allow that many but the agent said so). Anyways, my question is if I book that, will I be able to have the pax (Family member with no status) get a more direct route at check-in (granted there would obviously have to be capacity) but is that allowed or can it be done? This route can be accomplished on UA with only 2 flights r/t...but that would cost $1100 and it can do it for 25k miles this way apparently. Thanks!

The question is really "can I stand by for a more direct routing?"... and the answer is yes...domestic standby is free on UA and it is allowed on award tickets. If they are checking any bags they will need to let the checkin agent know that they want to go stand by so they can check the bags on the appropriate flights. There can be risks associated with doing this but generally if the route you are booking is A-B-C-D-E, and you stand by for A-C-E there shouldnt be a problem because you still have confirmed seats beyond C.

Where you can run into issues is if you are scheduled A-B-C-D-E and you try and fly A-F-E, where the connection point is different and you have no confirmed onward ticket from that connection point. So it's conceivable you could get stranded at that connection point until something opens up on a standby basis.

If you're booking these tickets with United miles I would see if you can confirm the convoluted routing and ask to waitlist for the more direct routing and it will automatically confirm if award space opens up. You won't be able to waitlist if using a partner airline's miles.

Keep an eye out for schedule changes; if there are significant impacts to the travel plans from any changes, then you may be able to request more direct routing.

Sometimes 9 or more awards are available on a given flight.

Unless you are 1K, expect a costly reticketing fee for the 4 pax to change a routing, even at the airport. This is especially true on international routings.

I speak with recent experience.

He doesn't say anything about 4 passengers... as far as I can tell there's only 1... and, standby is not (technically) allowed on international itins. So it isn't surprising there was a change fee to confirm the changes to your int'l ticket. I am assuming the OP is asking about a domestic itin.. and if so standby will be free.

Yep, domestic Y Saver Award ticket for 1 pax. One last question...if I book into a city and want to fly to another nearby to catch the nonstop versus 4 flights...can i move it to a city pair? Or would it have to literally stay at that city?