Lpas

Does anyone know if the $25 standby fee applies to fully changeable/refundable tickets? I've been told by one US agent that it does and another that it doesn't. I'm hoping to stand by for an earlier flight tomorrow.

Also, does the waiver of the standby fee apply to Star Alliance gold members? I am a premier exec on United.

Thanks!

me4yankees

The fee is waived for US Preferreds, not *A. It appears that refundable tickets are also NOT charged a fee. (See below.)

Move-Up Program

The new US Airways understands that travelers need flexibility in their schedule. That's why we allow you to "move up" to any earlier flight on the same day of your originally scheduled departure time at the airport (with the exception of flights to Hawaii and Europe). Please note: Day-of-departure changes may only be made at the airport and not through our Reservations centers.

If there is an open seat available on any earlier flight that departs on the same day as your originally scheduled departure, you may change to that flight and we will automatically confirm your reservation for $25 for flights within the 48 contiguous United States and $50 for flights to Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada and Alaska. This lower confirmation fee replaces the usual $100 change fee, plus any differences between your old fare and new fare, for non-reundable tickets.

If there is NOT an open seat available on an earlier flight that departs on the same day as your originally scheduled departure, you may stand by for that flight at no charge. Standing by at no charge is not permitted if we can confirm that there is an open seat available for that flight. Seats on completely booked flights may become available if passengers with confirmed reservations don't show up for the flight. Please note: Unlike a confirmed reservation, flying standby does not guarantee that you will get on the particular flight that you want and may involve waiting for two or more flights before a seat is available to you.

PHXFqtvlr

The fee does not apply to fully changeable/refundable tickets. I would suggest that if you do want to make a change with such a ticket to call reservations as they are better equiped to help you with that type of ticket. The TAs are often in autopilot mode and won't realize you have such a ticket and want to charge you the fee.

*A gold are not exempt from the $25.00 fee - only US Eliles are exempt.

Lpas

Thanks for the feedback. I'd love to make this change through telephone reservations but is that possible/allowable? Although the ticket is changeable, I was under the impression that it could only be done at the airport (same day) if I want to avoid an upcharge for the difference in ticket price. The fare bucket I purchased is apparently not available for the earlier flight. thx

Lpas

For those who are interested, just wanted to post a brief update to my earlier standby saga.

To start at the beginning, I had booked myself on a 5pm Friday flight back to DC, but my morning meeting was cancelled, so I was hoping to catch the noon flight instead and make it home a few hours earlier. Here are the fare rules for my ticket, copied directly from the US Airways web site:

Terms and Conditions
Ticket is non-transferable.
Ticket is refundable.
Changes can be made to this reservation without penalty. The new itinerary will be priced at the lowest available published fare at the time of change, which may result in a fare increase.

I made it to the airport well in advance of the noon departure. The agent at the counter advised there was plenty of room remaining on the earlier flights and that she'd be happy to confirm me for a $25 fee. I indicated that my ticket was fully changeable/refundable and, therefore, it was my understanding that there shouldn't be a fee, but she stated that this didn't matter as, "it isn't considered a change, it's a confirmed standby." She proceeded to call a supervisor on the phone who (although I didn't hear the conversation) supposedly also reiterated that a $25 fee applied.

Now I realize it's only a measly $25 and I suppose I should have just let the matter drop, but by this point it was more about the principle than anything else. Isn't the definition of standby, a change that occurs on the day of the flight? Why the heck did I pay extra at the time of booking for a fully changeable ticket, if I was going to be charged for making a change on the day of my trip? The agent proceeded to tell me that she's never heard of a fully changeable ticket(!) but finally--after about 20 miutes of back and forth--agreed to waive the fee for me "just this once".

Am I missing something here? I bought a changeable ticket and my PNR should reflect that. Why the heck are customer service agents trying to charge me to make a change? Has anyone else ever had this problem?

If any of you experts know of a place where this aspect of the standby policy is addressed more explicitly than in the "move-up" language above, I'd love to be able to print it out so I can have this with me on my next trip. My company always purchases changeable/refundable tickets and it's not unusual that I need to make changes on the day of my flight. Or if anyone has any other suggestions on how to avoid this kind of issue, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks so much

berkeleybum

Well, even if you changed the ticket without paying the $25 fee, wouldn't it mean that you were re-fared? I'd imagine the new fare might be significantly higher than what you already paid...

me4yankees

No change or standby fee applies to a changeable/refundable fare.

jimmychang

I would suggest you writing to the customer care. They should refund the fee and might throw in some travel vouchers as well.


http://usairways.com/awa/content/con...tionsform.aspx