ellinj

Not before trying to collect $50

iahphx

OK, so I think I want to try this tomorrow. My plan is to flash my CO platinum (Star Alliance Gold) card at the gate agent. I understand that, according to the actual rules, *Golds get "priority" standby, but not free standby. Realistically, is the agent going to know this and try to collect the $50? Heck, I find UA gate agents don't know CO upgrade/standby rules!

I'm assuming my odds of success double doing this at the gate, and not at the ticket counter. Any problem getting by the TSA with a "later" boarding pass?

Worse comes to worse, I just pay the $50, I guess. Or wait for my flight.

ellinj

The boarding pass won't be an issue for TSA, it will be highly dependent on the individual agent if you get charged. By all rights, you should be charged, based on the rules.

HereAndThereSC

I expect you'll get home earlier, and $50 lighter.

HTSC

iahphx

I don't know -- the flights are looking really tight for tomorrow. I'm losing my enthusiasm to try it. Anyone have a good rule of thumb as to how many empty seats you'd want before getting to the airport early for standby on a domestic flight?

geo1005

One.

geo1005

Ok, ok, ok, the better answer is that there are so many variables that can affect the number of open seats on any given day that developing a good rule of thumb is problematic at best. That said, if you check ITA or KVS and see inventory in both first and coach then go for it.

aztimm

What route?

It really varies considerably. On something like PHX-LAS, I'd try standby (and probably get on), even if the flight was oversold by a couple.
On something like PHX-BOS, I wouldn't try it unless there's 5+ seats available.

iahphx

Well, it worked out well for me as a Star Gold flying standby from PHL to MHT, but I can tell that luck is the most important factor.

I was too chicken to show up early in the day for my late night flight -- since USAirways.com was generally showing "sold out" for the earlier flights (although I did notice that a seat or two would open up and then be "sold out" again). But I did show up for standby on the flight right before mine (which was also showing sold out). I went to the Club, figuring they'd be nicest to me. They were, but there was only 1 seat left, and I was travelling with my wife. So they told us to go to the gate. The agents there were also quite nice and, when 2 first class pax didn't show up, they gave us their seats.

It probably didn't matter much that we were Star Gold, but it didn't hurt!

BTW, during the whole process, nobody mentioned anything about fees. My guess is that if I tried to fly several hours before my schedule flight, they might have.

twa777

It certainly can make a difference. When I needed to do a move up few months back out of MIA, I was the only standby passenger who got a seat. The GA made a point to tell me that my status was what helped me get that one seat.

[BTW, all the US staff I encountered in MIA were great, starting with the agent at check-in who made sure I had a list of move-up options available in case that first flight wasn't able to accommodate me.]

Mykle

If there are no seats, they will put you on the standby list for free - regardless of status. If there are seats available, they are to charge the fee (except US Preferred) and confirm you on the flight. They do not offer standby for free when seats are available to confirm. Being that you are a party of two, with only one seat available, it makes sense they put you both on the SB list for free, since they couldn't confirm you both.