babyblue78

Hi! I haven't posted in a long time, but I lurk regularly~

I am currently booked on a CLT to LAS flight on 10/2 at 8pm departure. I would like to move up to the 6:15pm departure flight the cheapest way possible.

I am being told that it would cost approx $115/each to change our reservations. However, if we show up at the airport they will only charge $25/each to go standby on the earlier flight.

What is the best way to tell how likely we are to make the earlier flight? If I go on their site and plug in the same flight this week (9/11 departure), there are plenty of seats available on the flight. Is there a better way of checking than this?

Also, will they allow us to go standby if there are ANY seats available or do they have a certain capacity level that they won't go below. (Ex plane is 75% full, so they won't allow standby, etc)

Thank you! I am trying to decide if it is worth it for me to just pay the charge to change our reservation.

dfr4848

I'm going to chime in because you're not getting any responses, but please note that I rarely fly US. Are you a member of their ff program? If so, most airlines allow you to change a reservation on the date of departure within a certain number of hours before your flight. This is a confirmed flight change, not standby. Most charge $25 and it doesn't depend on ff status - just as long as you're a member. For ex, on CO you could call at 3:15 in your case, and if there's room on the 6:15 they'd change your flight to the earlier one, give you seat assignment and charge a flat $25.

Hope this helps some.

Keith

I'm not a regular with US Airways, either, but many of the airlines will let you check how many seats are unassigned on the plane. That would at least be an indication of how full the earlier flight is.

Keith

J62

I routinely do this on other carriers - take an earlier flight on the same day. (AA & JetBlue)

I've found that the best way to check is to call up the airline the day before the flight, ask them about same day change options, and ask them if they'll tell me how many open seats there are.

If there are just a few seats I may spring for the $25 guaranteed seat. If there are more open seats (perhaps >10) then I'll take my chances and show up at the airport for same day standby.

At least for AA and JetBlue you do not need to wait until you get to the airport to make the $25 change.

babyblue78

Thanks for the replies! I have no problem paying the $25 for a guaranteed seat, I just don't want to pay the higher "reservation change" fee.

DH and I are both members of the Dividend Miles FF program. DH also has the Visa Signature Dividend Miles credit card. Should we call US Airways regular customer service or the FF program to make the change?

Also, am I supposed to call the day or departure, or within 24 hours? Fox example, call them 8pm Monday for 6:15pm departure? Thanks!

babyblue78

I found this following policy on their website. It says not to call reservations. Does that mean that I have to go to the airport the day of departure. I guess that I am confused as to whether this means the same calendar day or within 24 hours. I wouldn't mind going to the airport the evening before, but I do not think that I will be able to go earlier the day of departure unless I went shortly after midnight.

"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). You can only make day-of-departure changes at the airport (and not by calling Reservations).

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-refundable tickets.

If there is not an open seat 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. "

rkkwan

Yes, from the policy, it seems like you have to go to the airport.

&quot;Same day&quot; usually means <b>calendar day</b> for airlines. Not 24 hours.

One thing it says is kind of curious:

<i>&quot;Standing by at no charge is not permitted if we can confirm that there is an open seat available for that flight.&quot;</i>

That is a little different from other airlines. It means if the flight isn't fully booked, then you have to pay.

babyblue78

Thank you! That is what I was afraid of! I may call reservations though and see where I get with them.

If we were to go to the airport after midnight, would both ticketed passengers have to be there? Or could just me or my husband go to change both tickets?

Thanks for your help! We usually fly only 1-2 times a year and rarely make any changes so this is new territory for us!

rkkwan

Let me be blunt. Why go through all this to move up for a flight less than 2 hours earlier? The 6:15p flight may well be an hour late, who knows?

Is it really that important you have to get to Vegas ASAP? Why not earlier flights that day? If it's THAT important, then you probably should pay that $115 to guarantee you will be on that earlier flight.

If it's not THAT important, why not just go to the airport a little early (like 4pm) and see if you can get on, $25 or otherwise?

BlueSea

There is one thing you need to know: if you manage to go on the earlier flight by standby, your checked-in bags will NOT go with you!

Will you be prepared to wait 1:45 (or more) in the baggage claim area at LAS for your bags to come out? It's a real cattle market out there with about 50+ claims!

babyblue78

Well, I am just trying to start my vacation a little early. I will be leaving work that day (in Charlotte) at 4pm and didn't want to just kill time until 8pm departure, it is not convenient for me to go home. I was just hoping to get on the 6:15pm departure without forking out a lot of dough.

Tim_and_Liz

On NWA, if you pay the $25pp to standby, they put your bags on the earlier flight, even if you cannot get a seat.

Keith

Carry on.

Keith