Nowadays American Airlines doesn’t have change fees on most types of tickets (excluding basic economy). However, you still have to pay the fare difference between tickets, and if making a change last minute, that can be pretty costly.
Sometimes you just need to make a last minute change, and fly earlier or later on the same day. Fortunately there are two techniques that can be used to change flights on the day of departure — I’m talking about standby and same day confirmed flight changes.
In this post I wanted to take a look at how these two options work. American is far from the most generous airline when it comes to these features, but they’re still worth being aware of and understanding.
In this post:
How American’s standby policy works
With American’s standby feature, passengers can standby for any flight in the same market on the same calendar day, and they’ll be cleared on a space available basis. This has last seat availability, so as long as there’s a seat on the plane, you can potentially get it with standby.
As you’d expect, there are some details to be aware of for standby:
- American only allows standby within the United States, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands
- You can only request standby on the same routing that you’re originally booked on, so you can’t change your connecting point, etc.; if you have a connection, you’ll be cleared flight-by-flight
- You must be an American AAdvantage member, a oneworld status member, active US military, or a Main Cabin Select customer, to request standby (anyone can sign-up for AAdvantage for free)
- All AAdvantage members can standby for an earlier flight, while only AAdvantage status members can standby for a later flight
- Standby is only available for flights on American and American Eagle metal, and not for travel on partner airlines (though it’s fine if you booked travel through a partner airline)
- Standby must be requested via aa.com or the American Airlines app, so it’s not something that a human can help with, either at the airport or over the phone; the only exception is that select elites, including Concierge Key, Executive Platinum, and Platinum Pro members, can make this request through an airport agent
- The request for standby can be made between 24 hours and 45 minutes of departure of the flight that you want to take; Concierge Key, Executive Platinum, and Platinum Pro members, can make the request up to 15 minutes before departure, at the departure gate
- Standby is prioritized by elite status, so the higher your elite status, the better your chances of clearing standby; you can see the standby list through the American app
- Standby is based on the original class of service booked, so if you upgraded to first or business class, you’d be on standby for economy
Since standby has last seat availability, it’s often not too hard to get onto standby for a flight. As you’d expect, it varies greatly based on the route, day of week, etc. In general, flights are pretty full, though there are also sometimes no shows.
It’s always worth referencing the standby list for a flight through the American mobile app, to see how many people are on standby on a particular flight, and how many empty seats there are. Just keep in mind that often not everyone on the standby list actually shows up for the flight (since you can automatically be rolled over), so your odds might be better than you expect.
How American’s same day flight change policy works
With American’s same day flight change feature, passengers can confirm a change onto another flight for travel on the same calendar day. This has the benefit of not requiring you to wait until minutes before the flight departs, though the downside is that there are capacity controls, so you don’t get last seat availability this way.
Before we talk about the terms associated with this, let’s talk about the cost:
- A same day confirmed change within the United States, or to/from Canada or the Caribbean costs $60, while a same day confirmed change between New York (JFK) and London (LHR) costs $150
- These fees are waived for Concierge Key, Executive Platinum, and Platinum Pro members, as well as Alaska Mileage Plan MVP Gold 100K and MVP Gold 75K members
- Fees are also waived for those booked on unrestricted economy fares (in the “Y” fare class), and those on first and business class flight awards
Here are the things to be aware of for same day flight changes:
- American allows same day confirmed flight changes within the United States, to & from Canada and the Caribbean, and between New York (JFK) and London (LHR), but not in any other markets
- You can only request a same day confirmed change on the same routing that you’re originally booked on, so you can’t change your connecting point, etc.
- A same day confirmed change can be made up to 24 hours before the new departure time of the flight you want to take, but you still need to travel on the same calendar day as initially booked
- Same day confirmed changes are only available for flights on American and American Eagle metal, and not for travel on partner airlines (though it’s fine if you booked travel through a partner)
- Same day confirmed changes must be requested via aa.com or the American Airlines app, so they can’t be requested in person or by phone, even if you have elite status
I find that American’s same day confirmed change policy is kind of frustrating, especially in comparison to the competition:
- Agents can’t help you with requesting this in person or by phone, and sometimes there are discrepancies in terms of availability
- American just isn’t as generous in terms of same day confirmed change availability as some competitors in terms of the amount of availability, the ability to change routings, etc
For those wondering, how do same day confirmed changes work if you’re confirmed in first class or business class, whether paid with cash or secured with an upgrade?
Well, American’s policy here is pretty quirky. In my experience, you can make a same day confirmed change as long as the flight you want to switch to has “E” class available (which is the economy fare class for same day confirmed changes), and as long as at least one seat is for sale in the class of service you want to travel.
By comparison to the economy policy, I actually find the premium cabin policy to be a bit more generous, as you can potentially score the last available premium seat through this feature.
Bottom line
American has both standby and same day flight change features. With standby, you can get onto any flight in the same market the same day with no capacity controls, subject to availability at the gate. Meanwhile with the same day flight change policy, you can confirm another flight up to 24 hours before departure for travel on the same day, but with capacity controls.
What has your experience been with American’s standby and same day change policy?
Slightly related, but have others noted that AA's algorithm for rebooking passengers when their flight is cancelled has horrible logic? The algo appears to be programed to prioritize fewer connections over time of arrival. The last two times I had an AA flight cancelled, the system automatically rebooked me to a flight the next morning. Both times I did quick search of the website found trips with a connection that got me to my destination...
Slightly related, but have others noted that AA's algorithm for rebooking passengers when their flight is cancelled has horrible logic? The algo appears to be programed to prioritize fewer connections over time of arrival. The last two times I had an AA flight cancelled, the system automatically rebooked me to a flight the next morning. Both times I did quick search of the website found trips with a connection that got me to my destination not much later than I'd originally planned, and so I manually changed the flights.
I think it's been said ad nauseum how United knocks AA out of the water on this. They make IROPs almost too easy sometimes.
The AA agents sometimes get confused and find all of this handled much better in certain places than others.
To add a positive, in my experience the AA agents at MCO are outstanding with managing standby. It's about the only place where I may attempt it (plus it's only...
I think it's been said ad nauseum how United knocks AA out of the water on this. They make IROPs almost too easy sometimes.
The AA agents sometimes get confused and find all of this handled much better in certain places than others.
To add a positive, in my experience the AA agents at MCO are outstanding with managing standby. It's about the only place where I may attempt it (plus it's only a short flight to CLT). Because, as you said, people are automatically rolled over and those on the standby list above you may not show up, the folks at MCO do a good job of getting people on deck. They'll page people early to make sure they are there or get their real intentions. I've had agents who lined people up in order they were going to be cleared in a row on the line of seats in front of the counter.
It can be a beautiful thing watching a very experienced agent who knows what they're doing board a full A321 out of MCO, clear upgrades and standbys per policy, and still push the plane a couple minutes early (not just door shut but plane is moving).
Is the $60 for the confirmed same day change in addition to any fare difference?
I’m confused between the $60 charge for same day confirmed vs paying the difference in fare for same same standby. As you mentioned, the fare difference is often pretty great last minute, so why would they let you change for $60 and get a confirmed seat when they could collect the fare difference on standby?
I have MVP 75k gold on Alaska and Platinum on American. When I went to do a same-day confirmed change for an AA flight where I was travelling with my AA number linked to the intinerary it prompted me for the $60 fee. Is there a way to have AA know my Alaska status without having to have my Alaska # on the itinerary? Thanks!
So, I'm not sure if what I just experienced counts under SDFC policy.
Yesterday, en route from ORD to MEX via DFW, I received bad news that essentially required me to return to Chicago as soon as possible. I attempted to change my flight (with no real solution in mind—just seeing if I could) through the app and it told me I had to call. After a little back and forth on the phone,...
So, I'm not sure if what I just experienced counts under SDFC policy.
Yesterday, en route from ORD to MEX via DFW, I received bad news that essentially required me to return to Chicago as soon as possible. I attempted to change my flight (with no real solution in mind—just seeing if I could) through the app and it told me I had to call. After a little back and forth on the phone, I was rebooked on a flight from DFW back to ORD (in a different cabin due to seat availability) later that same afternoon and the rest of my itinerary was canceled. (Allegedly a refund is being processed for the "unused" portion of the ticket, but details there were a little vague.)
Before all of this, I had even asked the service desk in the Admirals Club if they could help me and they told me yes but even they would have to call. So using any kind of online tool seemed impossible.
Was this the application of a different policy altogether?
Is it possible to do a same-day change on the domestic leg of an international itinerary. For example, if someone is flying SFO-LAX-SYD, could they do a same-day change to an earlier or later SFO-LAX flight?
American's policies here... suck. They are so far behind what UA offers in the big 3 leagues and what I have become more familiar with on AS and WN.
The most frustrating part is the lack of SDC sense. The E-class rule used to be the determining factor, but I find that to no longer be the case. In other words, I have seen flights with E but no SDC options. The rules are...
American's policies here... suck. They are so far behind what UA offers in the big 3 leagues and what I have become more familiar with on AS and WN.
The most frustrating part is the lack of SDC sense. The E-class rule used to be the determining factor, but I find that to no longer be the case. In other words, I have seen flights with E but no SDC options. The rules are even less clear if you have a F/J ticket and want to SDC to another flight in F/J. Why should it matter if there is no E space if there is still F/J space?
I realize they want to not have everyone game the system by purchasing the cheapest fare then switch to a more preferred timing but ultimately their goal should just be to get you to your destination on the day of your travel. If that means letting you move up a flight even if it changes your routing, that lets them potentially sell more tickets later in the day instead of sending planes out empty now.