Questions and Answers

Hey Lucky!
I’ve got a few questions about standby policies for elites when traveling with a non-elite companion linked to your reservation on an award ticket. I’ve been a gold elite on AA for the past two years (about to reach platinum in the next two weeks for the first time ever), and I was wondering whether my boyfriend (a non-elite) can standby for free with me if we decided to take an earlier flight. Also, can elites fly earlier flights standby with award tickets? (I’ve never tried to do this so I’m not sure). The third wrinkle is that for our flight in a few weeks, we have three segments all the way to LAX transiting through SFO. I used my miles to buy my boyfriend’s ticket. Then, I used miles to get myself to SFO, and used my citi prestige points for the cheap flight to LAX from SFO (because I need the last segment to reach platinum). I called AA and had them link our reservations. We might have an opportunity to catch an earlier flight out of SFO to LAX. My boyfriend is on the award ticket and I’ve got a paid fare (thankyou points) out of SFO. When we were traveling to Boston a few months ago, an agent at the DFW D terminal lounge told me that my boyfriend would have to pay like $75 to fly standby with me on an earlier flight, and so we opted not to do it. Was she correct about this? It seems strange that you can put in for upgrades for companions traveling with you but companions can’t standby for free with you on earlier flights? I can’t seem to find info on the AA website about these particular issues. Thanks!