For travel on or after April 28 and tickets booked on or after April 10, United will start charging a $50 fee for same-day standby. Global Services and 1K members are exempt from this fee. The fee for same-day confirmed changes also goes up to $75 (from $50).
Can’t say I’m surprised, unfortunately, although I am a bit disappointed to see that Premier Executives (and maybe Premiers) aren’t exempt from paying the standby fee.
On the other hand, this will have benefits. The gates shouldn’t be as packed with standby travelers, and if anything flight loads will become more predictable, meaning flights that look packed probably will end up being packed, which often isn’t the case on routes with hourly service, like Los Angeles to San Francisco, where half the plane goes standby on an earlier flight. This could mean more predictable bumps (in theory). 😉
All the more reason to maintain 1K status…
(Tip of the hat to Alex)
I'm just waiting for the day when they "enhance" E+ by eliminating half the E+ seats and adding .25 inch to those remaining. Their email would say "Now Enjoy More Room in our extended Economy Plus! "
I'm so happy that I finally made it to 1k.
Count this 1P as very, very unhappy with this. I've already written to 1Pvoice, hopefully others will do the same and we can get included on the fee waiver.
Same-day confirmed change was already $75, no?
Ah, I love AS. Free standby to anyone--and only $25 to same-day confirm a change to another flight (assuming confirmable space is available), which is now also waived for MVPGs (though not MVPs). A bit of confusion as to whether it is available "same day" or "24-hours ahead of time," and the timeframe rules seem to be different depending on whether you do it at web-checkin or at an airport kiosk, but regardless, it's a...
Ah, I love AS. Free standby to anyone--and only $25 to same-day confirm a change to another flight (assuming confirmable space is available), which is now also waived for MVPGs (though not MVPs). A bit of confusion as to whether it is available "same day" or "24-hours ahead of time," and the timeframe rules seem to be different depending on whether you do it at web-checkin or at an airport kiosk, but regardless, it's a much better policy than most other domestic airlines.
Of course, flying AS is getting harder now that their fares are rarely--if ever--competitive with other airlines, so taking advantage of these kinds of benefits is getting harder. :(
It's incredible that this fee isn't waived for 1P. Even US waives its standby fee for all elites. This is just another reason to credit miles flown on UA to a program other than MP if you're not flying enough to make 1K.
Million Mile flyers, until they hit 3 million miles, are lifetime 1P. So barring any clarification of this policy, MMers will have to pay a standby fee. What a kick in the head.
Awfully similar to CO's policy. Coincidence??
AA and I think DL waive standby fee for all elites. Most airlines are more generous with timeframe for paid confirmed standby.
When I first became a 1P years and years ago, one of the best benefits was free same-day confirmed changes. THAT was sweet.