United "enhances" same-day standby policy

United “enhances” same-day standby policy

Published: April 10, 2010

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)

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Sean Guest

April 12, 2010, 2:32 pm

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! "

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Dan Guest

April 12, 2010, 6:47 am

I'm so happy that I finally made it to 1k.

smashr Guest

April 11, 2010, 8:34 pm

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.

FortFun Guest

April 11, 2010, 8:58 am

Same-day confirmed change was already $75, no?

jackal Guest

April 11, 2010, 1:25 am

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. :(

United “enhances” same-day standby policy

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