• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
  • Advertising Disclosure
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
  • Advertising Disclosure
Home  >  standby • United Airlines  >  Flying Home One Day Early on United Airlines
standbyUnited Airlines

Flying Home One Day Early on United Airlines

Matthew Klint Posted onAugust 24, 2012December 9, 2016 7 Comments

One of the positive post-merger changes on United Airlines is the ability to confirm an earlier flight up to 24 hours before your scheduled flight, even if it is the day before. I took advantage of that today—and it worked without a hitch, though I did have to gamble. Allow me to explain.

A confirmed same-day change costs $75 for non-elites and Premier Silvers and is free for Premier Gold, Platinum, and 1K members. In exchange, you can confirm yourself on any flight or flights to your destination as long as the same fare class you were originally booked in is available. So if you were booked on a Philadelphia-San Francisco-Los Angeles itinerary in L-Class, as I was, you can change to a Philadelphia-Los Angeles direct flight, an itinerary connecting in another city, or even a double connection on United metal—you just have to keep in L Class.

Here’s a tip—the lower economy fare buckets (G, K, L, S, T) tend to open up a few hours before flight departure if there are several unsold seats on the flight. Today, I made the change 1.5 hours before the flight, after L-Class had been zeroed out all day. So do not despair if you booked a cheap fare and only the high fare buckets are showing as available.

Should the space not open, you can still standby for your desired flight, paying the $75 fee only if you get on the flight. If you’re hoping for an upgrade using this option, forget it–you will clear the flight long after the upgrades have cleared. You also cannot change routing if you are flying standby.

But there is a gamble—a gamble that often might not be worth taking for MileagePlus elites. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my upgrades cleared on my original flights and I was booked into “R” class, which designates upgraded first class. My flights tonight to Denver then Los Angeles had R-Class space on them (that was one of the reasons I chose those flights as opposed to a connection in another city). When you do a confirmed change, you will be re-booked into your original fare class and will have to go into the upgrade queue again if you received a complimentary upgrade (if you upgraded using miles or a regional/systemwide upgrade and there is “R” space, you will be rebooked into the premium cabin immediately).

I took the gamble tonight. The flight was showing R3 (three upgrade seats available) 1.5hrs before departure and United can tell you what your position on the waitlist would be if you make the change. I happened to be at the top of both waitlists and so I made the change, giving up my confirmed upgrades tomorrow. And it worked! I was cleared into R and enjoyed a fairly good flight to Denver (so-so service, good dinner). In a few minutes, I’ll board my flight to Los Angeles—also in first class.

Had I stuck with my original flights, a 6am departure to SFO, I would not have slept tonight and not arrived into Los Angeles until early tomorrow afternoon. Instead, I was quite productive on my last flight (in-seat power on an ex-Continental 737-900), will get into LA by 11pm, enjoy a full night’s rest in my own bed, and be able to work a full day tomorrow from home. 

This sort of change was not possible on pre-merger United and it is certainly one of the changes this merger has precipitated that I like.

Previous Article Three Hours Left! Chase Sapphire Preferred Card with $2K Minimum Spend
Next Article United Announces Additional 787 Routes

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • United Airlines MileagePlus CEO

    United Airlines Names New MileagePlus CEO

    March 25, 2023
  • United Polaris Lounge LAX Review

    Review: United Airlines Polaris Lounge Los Angeles (LAX)

    March 24, 2023
  • United Airlines Adds Château d’Esclans Rosé Wine To Polaris Business Class

    March 23, 2023

7 Comments

  1. Idaho Wood Sheds Reply
    August 24, 2012 at 5:24 am

    That is so cool! Thank you for the explanation. Though it’s unfortunate that United silver elites are getting shorter end of the stick 🙁

  2. RookieFlyer Reply
    August 24, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    Great post, but I have one question since I am a newbie…how do you know which fare bucket you’re booked into? Call yous pecify this on-line, or can you call up the reservation line and say “I’d like a R class seat for flight X/Date X?

    How do you know?

  3. Matthew Reply
    August 24, 2012 at 7:33 pm

    @RookieFlyer: When you pull you reservation on united.com, you can see what fare code you are booked in when you look the flight details. For example, mine appeared United Economy (L). When upgraded, it will appear United First (R). You can still get the original fare class by clicking on “receipt”.

  4. CP@YOW Reply
    August 25, 2012 at 2:10 am

    I agree that it’s a great feature, and it can be used to extend your trip as well as shortening it. Last weekend, I successfully converted XXX-LAX-YYY (redeye on LAX-YYY) to XXX-LAX (overnight in LAX), then LAX-YYY (next morning), because I hate redeyes but had to book it that way to keep it on one fare. I successfully preserved my confirmed upgrade (I had applied an RPU to be comfortable in case I got stuck on the redeye).

  5. Matthew Reply
    August 25, 2012 at 3:28 am

    @CP@YOW: Great point–I should have added that the 24 hours works in either direction! I believe Fozz once extended a reservation something like 22 days in the future by calling each day and extending it…

  6. arcticbull Reply
    August 25, 2012 at 8:51 pm

    @Matthew 24-hour confirmed change is also free for Star Alliance Golds, surprisingly enough 🙂 I’m an ACE and A3G and when I travel on those numbers the $75 becomes $0 and I can make my changes free. Then I switch back to my UA number of course 😉

  7. Kelly Reply
    April 8, 2014 at 2:27 am

    Hi there I have a question! I’m traveling internationally from Brazil to San Diego via Houston. The only qualifying flight with the same itinerary as it leaves a full 24 hours the previous day. I’m wondering if it’s possible that I could get standby on this flight because I can’t check in until 24 hours which is when the flight leaves. To make matters more difficult I’m having trouble dialing on my cell phone numbers for United as customer service as they’re all listed toll-free UShowever am sure I can figure that peace out eventually…

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Recent Posts

  • United Airlines MileagePlus CEO
    United Airlines Names New MileagePlus CEO March 25, 2023
  • Spirit Airlines Gate Agent Threatens To Sue Passenger For Filming Him March 25, 2023
  • Lufthansa A320neo Business Class Review
    Review: Lufthansa A320neo Business Class March 25, 2023
  • United Polaris Lounge LAX Review
    Review: United Airlines Polaris Lounge Los Angeles (LAX) March 24, 2023

Categories

Popular Posts

  • American Airlines unaccompanied Minor Predator
    American Airlines Flight Attendant Freaks Out After Man Offers His First Class Seat To Child February 25, 2023
  • Kayleigh Scott United Airlines
    The Tragic Death Of A United Airlines Flight Attendant March 21, 2023
  • United Airlines Domestic First Class Menu
    United Airlines Refreshes Domestic First Class Menu February 28, 2023
  • Southwest Airlines Wife Slap
    Enraged Husband Attacks Man On Southwest Airlines Flight After He Bumps Wife March 8, 2023

Archives

March 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Feb    

As seen on:

live_and_lets_fly

The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles is the most beautiful of all Polaris Lounges. Stay tuned for a detailed look and many more photos on the blog tomorrow. Well done @united.
@malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire i @malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire its A380 fleet. While not surprising, it is sad to see the growing list of carriers retiring this superjumbo jet. On Malaysia Airlines, I flew the #A380 once from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to London (LHR) and had the entire first class cabin to myself (full review on the blog). It was a beautiful flight that I will always remember.
Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited tha Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited that a new carrier, Avelo, has launched, especially from an airport just 12 minutes from my home!
I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxair I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxairport. Hopefully this summer it will return.

.
.
.
.
#Lufthansa #FirstClass #747 #747-8 #StarAlliance #Miles #Points
I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. This is not only a lovely, all-inclusive resort, but one of the best properties to use your @hyatt World of Hyatt points.
.
.
.
.
#Hyatt #BigSur #California #WorldofHyatt #CA-1 #Points #Hotels
In terms of a spacious first class product, the @E In terms of a spacious first class product, the @Emirates suite on a 777-300ER is hard to beat. My preference is Suite 2K.

.
.
.
.
#Emirates #777 #firstclass
Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from I Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from Instagram ahead of the birth of my first child. Goodness, how time flies. While I’ve enjoyed catching up on others over the years, now it is time for me to return to Instagram. In this first post, I highlight two joys in my life, my two children, whom I trust will grow up to be prolific travelers that circumnavigate the globe as ambassadors of love and respect.

.
.
.
.
.

#travel #airplanes #airlines #miles #points #familytravel #human #integrity #honor
United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improv United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improvement over UA's current business class seat. Check out my blog at liveandletsfly.com for 70+ photos of how @united is transforming its entire business class experience starting this December!
The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben! The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben!
Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen - Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen -- oh, and I love 40°F summer weather!
One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure of flying with in all my years of flying. Thank you @flysas SK940 on 11 Aug 2016
Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I a Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I assign a window seat months in advance, don't move me to a center seat "for my convenience" with no way to get my original seat back... 😞
Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be rac Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be racing the #Delta flight to JFK at the gate next to us, which also departs at 12:45p. With @onemileatatime
Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregenc Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregencycasablanca #cassablanca #hyatt
Enjoying #shanghai with @onemileatatime from the i Enjoying #shanghai with @onemileatatime from the inside of the @grandhyatt_shanghai ... It is 40°C outside! 😓
From my front gate to my boarding gate in 15 minut From my front gate to my boarding gate in 15 minutes flat. I ❤️ #bur #burbankairport
@malaysiaairlines #747 out of retirement and in se @malaysiaairlines #747 out of retirement and in service at #kul -- beautiful livery!
View from my 61st floor room at the beautiful bran View from my 61st floor room at the beautiful brand new @parkhyattguangzhou -- look for a full review coming soon on the blog #hyatt #parkhyatt #guangzhou #parkhyattguangzhou
Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord, Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord, which closes tomorrow and the Queen of the Skies #747 which will be retired in 2018.
The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. If you're ever here, get up at 5am and have a walk around the city before it gets busy. You can hear the birds instead of honking horns.
Load More... Follow on Instagram
facebook twitter instagram rss

This site is for entertainment purposes only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

 

Advertiser Disclosure: Some links to credit cards and other products on this website will earn an affiliate commission. Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. While we do try to list all the best miles and points deals, the site does not include all card companies or credit card offers available in the marketplace. Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners.

 

Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.