A List Same Day (starting within 24 hours?) Standby

[Audria1913]

Hi so I left my son with his grandparents and was just informed that he wasn't doing well. I am trying to get back sooner than my original flight. I know that with A-List you are able to fly standby Same Day. Does same day mean that it starts within 24 hours of your originally scheduled flight? So if my flight is for 10:00pm tomorrow night, could I possibly fly standby for a flight at 10:00pm tonight?

[bec102896]

@Audria1913

First off I'm sorry your son isn't doing well.

With A List Standby it starts in the AM on your day of departure so you could standby on a 5am flight but not a 10pm flight the day before. I also find very few 10pm flights on Southwest unless its a quick flight like HOU-AUS as southwest doesnt have any overnight flights. 

You might be able to go to the airport and see if they can help with getting you out tonight with no fee but there is no gurantee. 

Hope your son feels better and that you can get to him quickly!

Blake

[DancingDavidE]

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@Audria1913 wrote:

Hi so I left my son with his grandparents and was just informed that he wasn't doing well. I am trying to get back sooner than my original flight. I know that with A-List you are able to fly standby Same Day. Does same day mean that it starts within 24 hours of your originally scheduled flight? So if my flight is for 10:00pm tomorrow night, could I possibly fly standby for a flight at 10:00pm tonight?

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What is the current price difference for a flight today instead of tomorrow? It might be worth heading to the airport planning to fly, asking for an accomodation - if necessary, some routes maintain WGA fares up until departure then you can just change your ticket officially instead of standby - or else if you are willing to pay the fare difference if tickets are available.

The main way that this would be risky is if the flight is sold out, then you may be stuck at the airport with no seat available, even if you did pay.

The may or may not be able to accomodate you on an early standby, but if there appear to be tickets available tongiht and if your flight tomorrow is sold out for instance, maybe it makes sense for them to try and get you on your way earlier.

[dfwskier]

As has already been said, standby eligibility means the same calendar day. You could check seat availability by trying to book 8 seats on your itinerary. You wouldn't actually book the seats, but the system would give you informtion about availability.

If I were you, I'd call the airline, expain the situation, and plead your case for a flight one day earlier.

In similar circumstances, I've found Southwest employees that worked with me in the past. Nothing guaranteed, but you don't get if you don't ask.

Hope your son is doing better.

[DancingDavidE]

Good luck, let us know how it goes. Depending where you are in the USA you must be getting close to finding out if it will work.