Change in United’s Stand-by

Confirmed same-day travel changes
On the same day of travel as your scheduled itinerary, you can confirm a seat on an alternate United flight within three hours of the time of your request. If eligible seats are available on the alternate flight, your change will be confirmed for a $75 fee.*

You can request a confirmed same-day travel change during online check-in or at an EasyCheck-in® kiosk at the airport. You may also see a customer service representative at the airport check-in counter or call 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331).

• Confirmed same-day travel changes are available only for flights that are wholly within the United States.
• Available only for identical routings (same origin, destination and connection city, if applicable).
• Alternate flights must be scheduled to depart within three hours of your request. For flights departing more than three hours after your request, the standard change fee policy will apply.
• The confirmed same-day travel change fee is non-refundable and will be collected at the time when the change request is made.

Unconfirmed same-day standby
You can also choose to stand by for a seat on an alternate United flight on the same day of travel as your scheduled itinerary.

For travel on or after April 28, 2010, with tickets purchased on or after April 10, 2010, a $50 fee may apply in each direction of travel.

If you request same-day standby, your name will be added to the standby list for the selected flight, and you will receive a departure management card for that flight when you complete check-in. Your name will be called at the departure gate if a seat is available on the selected flight, and your departure management card will then be replaced with a boarding pass. You will not be charged the $50 fee until/unless you board a standby flight.

You can request same-day standby during online check-in or at an EasyCheck-in® kiosk at the airport. You may also see a customer service representative at the airport check-in counter.

• Same-day standby is available only for flights within or between the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada.
• Available only for identical routings (same origin, destination and connection city, if applicable).
• Standby flights must be scheduled to depart on the same day as your original ticketed flight.
• The same-day standby fee is non-refundable. Payment information must be provided when requesting standby, but the fee will only be charged upon boarding of a standby flight.


*Global Services^SM customers, Mileage Plus® members with 1K® status, and customers traveling on Standard Award tickets or fully refundable tickets are exempt from fees for confirmed same-day travel changes and unconfirmed same-day standby.

This hurts deeply.  I will admit that I took advantage of the ability to stand-by for an earlier flight any chance I could.  It was my policy to stand-by if  I got finished early.  Now, since I’m only Premier Executive, it appears that United will charge me for this.