Do we book speculatively, hoping for a schedule change? | Question of the Week Ep8 | 7-5-26

Do we book speculatively, hoping for a schedule change? Reader "LR" sent us the following question:

"I was intrigued by a recent post about schedule changes in another group that I follow. This particular person noted that anytime United or AA makes a schedule change of any type, you can change your flight at no additional cost to your preferred route. Sometimes you may even have flexibility within several days of the original flight. So my question is, is this a tactic that you all use if you book flights far in advance? Pick the cheapest award price from one city to another, and then hope for a schedule change in order to change it to your preferred route? And then on an even more complicated note- have any of you had success following a schedule change, of changing from a flight in “first class (non-lay-flat seats)” to a different flight on “Delta One” or AA’s “flagship business” or United Polaris (etc, all of which have lay-flat seats)? I assume these are considered different classes and would require a fee upgrade. I’m trying to book flights home from Hawaii next March, and I’m wondering if this kind of tactic may work."

We’ve been answering a reader or listener question at the end of each Frequent Miler on the Air podcast episode. Now, we’ve turned the question of the week into its own weekly episode. Tune in every Sunday at 5pm for our Question of the Week podcast. And if you have your own question you’d like to submit, you can send it to mailbag@frequentmiler.com.

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