MilesBuzz! - Non-Refundable Tickets

I work for a start-up and always travel on non-refundable tickets (Platinum on AA). My schedule changes constantly, so I fly standby quite often. I am completely aggravated about the new policy requiring you to pay $100 to go standby on another flight after January 1st. I have to pay $$$ to see my family sooner if I get done early? What happens if a meeting runs late or traffic is really bad that day? I'm sure the airlines will stop overbooking their flights now (yeah right)...
Has anyone heard if the airlines plan to hold "elite" flyers to the same set of standards? Any ideas how to convince the airlines that this will be another incentive to fly Southwest, Jet Blue etc.? Anybody have an idea how to minimize the impact of these new rules if they are enacted on Jan.1?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Ynkfan:
Has anyone heard if the airlines plan to hold "elite" flyers to the same set of standards? </font>

I wouldn't count on that, it would totally undermine the rationale for making the change in the first place, which was to make business travelers (who are often a majority of the elites flying) buy higher priced tickets if they needed or desired such flexibility.

In fact, United's top two tiers of flyers used to be able to confirm same-day changes without a fee (as opposed to just flying standby). That perk has been eliminated.

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