Had the chance to test the new procedures again last night. This time my originally scheduled flight to PIT at 8:05pm was on-time. and I was originating in EWR, not connecting. When I arrived at the airport, I found the thre previous flight, 2888, was delayed from 6pm to 7pm. Now since my booked flight was on-time, I have no issue with the fee and gladly tried to pay it.

Tried.

My first stop was terminal A check-in at 5:45 pm. The agent at the counter was unable to put me on the standby list, saying the flight was already under gate control. She did give me a gate pass to get to the gate and try there (I had a terminal C BP). I checked the pda site and there were 6 people on the standby list for a full flight, but being a Platinum I wanted to give it a shot to see if I would get bumped to the top (I always have been on this route -- not too many Plats in PIT).

I went to the gate, and the GA gave me the "Go to the service center, it's $50" speech. So clearly, this is now procedure.

I went to the PC, where the PC agent said "can't do it, flight is under gate control". He called to the gate, where the GA flat out refused to put me on the list, saying the flight was oversold. The PC agent tried his best, but had no luck with the GA. The PC agent did tell me that the flight was only oversold by 1, and there was one seat still unassigned. He suggested I look for a red coat at the service center.

On my way to the service center, I saw a long line waiting for the GA, so I didn't stop at the gate. At the center, there was no red coat to be found, but the agent there was even less helpful. She gave me some song and dance about "There are two lists, the oversold list and the standby list" and that the GA will be offering compensation and has there is no chance of getting on yada yada...I'm not helping you. I tried my best to explain all I wanted to do was get on the standby list JIC someone doesn't make it, but she wouldn't budge, telling me everyone was already at the airport. I know she could see that there would be no misconnects but apparently she was also clairvoyant about people who checked in online the night before and made it in successfully from Manhattan at rush hour.

I returned to the gate, somewhat resigned to the fact that there was no way I was getting on this list without lighting up the GA, which I wasn't about to do. Ultimately, no compensation had to be offered, and no one cleared the standby list either as exactly 50 people showed up (The last one running to the gate right as the GA was about to give the seat to someone hovering, presumably #1 on the standby list). Since no one cleared, I let the matter drop and trundled off to my original flight, but I was pretty frustrated that I was never given a shot to begin with.

So, after twice in two days getting the run-around while trying to standby for an earlier flight, I have come to the conclusion that if one wants on the list, one has to get on it at least a half hour before the originally scheduled departure. After that, even if the flight is delayed and everyone is sitting around, it's going to be a real fight at best, at least as far as EWR is concerned.