Originally Posted by
hur88
I think whether or not you have bags checked may have something to do with it.
Today I went on standby for LAX-SAN with 6 people already on the list waiting for 1 available seat. After I went up to the gate to request the standby, he asked if I had bags, and I said "No." He gave me the standby documents, I looked up on the screen and now noticed I was Number 1 on the list and the other 6 people were behind me, which was very surprising.
I was on a L fare, which is pretty much the lowest, and I have no status on UA until DEQM is over, so I don't think those played into me being #1 on the list.
I believe the GA may have discretion concerning standby with respect to checked bags. I have seen situations where having bags checked worked against someone requesting to standby. I know UA will willingly separate people from bags when it meets UA's needs, but it seems some GAs are more reluctant to do it upon the pax request for standby. My guess is that a GA pushing the "fly with your bags rule" would likely not put someone with ck'd bags on the standby list. That said, I don't think anyone knows for sure what happened here other than the GA involved....