Originally Posted by
AndyTLe
The CONFIRMED aspect of it is what I like. Instead of sitting at the gate and staring at the GIDS, you either have a confirmed seat or not. Free for Gold Medallions and above (so all Elites but Silver). Many non-Elites and Silvers hate that a fee must be paid to catch an earlier flight. But as a former PM that just dropped to FO, I happily paid the $50 last week to be ensured a seat on a later flight.
Gate Agents have discretion as to whether you can get on an earlier flight and pay the SDC fee or not. I've seen it go both ways.
Agree, doing SDC is nice to know for sure. But it was also nice to be able to try it for free (though irrelevant for me as a PM, but relevant for friends/family not GM and above).
I just think the policy seems so variable it depends on what the agent feels like. In this case I suppose (again for non-GM/PM friends/family) it's better to have this policy not be strictly policed. I just felt a little aback today when the agent told me I couldn't stand by. I suppose it was the way the message was delivered more than the message itself.
Originally Posted by
3Cforme
For context, AA, US, and CO also have eliminated standby for non-elites. Pay to play.
I have been at the gate and told I couldn't SDC but could be put on the standby list. I watched the GIDS intently, saw that I cleared, walked up to the scanner, and the machine beeped and spit out a seat assignment.
Hmm, interesting to know AA/US/CO eliminated this. I assume UA still allows it? Perhaps in general it is forcing everyone to "pay" to change their flights and using the "confirmed" aspect of changes to sell something. However, it seems illogical to me to not allow standby to actually occur.