Originally Posted by
mherdeg
Late last year a grumpy gate agent at IAD told me that United would be getting rid of same-day standby soon, because too many people were gaming the system by buying a cheap late flight and showing up at the airport to take the expensive early one.
"That's ridiculous," I figured. "People take on a lot of risk by standing by because they aren't guaranteed a seat, and it wouldn't make sense to punish that with a fee like US Airways does. Plus, this is one of the awesome features that really makes United stand out and makes me want to recommend the airline to my friends." But I didn't say anything out loud -- I just kind of nodded and smiled. I guess she was right!
It is true; you read here all the time about people gaming the system, buying the cheapest flight on a given day and then flying out standby on the flight they actually wanted to go out on. The chances of a high-elite not being able to manage this are very low.
However- by exempting the 1K, who is most-likely to clear with low risk, you aren't doing all that much. A 2P had some chance of getting stranded with that tactic, so there was at least something to keep it from being abused. The 1K is now even more-likely to clear (on a different flight) than before because there will be less "competition." Or I could have that exactly backward if the new formalized cost structure makes the whole process more transparent and acceptable.