Originally Posted by falco

I have had to fight for standby as a PM. Who can put you onto the standby list - general phone agent, PM line, check-in, red jacket, lounge dragon or GA? For example, I have had an agent at check-in both allow and deny a standby request. Most times, I use the kiosk but its good to know in those unusual situations

Another time when I was on the standby list, the flight was boarding and was tight for an on time departure. Of course there was only one GA. Once everyone was boarded, there was myself and 2 others left for standby - they were apparently not medalion. The GA said that there were seats left and printed by boarding pass while explaining to the others that she did not have enough time to process their payment to get on the flight. Odd.