Originally Posted by
makfan
That 24 hour rule is also why this isn't applicable in the case of IRROPS. You get a high priority for standby in IRROPS as an EXP, but that's not the same as calling and asking to buy a full fare Y seat on a zeroed out flight and paying said fare.
I see this as more along the lines of finding out on Friday that I have a business deal and I have to get to XXX on Monday. Even if it's zeroed out they'll sell you a seat for $$$ and deal with the fallout. Does AA.com know about this and allow you to pick Y fares on these kinds of flights if you are logged in as EXP? I've never paid attention.
Just verified that it does not. I checked on EF and AA78 Departing on Sat is zeroed out. I logged in and aa.com does not show it as an option.
I would however argue that this is very useful in the case of major multi-day IRROPS. For example when the volcano shut down air traffic in Europe, it took weeks to sort out the flights. However, an EXP would be able to bump his way onto the very first AA flight out. Most of the time though, you are much better off just taking an alternate connection or flying on a OW partner.