Originally Posted by
cyberjet
Used both if those strategies:
1) went to a different entry gate with a shorter line
2) went directly to the boarding gate and got in the earlier flight
Surprise 1 was not going to the standard post-customs security, but instead landing on the outside ticketing area.
Surprise 2 was the ticketing agent manager stopping the ticket agent from moving me to the earlier flight, neither standby nor same day change. Simply a "your journey started outside the US, no domestic changes are possible. If we make the changes, the AA auditing comes after us, and they've been looking for any reason to get people."
Someone at the H/K club at ORD was able to list me as standby on two different DFW flights connecting from Int'l earlier this week.
Also, ORD customs dumps you out to the street as well. Having customs exit into the main concourse is a tradeoff- do you slightly inconvenience onward passengers by making them walk to the main checkpoint, or greatly inconvenience terminating passengers by making them re-clear security just so they can exit the terminal?