I'm sure everyone here is old enuf to remember PeoplExpress, right?!?
Keep in mind that, this is WAY before the days when you needed to show a BP to get thru security to the gates . . . .
Fares were simple. Peak and off peak. I remember PIT/EWR was $23 peak and $19 off peak. Every seat. I can't remember how it worked if you were connecting.
On PeoplExpress, you didn't pay your fare til you were on the plane, and the plane was in the air. Then, during the flight, a FA would wheel a cart down the aisle and collect cash, or imprint a credit card.
To make a reservation, you could call and just give your name - or any name, I believe. They even had a weird system where you could call into their res system and book a flight simply by entering your phone number as your ID.
Now, BPs were stickers issued at the gate. When they ran out of stickers, the flight was full, and if / when another person showed up, the flight was overbooked.
SO . . . . You could call in and simply punch in your (or any) phone number, go to the gate and wait in line to get a boarding sticker. The idea was, to continuously let people who were getting in line behind you - to get in front of you, so you were always the last one in line, thus, the least likely to get a boarding sticker. If you were the last person in line, and they gave you a boarding sticker, you simply walked away!