Originally Posted by keithguy
That is not true. If flights are full, then there's a standby list, and elites get priority on this list.
Perhaps an NW employee can clarify their airline's policy. On my last two attempts to standby for a later flight after missing my earlier flight, one in April and the other in June, I did not receive priority even though I'm an elite. In both incidents I was told that I could continue to standby the next day for no additional charge since I had made an effort to standby for one flight, and my missing my flight was preceived as unintentional (I did just that one time, and purchased a ticket on another airline the other).
NW Customer Relations sent me a written response indicating standby was first come, first serve and elites received priority by having the option to standby for First Class. Yet in LAS they would rather sell those empty seats...