I had an interesting experience last night and was wondering if it was consistent with anyone else's.

I am A-List and was booked on a WGA fare. When my schedule changed, I called to make a same-day change to the next earlier flight -- that went smoothly. I ended up wrapping my workday even quicker than expected, then got lucky with traffic, rental car return, shuttle, etc. I found myself at the airport in time to catch even earlier flight, in part because all flights going to my destination (the original booked, the earlier I switched to on the phone, and the even earlier before that) were all delayed.

I went to the ticket counter and asked whether I could be switched again, or at least put on standby, for that earlier flight. After about 5 minutes at the computer, the agent went to consult with another. I overheard some of the conversation, which included, "He already got his earlier flight, he doesn't get another one," and "His new one is only delayed 35 minutes." Eventually, she came back and told me that because I had already made one same-day change to my flight, I could not change it again or get on the standby list for the flight I wanted.

I asked what it would cost to pay the fare difference for the earlier flight, but after a few more minutes at the computer, she replied that I couldn't do that because the system only allows so many changes before the record "runs out of room." She then said something about how it can be done, but she'd have to "clean it up" and there were other people waiting, so she told me to ask at the gate. This was the return leg of a trip that involved multiple changes to my outbound after several flights in a row were canceled due to weather -- so that response was surprising, but I suppose within the realm of the plausible.

Once I got to the gate, the agent pulled up my reservation, told me that she could put me on the standby list, and that as A-List I would jump ahead of some other standbys, but that she couldn't confirm the change until closer to departure. She did say that there were still a few open seats, so I had a pretty good chance of clearing. After general boarding was complete, the gate agent cleared me along with three other standbys (about half of the list).

I'm glad I got home earlier than originally booked, for sure, but my work is pretty variable, and I deliberately fly between airports with the most flights per day to increase my options. For future planning, I'm wondering whether I need to treat the same-day confirmed change as a "one time only" thing that will limit my options later in the day, or if my experience yesterday was just a fluke.

Has anyone used the same-day change benefit for A Listers more than once on the same day? Has anyone else been denied the option to pay the fare difference because there had already been too many modifications on a record? Was I being "greedy" for wanting to get more than one confirmed change for free?