Originally Posted by
canadiancow
Did anything say standby wouldn't be permitted to access until 3 hours before the confirmed flight's departure time? Without confirmation, it's not clear to me which way they'd go on that.
There's a difference between "I want to spend 8 hours in the lounge" and "I'm here 8 hours early, but trying to get out".
Yeah, I guess they will be out of luck trying to, say, go to MLL at noon and stand by for the next available flight probably at 1pm or 2pm, while holding a 10pm ticket. So I would prefer to let elites in by noon and stay up until 3pm. If they do not get standby cleared, they have to leave the lounge. I believe there are a few other lounges enforcing a similar rule: You can come as early as you can, but you cannot overstay.