Booked and ticketed 2 months ago but put on standby
My wife was flying LHR to San Juan via MIA on BA yesterday morning. She tried to check in online on Saturday night but the system couldn't find the booking and said contact airline. So she had a sleepless night, missed breakfast at the hotel, and presented herself for checkin 2 hours before scheduled departure only to be turned away and sent to queue in the standby line. She was travelling to catch a cruise ship so absolutely HAD to take this flight, which had been booked, confirmed, ticketed and paid for in September (at a cost of £3,200 I might add!). They eventually let her board, but by this time she was naturally extremely distraught. How can this happen, and would it be because the flight was overbooked and her booking was via a travel agent (which of course is closed on Sundays)?