You're going to quote JS Mill to me? Um, how about the idea that she DID pay for her ticket, in the sense that her mother has worked for AA for 20 years and the ability to get free flights for family members is a clear and specific part of her compensation. What the hell are you talking about? By the same logic we shoudn't book award travel, just because we can fly for free doesn't mean we should. Oh wait we earned that because we paid money for tickets that got us the miles. And her family earned this right because her mother contributed years of labor to American Airlines. Jeez.

I mentioned the refundable ticket as being unethical because it seems to me that it is actually unethical, and I would just as soon head off that line of responses as a possible solution, and focus on things that do make sense.

When an EXP contributes hours of their life flying and thousands of dollars to AA and gets upgraded or free tickets for their friends or family it's a hard-earned right. But when someone contributes all day every single workday for decades to AA and that also grants them the ability to get free travel then it's an abomination in your eyes.

Think about that for a second. Who's loyalty is greater to AA and more worthy of reward, you and your family members, or her mother and her family members? Right. JS Mill notwithstanding.

Would be curious to answer the question though, of how a family member on standby fits into the strata of people on the standby list, as it will make it easier to plan the day when we set out on this trip. Also curious if there are quirks to this program that I wouldn't be aware of.