Originally Posted by Sydneysider
How is this not how yield management works? And as far as clearning standbys... that's done at the gate just prior to departure, so releasing this seat hours before would dump it back into Y without anyone on the list able to immediately claim it.
I think it's slimy, but that it would work.
I think
LAX UA 1K explained it very well. When a flight is oversold Y0, cancelling a Y seat may not result in Y1. The seat will simply be absorbed into the oversold inventory. It would work if the flight is not oversold, but then it would have worked without this trick anyway.