A bunch of good intentions are leaving a couple NW Plats a bit bewildered.

Northbound on I-55 about 1 p.m. received a call from DL reservations about a flight # change in our ATL-MSP connection. Couldn't take notes at 65 MPH so asked if everything would be reflected in our PB's when we checked in at O'Hare, she said yes so I thanked her for the heads up & said we'd watch the paperwork at O'Hare.

(All evening ATL-MSP flights had been showing zero availability, so I just figured DL was doing something proactive to avoid bumps -- bummer for us but smart for DL, but that turned out not to be the case).

Tried to check in at ORD, kiosk said we had a paper ticket, check in w/ agent.

Checked in w/ agent who was totally perplexed, ticket appeared to be electronic and BP's printed with all our original flight #'s and seat assignments.

Once in O'Hare CRC, asked rep. to double check on our reservations, everything was hunky dory.

Wife got the cognacs while I powered up the laptop & look at the itin -- there is an added standby for an earlier flight to ATL.

Went back to rep who said that was just in case the plane for our scheduled flight was delayed (which appeared to be on time) and would disappear once our scheduled plane left ATL for ORD.

So what gives? Is this some secret new program to keep Plats preoccupied in the hours before their flights? It seems to be working.