I learned recently that status apparently makes no difference in delayed travel situations, when standing by for replacement flights. I was flying BOS-DFW, then DFW-SAT; got to DFW 3 hours late because of weather delays and my connecting flight had been cancelled. There was one flight left going to SAT, and I got on the standby list; I was 41st on the list. I asked whether there were 40 EXPs ahead of me, and told no, actually there were very few EXPs on the list. I was also told that among displaced travelers, only time of original check-in, not status, matters in the ranking. I checked at the AC and EXP desk, and was told the same thing by all (though without a lot of certainty).

This was a paid (YUP/P) ticket, btw.

Does anyone have any recent evidence based on experience that I was given misinformation? If this is standard policy, it greatly reduces the value of status in my mind at least.