Originally Posted by jesus4jets

Yesterday, a late connection to DFW made me miss my DFW-LGA connection and a 2 hour layover became 7, as all the DFW-LGA flights were full. I went standby for an earlier flight, and on one of them I saw my name on the LCD display regress from 1 to 6, then 7, and then 8 with a family of 4 and 3 in front of me (last names all VAN... and KEN..). Presumably an AA employee or just a big airline nerd, Ms. Van was behind the check-in counter at the computer when this happened in civilian clothing. They ended up with only 1 seat available - and it went to a Ken. The same thing happened on a flight 2 hours later when Ms. Van went behind the counter - this time I was demoted from 3 to 7. Only two seats opened up, for Mr. Van and a Van Jr. . Repeat for a 3:30 flight, which accommodated all the Vans and Kens but not me. I was on my way 1.5 hours later.

If this involved some sort of shadiness, I want to write in to AA. For me, it meant the difference of making a dinner appt. v. missing it (what happened). Before I do, though, I wanted to enquire if indeed there are legitimate situations where AA employees are allowed to bump themselves and their families in front of revenue passengers (I'm explat, check-in was more than 23 hours before the DFW-LGA flight in question). There is also the possibility that had in fact purchased revenue tickets and used their computer skills to work magic -- which they may or may not be entitled to.

I know I don't have enough information to be certain, but probability-wise - is this something that Ms. Van wouldn't want an audit to discover? I'm not hankering for affirmation here - I just want to know if this is a generally accepted practice and if it indeed is, will drop it without further consternation. If not, I'll send the specifics to AA via email which I'm sure their automated system will process, investigate and discipline the named employees in due course, and let me know the results when I call the ExPlat line from my phone registered to my "KnowMe" account.