I never understand CO policy on stand-by. Yesterday I flew LAS-DTW through CLE. I developed a kidney stone while on the 1st flight and was sick and in agony when I reached CLE. I had a 2 hour layover and was ready to drop. I asked if I could stand-by for a flight in the morning (they fly the little planes back and forth between CLE-DTW several times a day and I have never flown one that was full) and then spend the night at the airport hotel (on my own dime.)

You'd think I was asking for the moon. Customer Service told me I had to buy a whole new ticket since my fare didn't allow any stop-overs. I was shocked that they'd allow a passenger who was that ill even board a plane, but there just aren't any allowances.

I did get home on the original flight and was very grateful to have access to the PC for the 2 hours I waited as I was terribly sick. In fact, I normally dislike the CLE PC but this time I was grateful to have a bathroom so close to a semi-comfortable chair.

It's not a good/bad thing and I'm not saying CO is bad, but a few weeks ago I spoke to someone at the Elite desk who told me that CO "goes out of their way to please and help Platinum Elite members." Well, I disagree on that one. There's no way to predict something like a kidney stone, and if the 2nd flight had been longer than an hour I doubt I would've taken the chance. But really, who would it hurt to allow me to stand by for a flight the next morning? Or even better, they could've just allowed me to re-book for the next afternoon. But rules are rules, whether they help or hurt.