What are FL "Priority Codes"?
 

I have always understood that the FL policy on standy is that the list sorts by how much you paid for the ticket. Is this still true?

I had a full fare business class FL ticket booked through Airtran A2B, and I'm also Airtran Elite (via a few weekly flights). Today I was able to get to the airport earlier and asked, at the gate, to be put on the standby list for an earlier flight. They told me the flight was full, so there was no point. I asked to be put on the list anyway, so supposedly she did. They clearly had business class seats left as they announced the $40 upgrades several times.

Once the flight was boarded, they started calling standby's. After they boarded two standby's, I politely asked where I was on the list, as I had a full fare business class ticket.

The supervisor replied that standby order has nothing to do with the ticket you hold, but rather with your "priority code." When I asked what that was, she replied it goes by 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B etc and that those are internal FL codes for employees to use, and she was not going tell me what they mean.

They then boarded another standby not an Elite as she mentioned that this was only the second time she had flown, and whose BP for the next flight (on which she was originally ticketed) was seat 22F. At least they moved someone else from 12B to business class and gave the third standby 12B.

My questions are a) how do they sort the standby list, and b) if it is by "priority code", can someone from FL educate us on what that is? Does your boarding pass indicate your priority code?

If you were paid BC (A class) then you should have been at the top of the priority list (1A). It sounds like the TA put you into a lower class, which they should not have. As a result, it goes by timestamp, and if the lady in question got on the list first, she was called first. She also could have had special circumstances and been put in 1A by one of the agents. Your boarding pass does not have your priority code, it is only in the computer.

I don't understand something. If you had a full fare business ticket, why were you standing by? Those fares are fully changeable without penalty.

If they were selling upgrades, then obviously business was not sold out. If the GA is being a snit, you could call 1-800-airtran and have them change it for you.

I personally do not even know all the priority codes. However;

2A-Pax with biz class same day rez
2B-Pax with biz class with rez on different day
2C-Pax with rez for later flt, going earlier
2D-Pax who missed flt
4A through N-non revs
5A through D-non revs buddy pass, other airlines

These are then sorted by fare class and time added to list.

My guess is that the agent who listed you did not know what they were doing. You should have been before any coach pax. Also, it is a common practice to oversell coach. If that does end up overselling the flight, it will show no availability in biz even if only a few people are manifested.