UA has had this for a while too (in addition to the ones that TTT mentioned).

I'm concerned about free standby only applying to the flight immediately preceding yours, though. (Though still more generous than Southwest's, which requires you to buy up to full fare if you want to standby.)

Only on the immediately preceding flight apparently. FWIW, this is backwards from Southwest, which gives you a "flat tire rule" free standby up to 2 hours after your scheduled departure but no free standby to go earlier. I'm glad the policies don't match, because this way we can each pick the policy we like better.

The new JetBlue policy is far more customer-friendly than Southwest's, but I continue to believe that Southwest's policy is a better revenue producer. Why? In a nutshell, it allows Southwest to maintain a large price differential by time of day. Otherwise people buy off-peak seats and fly at the peak times. That leaves empty off-peak seats, meaning even more lost revenue. No other airline prices different times of day as disparately as Southwest. That's annoying to peak hour flyers like me, but it reduces off-peak prices by increasing both total loads and peak hour yield.

Agreed for the most parts...but one question: what routes do jetBlue and Southwest directly compete head to head on? I don't see how we can really pick which policy we like better if they don't compete on exact, identical routes. While they serve many of the same cities, no exact lines connecting the dots (none that I can think of atleast).

The $25 policy definitely beats having to pay a change fee + difference in airfare (which can be a great deal of $$$) but I think jetBlue should still give the OPTION for same day changes as flying free standby on any flight OR paying the $25 for a confirmed seat.

I just perfer jetBlue's policy over Southwest's anytime just because I think jetBlue's is more flexible and more customer friendly. Eitherway, from the experience, I cant really say much about Southwest's policy cause as the example I stated earlier, they didnt want to have me go standby between FLL and MCO... and ended up having me stay with a flight that was overbooked by 1 passenger... which, I gladly gave up my seat in exchange for a credit of like $200 plus the cost of my ticket. HAHA. Thats the part that didn't make sense for me was they rather give someone over $200 towards future travel when they could of solved the problem a few hours by letting 1 person go on a earlier flight. I just thought that was pretty funny, but whatever it take to cut cost and reduce expenses!

I prefer JetBlue's policy too, but I believe that Southwest's does a better job of allowing the airline to offer lower off-peak fares. Just like I prefer dessert to broccoli, even though I know the latter is better for me in the long run. Southwest's standby policy definitely tastes like broccoli. ;)

Congrats on the $200+ bump: Normally WN's gate agents are savvy enough to anticipate those situations and waive the extra charge for the earlier flight. Also you can standby free for the earlier flight if your flight is going to be >30 minutes late. All this is in the Southwest FAQ, of course.

I feel envious every time I read about someone's successful bump on Southwest. On the west coast, I haven't had a single bump opportunity, let alone success, in over 700 flights. Many flights go out full, but the last several passengers are inevitably standbys. The computer programs do an amazing job of selling the correct number of seats.