Yeah, I have been documenting my failures. Have not had a chance to document a success yet: I'm 0 for 3 (along with a lot of Cubs players :-) since the start of the UDU season. Must be a function of day/time/route that I get to fly the most, although looking at the stats, it seem the situation has improved over the last couple of weeks. I haven't been up in the air since March 25 (OMG!).

Anyway, I never did book the last flight of the day 'on purpose', but being able to fly home earlier if a meeting ends on time once in a while is definitely a benefit. Was a benefit.

Hm-m-m...

So UA will now be getting some $ for accommodating a standby. My schedule is very flexible when I travel so I essentially always try for VDB.

Maybe UA will now be more willing to take me as a volunteer to make room for a standby since the "cost" to UA (mostly not as out-of-pocket cash) of my VDB will be partially offset by cash from the accommodated passenger.

At least I can dream about a silver lining.

CB

Well, this makes me thrilled that I pushed myself over the edge last year to get 1K status, and I hope I donn't lose it next year. And as someone who was 1P for a few years, I feel really sorry for those 1Ps who will be stuck paying the fee.

To echo others here, the $50 charge for elites sucks. I never game the system like some others but it was nice to catch a flight home an hour earlier if I could and IF there was space. The charge means that, after flying some 70k miles on UA I WILL be actively looking to fly others now. Can'tbelieve 1Ps are not exempted!!

As someone who is pushing to make 1P for the first time ever, this is a tough blow. Besides E+ I'm not sure what's keeping me from AA as an ORD based flyer. This may cause me to do a status match/challenge once I hit my goal because I'll be able to get exit rows on AA by then.

I don't think the people who "gamed the system" were kettles, so your point seems like an oxymoron.

Speaking of *G, it would appear then a 1 MM flyer is now subject to this fee. Utterly ridiculous. If this stands, my incentive to go for 1 MM diminishes. While I'll still make 1 MM due to a lot of domestic travel required for work, what this means is that by business for TPACs and TATLs will go to other *A carriers, especially now that UA has extended the EQM and RDM accrual benefits to more of its partners. I can hit lifetime elite on other airlines via credit cards if the standby fees are waived. Sad: I was looking forward to using UA as a my primary carrier during retirement.

A tiered fee structure makes sense to me ... e.g. non-members pay $100, GMs $50, elites $0. How can a standby cost UA more than a upgrade, and as of March 19, they are handing out upgrades in higher numbers than before to 2Ps and 1Ps.

Regarding "gaming the system" ...

I really want to understand this. IME, the last flight of the day is the most expensive because it is the one that maximizes the business traveler's work time and personal time. IME the first flight of the day is the least expensive, because few people want to wake up at 3am or earlier to make a 6am flight.

What website offers me these cheap deals on the last flight of the day; I really would like to take advantage of them.

I agree. Any UA elite in ORD, Texas, or New York City should have moved a long time ago.

Those of us in Colorado, California, and D.C. are staying though.

I don't really see how GA's will have time to explain this fee to each standby pax, take a credit card, wait for a receipt to print, have people sign, then print boarding pass, etc. while trying to finalize and close the flight.

I wonder how much the additional revenue that GA's actually do charge at $50/seat will be offset by planes leaving later as GA's go through the standby list one-by-one to try to fill the plane before it departs.

Also, I always though it was in UA's best interest to send a pax on an earlier flight with an empty seat, as they now have an opportunity to sell the later seat for revenue. What are they gaining when a standby refuses the $50 fee and a plane goes out with empty seats?

A defection to South West or JetBlue.

I now understand why they started this. Before UDU UA could experience the satisfaction of another F cabin empty. Now that that is history, it can at least keep the economy cabin empty.

Maybe that makes sense to you, but is not true in practice. Red-eyes are almost always the cheapest flights. Afternoon-early evening flights tend to be the most expensive (at least to/from SFO).

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9700/5.0.0.545 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

They're going to swipe your credit card when you ask to be on the standby list, but only charge you if you actually get on the flight.

Could it be UA's response to the unhappy members of AFA due to the newly-implemented UDU system?

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemil...-sit-in-coach/

I BELIEVE (haven't seen the internal details yet) is that you effectively pay when you request the standby, much as the same as you pay to UG with miles when you request it, but the actual "charge" doesn't happen unless you clear.

If that is the case (and I think the reason it took UA 1-2 months to do this after AA did, to brainstorm for a week, then get programmers to code it,) then there should be very little last min work for the GA. Much less then we currently do, as that work would be done already and the volumes of standby would decrease.

I am wondering if with the decreased volumes of voluntary standby this generates, as well as the addl revenue if they may eventually modify the standby with bags on domestic flights policy. Maybe hire back some ramp manpower to do bag changes and offset the cost with the fees generated. A "value" added cost would be very nice.

Just my personal opinion, but think of this as another form of customer segmentation - competitive, low fares for customers who are willing to fly at the times they booked, with a fee charged to customers who decide to change their plans.

Definitely many customers, especially business travelers (many who end up buying the same low fares as leisure travelers), value getting home early and this fee bascially monetizes that value, because a customer booked on a 6pm flight who wants the flexibility to fly back at 3pm if they happen to be ready is getting a differentiated product to a customer who books 6pm and doesn't need the option to fly earlier.

Southwest recognized this with their longstanding policy to require customers to buy up to a full Y fare to fly earlier, they realized many people bought Y fares for flexibility and allowing free standby to everyone would diminish the value of their full fare product.

Now as far as 2Ps and 1Ps not being exempt, there is a silver lining - fewer customers competing for standby, so more of a fighting chance for those paying the fee to actually clear standby instead of waiting at the airport. The beauty of this fee is the choice is put in the hands of the customer, and it makes the low fares that customers value more sustainable.

Possibly there will be kinks that need to be worked out, so definitely continue sending UA your feedback!

Red-eyes, what are those?

Those of us in fly-over country don't get those.

Depends on the route, I suppose. I think the reasoning is that people who book flights not intending to take them (e.g., because they fully expect to leave on an earlier one) do all of us a disservice.

Perhaps the last flight of the day is more expensive because too many travelers book it 'just in case', thus making prospective travelers go to other airlines when they compare fares. However, when many people take earlier flights, UA is left with empty seats on the last flight of the day, with no opportunities to sell them. Just playing devil's advocate...