a month ago
I absolutely LOVE the new ability of anyone to join a flight's stand-by list, at NO COST, and see the # of available seats in real-time. However, I have used it a few times now and have some ponderings. I understand the explanations that I have found, and been told, about the prioritization of passengers on this list and that not every SW passenger is created equal (i.e. A-List, Military, Fare Class, etc.) when it comes to getting a spot (priority) in the queue. And I am ok with that. Where I am struggling is how this list seems to change, even up to the last minute of boarding. Allow me to explain my experiences. In two instances I was the first person to join the stand-by list for a flight, many hours before the flight (I know that does not matter, just wait). In two instances, folks joined behind me and in front of me (assumably due to their status). For my first flight I remained in the #1 spot until 30 mins before departure and for the second flight I had been bumped down the list a few spots throughout the day (again, I thought due to status). What transpired next is what has me baffled and the gate agents could not make heads nor tails of it either. In both instances, folks who were behind me the entire time suddenly jumped over me in the queue. Going back to my first example, I was in the #1 spot (for 10 hours) until 30 mins before departure and suddenly the party directly behind me jumped me. Then, 10 mins later I fell to 15th in the queue. After explaining to the gate agent and showing screen shots I had taken he spoke to a supervisor and got me on the flight. In my other example a similar thing happened, I had started out 1st in the queue in the morning and throughout the day fell to 5th. Suddenly, right before they were about to assign seats for stand-by folks who had been behind me for hours jumped over me and I fell to 11th and did not get on the flight. I (as well as the gate agents) am just thoroughly baffled at how and when the prioritization is supposed to work on this stand-by list. Can someone from SW please way in and not only explain the overall stand-by process/algorithm and maybe also lend some insight into my situations? In both my cases I arrived at the airport hours in advance of my original flight based on the hopes of getting on the stand-by flight based on my position in the queue vs. the number of available seats. I certainly would not show up if I am 20th and only see a couple of seats available throughout the time I am monitoring it. But, when your #1 in the queue until 30 mins before take-off and you suddenly drop to 15th, there seems to be a glitch somewhere.
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