"Spot on" Jim. May I also add the OP titled his post "Stunned by Customer Service Behavior." You were not a customer of the airline until you purchased the actual ticket that got you home. Until that time you were traveling on an employee guest pass which is space available and, as Jim mentioned, prioritized behind revenue standby passengers and actual employees traveling. Basically a guest or "buddy" pass has the lowest priority and you don't fly until all other standbys have been cleared. If you had realized this and just kept your mouth shut you may have eventually cleared and the airline probably wouldn't have been the wiser that the pass had been obtained "illegally."
The "tall tales" you've heard about an airline having to compensate you are true if the flight is over-sold and you have an actual ticket for the flight. When you purchase an airline ticket you, and the airline, enter a contract of carriage. This contract provides the airline with certain protections and also gives you certain limited rights. In the absence of a ticket, which you did not have, there is no contract of carriage. The airline was under no obligation to transport you anywhere. You said you were shocked when an employee threatened you with being banned from travel. That threat was legitimate because by purchasing a pass you, in addition to the employee and the third party who sold it to you, are a party to fraud. If you purchase stolen merchandise and it can be proven that the merchandise was stolen it can be confiscated. Would you buy a Rolex watch from a stranger on the street? Why, then, would you buy an airline pass on Craigslist?
Jim was correct when he stated Alaska Airlines did ok by you in the end. They allowed you to purchase a ticket at the lowest price they are selling it for in the next 30 days. Basically they gave you a waiver and allowed you to purchase a fare which normally requires either a 14 or 21 day advance purchase. That rarely, if ever, happens. They could have stuck to their guns and made you purchase the walk-up fare or even had you escorted from their gates.
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