[I_Fly_A_Lot]

My son was returning from overseas. He was stuck in LAX for 8-hr layover. He decided to take an earlier flight as a "stand-by" passenger. Since he would be doing the company, the environment, and himself a favor by filling an empty seat and getting to his destination early he looked at this as a win-win situation.
Unfortunately, Southwest charged him $250 for a 90 minute flight.

He would hve been better off, cancelling his return, taking the credit in the bank, and then paying the full fare on this or (even better) a competing airline..!!

BEWARE the southwest bait & Switch..!!

[Ombudsman]

Southwest does not allow stand-by. If you want to fly on an earlier flight they will charge the difference up to their "Anytime" or walk-up fare. Cancelling the ticket and paying full fare would only have resulted in him paying more since they were applying what was already paid to the "Anytime" fare and charged the difference.

This is nothing new for Southwest and it's stated in their Contract of Carriage and a very well known policy for regular Southwest travelers. Some "luv" it and some hate it but there's no "bait and switch" here.