[TanMan]

Since February 2010, American Airlines has restricted almost everyone other than AAdvantage Gold and above members from flying standby on an earlier or later flight than their existing itinerary - we now have to pay $150 plus the fare difference.

By making this change, AA is basically ensuring that unsold seats go empty instead of getting people to their destinations faster (and potentially opening up capacity for additional passengers on later flights). This is a disservice to customers and to themselves. I am a frequently flyer (elite status on United, Continental and formerly AA). Unfortunately, I have found AA's customer service reps and flight attendants to be among the rudest in the industry and their planes are often cramped, noisy and aged. Therefore, I have been avoiding AA flights whenever possible and will continue to do so as long as their short-sighted quest for milking every last penny out of the consumer continues to result in substandard customer service and inefficient policies.