For the twenty years I've been here, it's always been a first come, first served process. My wife and I travel frequently and have NEVER heard any employee complain about the process - which I really like, btw. The system encourages people to get on the standby list as early as possible (up to 24 hours ahead) and rewards those who get on the list as early as possible. As far as I'm concerned, AA/AE has the best non rev system in the business. That's only my opinion and others will surely disagree.