Originally Posted by
at6d
I heard a passenger in SAN tell another passenger that he books the cheapest ticket and then uses the free change feature to book the actual flight he wants for free. Is this a thing now?
If there is a change to your itinerary (which it seems like there always is these days) then yes, any changes are free. Otherwise, you can book a non-wanna get away fare and do the standby thing, but that's dicey. My guess is that he was either doing the former or talking out of his arse.