Just saw something with my own eyes that I wouldn't have believed if you told me. We're at O'Hare on the standby list for the 10am flight. As we walk up, they are asking for 3 volunteers to take a later flight tonight and offering $1000 in compensation. $1000 each. No deal. Bummer. That means there is no chance that I will be able to get a standby seat on the flight. Ten minutes later, they offered $2000. A few people go up to the counter, including a guy that looked like an old Dutch farmer. Thought for sure he would take it. No deal. These Cyclone fans wanted to go to Orlando and not mess around. Then, they went to $3000 to fly first class tonight with a connection and very late arrival. $3000 + first class for each of them! A family near the counter stood up, talked with the agents, and took the deal. I walked up and shook their hands for accomplishing the best travel hack I've ever seen (and I travel 100k miles per year). They are Wisconsin fans going to see their daughter, but two of them were planning to go to our bowl game in order to cheer against Notre Dame. But wait, there's more. It seems that something happened and they weren't able to give them the first class seats. So they gave them $5000. Each! These folks will still fly tonight, but with $15,000 worth of vouchers. Like I said, unbelievable. If I hadn't been there, I wouldn't have believed it.
P.S. And here I am sitting in the lounge waiting for my regularly scheduled flight. Grumble, grumble, grumble.
Edited to say that I didn't see the post above before I posted mine.