I just got back from my trip to the USA. Be aware that the stanby travel is a huge mess overthere. I found out the normal passengers also go on stby. As a CX employee, even the passangers dogs have higher priority!
I tried it once got bumped off three flights that were "wide open" then hired a car and drove to destination.
On one flight there was a 50 seater airplane with 24 seats open. I started off being #2-3-4-5 (4 of us). I got bumped as number 22-23-24-25. There were still people behind me on the list! That meant that there were over 50 stbys for a 50 seater plane!
For my return i ended up getting a full fare with South West. They even give you two free check in bags! ( normally $50 per bag)
Air travel in the US is a mess!