Bummer katbuad!!!

I so dread that feeling of being pulled off the plane. I'm sorry your trip from CLT was tough ... but you
did get first class!!
I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I non-rev'd w/ fiance this weekend, on Northwest, and it was smooth sailing. For both flights we were listed a fair bit down the standby list and there were more listed than seats available. But for some reason folks didn't show up and we made both flights. On the way out we even got seats right next to each other. One the way home, we got seats in the same row.
Maybe b/c of NWA's potential merger folks are a little hesitant to book flights w/ them!? *shrug*
