Cheap positive space for friends?
- Thread starter C150J
- Start date
Friends? Nope. Not as far as I know.
I can get reduced cost tickets for Kristie which are 20% off the lowest advertised price on Southernjets, but that only applies to my primary PPR's.
Best policy? Start teaching friends and extended family that they're usually better off just buying a ticket and if they want to non-rev, chances are they can't do it when they want to do it.
"We want to go to New York for New Years!"
"We want to fly to Orlando in May!"
It'll take a while, but I have my brother pretty much trained so he stopped calling me with the "Hey man, the neighbor's stuck in Florida because of the storm, can you get her a cheap buddy pass to California?"
I can get reduced cost tickets for Kristie which are 20% off the lowest advertised price on Southernjets, but that only applies to my primary PPR's.
Best policy? Start teaching friends and extended family that they're usually better off just buying a ticket and if they want to non-rev, chances are they can't do it when they want to do it.
"We want to go to New York for New Years!"
"We want to fly to Orlando in May!"
It'll take a while, but I have my brother pretty much trained so he stopped calling me with the "Hey man, the neighbor's stuck in Florida because of the storm, can you get her a cheap buddy pass to California?"
MusketeerMan
Well-Known Member
Doug...is it pretty difficult for a pilot's parents to fly using the flight privileges? I assume it just depends when/where they want to go and if they're flexible. When you & K fly internationally, do you both always fly using your benefits?
It really depends where you want to go and when... date of hire... who you're flying on...
Long term planning relying on flying standby is a recipe for disaster.
The trick is, is if you REALLY have to be somewhere -- I'm talking like you have a court appearance or you're closing on a house, you'd better buy a ticket. Kristie's been flying to Virginia quite a bit for family issues and she just flat out buys tickets because she needs a reliable seat.
When we go to Europe, we're flying standby. Perhaps I could have H46bubba step into the thread to talk about the drama that he saw Kristie and I go thru trying to get to Paris in December!
Basically, an airlines priorities for standby travelers go like this: (not ALL, just one in particular that I'm familiar with)
S2: Employees and direct family. You only have like 6 of these per year so use carefully.
S3: Employees and direct family
S3B: Parents
S4: Buddy pass travelers
Each priority is broken down by seniority date of the employee. So I can be a 1998 hire on an S3 and I'll completely out-trump a S4 buddy pass traveler flying on his friend's 1847 seniority date.
Didn't know they had legacy carriers back in 1847, didja? didja?!
MusketeerMan
Well-Known Member
Help me out...S2?? S3B??
When you state that you have 6 of these per year?? What are the 6??
Gracias
When you state that you have 6 of these per year?? What are the 6??
Gracias
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
On the US system SA1s are the highest priority SPACE AVAILABLE. That means that if you use it you will be "senior" to the number 1 guy at the company. However, if they use it as well you are back to being behind them. We get 2 of those a year. SA2 is slightly less priority then SA1 and SA3 is the normal date of hire seniority travel that most employees non rev at. We also have SA4s and SA5s which involve registered guests, retirees, buddy passes and other things. It also depends on WHO you are traveling with.
To answer the origional question, again, system specific (airways) you can by an ED20 fare for anybody you want. That's 20% off the normal coach fare. In other words... travelocity is probably your friend.
To answer the origional question, again, system specific (airways) you can by an ED20 fare for anybody you want. That's 20% off the normal coach fare. In other words... travelocity is probably your friend.
C150J
Well-Known Member
confirmed as in guaranteed seating? besides buying a ticket? nope...it's all strandby... only you and spouse, i think, can buy guaranteed seats at a discount.
those are the priority "codes" that you use when you check in for your flight. obviously buddy passes can't up their codes, they're always bottom feeders as S4's.
we get 6-8 buddy passes a year.. S4 priority e-tickets. that's what he means.
the interesting thing about it is the priority wins over seniority.. if a 01/01/1995 (hire date) employee/spouse/parents/dependent kids is flying an S3 and a 01/01/1998 (hire date) is flying S2.. the lower seniority guy with the S2 will get on the plane sooner than the S3.
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
Yeah. Instructing was actually a lot more fun then I thought it was at the time. The terrain was so much nicer to look at out there as well. The entire route structure I fly now doesn't have mountains more then 6000 feet anywhere (which is enough to dent the airplane, but not so pretty to look at). The other big difference is that there isn't much to look at when you are 32000 feet above the ground. On the other hand, I really like have air conditioning.
C150J
Well-Known Member
I miss it too. I loved flying Cirrus SR-22's from Phoenix to the LA Basin in between the Banning Pass at PSP. Can't complain about the -200, but I am a bit jealous of your -700s in terms of pilot interface.
H46Bubba
Well-Known Member
It really depends where you want to go and when... date of hire... who you're flying on...
Long term planning relying on flying standby is a recipe for disaster.
The trick is, is if you REALLY have to be somewhere -- I'm talking like you have a court appearance or you're closing on a house, you'd better buy a ticket. Kristie's been flying to Virginia quite a bit for family issues and she just flat out buys tickets because she needs a reliable seat.
When we go to Europe, we're flying standby. Perhaps I could have H46bubba step into the thread to talk about the drama that he saw Kristie and I go thru trying to get to Paris in December!
Basically, an airlines priorities for standby travelers go like this: (not ALL, just one in particular that I'm familiar with)
S2: Employees and direct family. You only have like 6 of these per year so use carefully.
S3: Employees and direct family
S3B: Parents
S4: Buddy pass traveler
Oh you bet! watch out for those SkyMilers and their upgrades! The weather in JFK and ATL was horrendous and Doug and Kristie's flight had a bunch of last minute re-routed passengers from passengers wanting to avoid ATL and JFK. Needless to say it came down to the wire with Doug and Kristie being the last two on the plane just before departure!
Also Doug forgot S3C, which is for DL employees, direct family and parents traveling on flights operated by SkyWest, Freedom, Shuttle America, and Chautauqua.