Non-rev travel Abroad??

[whoareyou310]

How easy or difficult is it to travel to say Europe, and does it matter what major you will non-rev on? Also what are the best times of the year to non-rev to europe? Also are there options of upgrading somehow to first class? thanks....any help would be greatly appreciated, anyone have info specific to US AIR?

joe

 

[scramjet]

I've nonreved on US to Europe, the number one thing you need is FLEXIBILITY!!!! Yes, you can upgrade to First for I think $90 or it might have been $50 unless that has changed.

 

[BobDDuck]

It's VERY unlikely that you will get First Class on Airways. First of all, there really isn't even a first class anymore, and with their "firstups" program they tend to fill up the front with paying passengers. Not saying it won't happen, but not very likely.

 

[jtrain609]

How easy or difficult is it to travel to say Europe, and does it matter what major you will non-rev on? Also what are the best times of the year to non-rev to europe? Also are there options of upgrading somehow to first class? thanks....any help would be greatly appreciated, anyone have info specific to US AIR?

joe

You going to Western?

 

[jon1424]

It's VERY unlikely that you will get First Class on Airways. First of all, there really isn't even a first class anymore, and with their "firstups" program they tend to fill up the front with paying passengers. Not saying it won't happen, but not very likely.

You used to be able to get it all the time when we had 41 seats in first on the A330's, but now since we cut them down to 29 and added more in coach it's practically impossible. It's usually always been impossible to get first on the 767's. Load factors for Europe usually well over 85-90% for the entire summer to most destinations. It's a lot easier to get over between September and November.

 

[whoareyou310]

western yes sir, I graduated and am now a CFI, have a AWAC interview sat 21st in dc...

 

[derg]

I've non-revv'ed to Europe LOTS!

How easy or difficult is it to travel to say Europe,

Both.

and does it matter what major you will non-rev on?

Yes. Some airlines have limited flights in and out of Europe. If your airline has, say, one flight to Frankfurt and you can't get on that one, you're hosed until the next day along with the other passengers who couldn't get on. If you airline has four or five per day to different airports (a couple to ATL, one to CVG and a couple to JFK) you have A LOT more options when things get down to the wire.

Also what are the best times of the year to non-rev to europe?

Depends. But for me, I've been most sucessful non-revving late SEP thru MAR. The summer is rough because loads are high, the spring can be rough too. But the BEST days to non-rev are American holidays (incl. Xmas) and around 9/11 because people are paranoid.

Also are there options of upgrading somehow to first class? thanks....any help would be greatly appreciated, anyone have info specific to US AIR?

On my airline, you're listed for business elite (more or less first) off the bat.

joe

doug

 

[whoareyou310]

thanks

 

[mtsu_av8er]

Allow me to piggyback on his question, and make it a little more specific.

How difficult is it for a pilot at a regional to non-rev abroad?

For example, if a pilot flying for a regional has non-rev bennies on a particular major airline, how much more difficult does that make it?

Also, Doug - I know you like to take lots of short trips over the pond - stay and tour for a couple of days and then come back (sure sounds more fun than squeezing it all into a traditional vacation). So, let's say you want to go over on a Sunday and return on Wed or Thu - can you start getting an idea of the loads 3 or 4 days out to help you plan, or do those change as rapidly as domestic loads?

 

[BobDDuck]

Depends on what sort of regional deal you have with the major. At your place of employment, I think you only get non rev bennies on the carrier you fly for although I don't know that. Either way, your benefits are going to probably put you below anybody (even junior to you) who works for that carrier or a wholly owned version there of. After that it is probably based on seniority within all the contract lift carriers.

From what I've seen international loads are a little more stable then domestic, however, as Doug said, if the place only has one flight a day and something happens, the problem is just going to snowball all week long.

 

[jtrain609]

western yes sir, I graduated and am now a CFI, have a AWAC interview sat 21st in dc...

Word, I graduated in December 2005 with a degree in philosophy. I dropped flight after my first semester. I'm in initial at Express Jet right now.

I miss Kalamazoo.

 

[whoareyou310]

yes sir,

kalamazoo is a very nice smaller size midwest city.

 

[av8sean]

I worked for US Airways for about a year and went to Europe a few times. Usually you can pay $50 to secure a seat in business class, but my parents and domestic partner often got upgraded for free. I didn't want to risk it. US isn't the best airline to nonrev on, because they usually only have 1 flight a day, or in the case of London, 2 flights leaving at the same time.

If you're looking to goto UK, try the Manchester flight - it's usually not full and it's an A330.

US Airways really is horrible to nonrev on, they have so few F seats, and they either give them away or sell them really cheaply last minute....

 

[Nick]

Allow me to piggyback on his question, and make it a little more specific.

How difficult is it for a pilot at a regional to non-rev abroad?

For example, if a pilot flying for a regional has non-rev bennies on a particular major airline, how much more difficult does that make it?

I do not fly for a United Express carrier and last week I jumpseated to and from Frankfurt from Washington Dulles for a total cost of $0.00 including departure fees and taxes and everything.

We didn't get first on the way over because it was full but they would have upgraded me and the person I went with since the F/A literally apologized for our poor seats at the end of the flight. We did get economy plus, so it really wasn't that bad.

 

[jon1424]

I worked for US Airways for about a year and went to Europe a few times. Usually you can pay $50 to secure a seat in business class, but my parents and domestic partner often got upgraded for free. I didn't want to risk it. US isn't the best airline to nonrev on, because they usually only have 1 flight a day, or in the case of London, 2 flights leaving at the same time.

If you're looking to goto UK, try the Manchester flight - it's usually not full and it's an A330.

US Airways really is horrible to nonrev on, they have so few F seats, and they either give them away or sell them really cheaply last minute....

We increased the non-rev upgrade to $100 each way, so most people don't even want to spend anymore cash because they're already paying the taxes. We send a ton of cargo to Manchester each day, so sometimes you have to watch out because they'll weight restrict it in the summer. Most of the time it is a viable option instead of taking the Gatwick flight.

 

[v1valarob]

I work for a regional which flys for usair. Its pretty simple really. Usair, and most carriers have an employee website, usair calls theirs thehub which you can log into and check load status as far out as the airline has the flight scheduled all the way up until the flight is scheduled to depart. Usair now even lets you see the seniority level of other listed employees. I have done the round trip to manchester 3 times. Worked out great all 3 times, and normally the gate agent would hook me up with a row to myself if it was available which iswhy i never bothered to pay $100 to upgrade to crappy envoy.

-Rob

 

[Kristie]

Also, Doug - I know you like to take lots of short trips over the pond - stay and tour for a couple of days and then come back (sure sounds more fun than squeezing it all into a traditional vacation). So, let's say you want to go over on a Sunday and return on Wed or Thu - can you start getting an idea of the loads 3 or 4 days out to help you plan, or do those change as rapidly as domestic loads?

i know i'm not doug, but it's all the same experience :nana2:

traveling overseas isn't as rapid fire as traveling domestically.. domestically, the loads can change the hour before the flight leaves (seriously)...overseas, your going to see steady rise until about 2 days before and i'd say you have a good 1-2 days to make up your mind as to where you think you can get to. it's still a gamble till day of flight but it's an easier gamble because pax numbers aren't jumping all over the place like they do domestic. however, sometimes even that doesn't work.. once, we were going to paris for xmas and when we got to jfk, the paris flight had oversold...we were pretty sure we weren't going to make it. but we stayed and waited till the doors closed.. during that time, we had to make up a plan b fairly quickly...with that, we ran to another gate got to brussels which was just as fun as an xmas holiday.

we typically don't even plan a trip until about 2 days out just because of how things tend to work.

so to answer your question... yes...you can get a good idea about a week out, you can get a great idea about 2 days out.

haha

 

[Kristie]

Depends on what sort of regional deal you have with the major. At your place of employment, I think you only get non rev bennies on the carrier you fly for although I don't know that. Either way, your benefits are going to probably put you below anybody (even junior to you) who works for that carrier or a wholly owned version there of. After that it is probably based on seniority within all the contract lift carriers.

true.. at least you have better chance than a buddy pass... buddy passes are bottom of the barrel. I think it does work out that way.. whoever you fly for (DAL connection for example), then you'd have some type of DAL benefits.. not necessarily the same as DAL employees but i think you'd be placed just under that and above buddy passes (maybe above retired too, i don't know).

From what I've seen international loads are a little more stable then domestic, however, as Doug said, if the place only has one flight a day and something happens, the problem is just going to snowball all week long.

it's a risk.. but it's a worthy risk...once you learn how to play the game, you'll thank yourself! and it's not very often that things snowball....usually the end of summer when everyone is trying to get back to the states is messy, right after new years can be messy...

but the absolute best weekend to go is the 1st weekend of the year (after new years) because by then, everyone has expended their vacation accounts...loads are typically WIDE open everywhere.

 

[Kristie]

I do not fly for a United Express carrier and last week I jumpseated to and from Frankfurt from Washington Dulles for a total cost of $0.00 including departure fees and taxes and everything.

how is it that you didn't have to pay taxes? they always charge departure/arrival taxes going in or coming out from what i understand...

 

[Nick]

how is it that you didn't have to pay taxes? they always charge departure/arrival taxes going in or coming out from what i understand...

I walked up to the guy at the UAL/Lufthansa ticket counter and said:

How much is the departure tax, and where do I pay it?

He said he did not know but the UAL counter would open in fifteen minutes. By the time we were done at the Lufthansa counter we'd forgotten about the departure tax and thought of it when we got to the gate. We got bumped off one flight and got on our second choice but never paid any departure tax anywhere along the line.