It does get depressing when you see your name next in line for a seat, then all of the sudden you are back down at number 40! And it is annoying that you have had your ticket for a while, and someone else comes along for a flight later on that day – and since the paid full fare – they can have priority over you on an earlier flight. I spent 48 hours in Salt Lake waiting to get back to Alaska. Sometimes it happens and you have to plan for it.

The key to standby is being prepared! I travel with a small pillow, a small blanket, a portable DVD player, books and extra clothes – all which fit in a small, wheeled, carry on suitcase. Some years I get to my destination on the first try, and other years it takes a few days. But for me, saving that much money is so worth it!

This “nominal” service fee is now about $360. for a flight to Paris on DL, with $200. more for taxes: a total of $560. While it does cost a certain sum to process a passenger, rev. or non-rev, it is doubtful that this comes to $360.00 I am told that this sum corresponds to an accounting artifact called the “minimum seat yield” for the route flown, and is driven in part from provisions in the tax code. But when an off-season ticket to Paris from the West Coast typically costs $550 for positive space, I find it hard to believe that, as a buddy pass rider, I am really “non-rev.” Where does the $360. go? To the top line on the financial statement, i.e., “revenue!” Ditto for any baggage checking fees (although, as yet, these are not typically charged for international itineraries).

Flying on a buddy pass is both a science (involving careful research and access to the reservation data) and an art (read: flexibility in time and routing). Review your own desires and expectations (utility function, as an economist would say) carefully before attempting this alternate travel system. Yes, you COULD end up in Business Class for a song! But, maybe the potty seat instead, or none at all, with additional out-of-town hotel charges. In Paris, this could really add up!

BP

Be Flexible
Never get in a hurry
Book your flight within seven days and watch to make sure plenty of seats remain available
Check seat availability before heading to the airport
Compare your buddy pass fee to the cheapeast airfare for the same flight

These are just a few tips that makes good common sense. And just in case you are wondering, No, I do not work for an airline.

Something like that is normally met up with by termination.

Airlines do not offer non-rev flight out of kindness. The perk of free flights has benefits for the airline as well. With most airlines starting out at barely over minimum wage, and raises slow to come, flight benefits are a way to compensate employees at no charge to the airline. Most people I work with would leave if they lost their flight benefits, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to hire quality employees. Do you really want the guy McDonald’s wouldn’t hire to be the one making sure your flight leaves on time and safely? The more satisfied an employee, the more he or she cares about the job. You need airline workers to care for your own well being. These seats are space available, meaning that employees don’t go if someone buys the seat, even at the last possible minute. As well as making the job more attractive, non-revs give the illusion of full flights for under booked segments. Employees have to follow strict guidelines on dress and behavior. That well dressed, polite man or woman you are seated next to may be an employee or guest traveler. Flight benefits make for better, happier employees, and that makes your experience better and safer.

Southwest is arguably the country’s best-run airline (certainly in terms of finances; arguably also in terms of customer loyalty and satisfaction). There’s a clear policy at Southwest: Employees first, customers second, and shareholders are a distant third. Their belief is that if you treat your employees well, their satisfaction with working for a company that values them will translate into better service and more satisfied customers. That, in turn, translates into a better bottom line for the shareholders.

Contrast that with, say, United or Delta, where the emphasis is always on boosting the share price (usually so that management can cash in on stock options). These lazy SOBs kowtow to people willing to pay quadruple prices or more for the “privilege” of sitting in a wider seat with more legroom and a few free drinks, while screwing their employees out of compensation (and in the case of United, screwing them out of ownership of the airline). In turn, frustrated employees provide crappy service, figuring there’s no point in making the effort – and rank-and-file customers desert in droves whenever there’s a Southwest/AirTran/Frontier-type option.