Airline pilots: How much do you use your "travel benefits"?

[rigpiggy]

Only reason why I use now is to get to work. Will drive 17 hrs to see mom vs 10+ hrs including connections. I also would drive 7 hrs from work vs the 3.5 hr of going to the airport checking a bag dealing with security, 1.5 flight and waiting 25 minutes to unload from the Q that is 100' from the belt

[Rowdy]

Pass travel is more and more difficult. The app and AC employee travel site are super innacurate (probably on purpose) for loads. I've seen 50 open seats, show up and have Zero seats. I've seen oversold by 20 and then get on with 10 open seats.

Lately most flights are full. When I operate, 7 out of ten times we have an employee in the jump seat or someone asking for FOSAP to get home.

I use it about 3-4 times a year. More now as my little one gets older and I can take him places with me. C4's we get at Jazz are not super useful however. I often book reciprocal with WJ as a backup if I need to get somewhere. Perhaps its time we negotiate for c2's and 3's... and some of those POS space ones..


Why are there people saying they would take 'a liveable wage' to lose their passes? I'm not giving up- ANYTHING at this point. AC and CHR/JAZZ need to GIVE us more asap.. or they're going to be up a creek!!

[iflyforpie]

Generally one international trip a year and half a dozen or so smaller ones.

Always interline. Never been bumped. I just use the MyID app and check fare buckets.

If I see G9 on Air Canada I know they are desperate to fill up the plane and I’ll get a seat assignment via online check-in and probably get a whole row to myself even with a dozen other standbys ahead of me.

I avoid YYZ, weather events, and peak holiday times like the plague.. and always have a few days of wiggle room and a backup as well as a backup backup.

[braaap Braap]

I just use the MyID app and check fare buckets.

If I see G9 on Air Canada I know they are desperate to fill up the plane and I’ll get a seat assignment via online check-in and probably get a whole row to myself even with a dozen other standbys ahead of me.

Is this just an observation you've made or is there actually a way to decode the buckets?

[iflyforpie]

Observation and experience. There are sites that have what each codes mean.. ..some are lower fares, some are for points and upgrades etc. None of them show how many seats there are.. if they have 9 open seats and really want to fill them they could have all buckets open, but it’s not my experience.

Different airlines use different codes. I don’t often bother with WS because pre-COVID they never oversold their flights and had chronically poor loads so it was easy to snag seats, and post COVID they simply haven’t been reliable enough.

But in my estimation if you see only three or four buckets with 7 or 9 seats the flights or just the basic J (first class) or Y (coach) buckets, the flight is nearly full given the latency of the info in MyID. You’ll have a gate seat assignment and will likely get bumped.

But all buckets open (G is the one if the if not the lowest bucket in Air Canada) then they have the lowest fares set in an attempt to fill the plane up. Every time I’ve got on an Air Canada plane going international I’ve had a row to myself both ways post COVID.

[braaap Braap]

Observation and experience. There are sites that have what each codes mean.. ..some are lower fares, some are for points and upgrades etc. None of them show how many seats there are.. if they have 9 open seats and really want to fill them they could have all buckets open, but it’s not my experience.

Different airlines use different codes. I don’t often bother with WS because pre-COVID they never oversold their flights and had chronically poor loads so it was easy to snag seats, and post COVID they simply haven’t been reliable enough.

But in my estimation if you see only three or four buckets with 7 or 9 seats the flights or just the basic J (first class) or Y (coach) buckets, the flight is nearly full given the latency of the info in MyID. You’ll have a gate seat assignment and will likely get bumped.

But all buckets open (G is the one if the if not the lowest bucket in Air Canada) then they have the lowest fares set in an attempt to fill the plane up. Every time I’ve got on an Air Canada plane going international I’ve had a row to myself both ways post COVID.

Cool! I appreciate the insight

[Robinh12]

The best thing about having these travel perks is that they provide me the opportunity to travel and explore the globe at a much reduced cost as well as the flexibility to modify, cancel, or make last-minute bookings, which is an amazing perk. I recall taking an oversold aircraft out of Zurich (to YUL) when returning from Greece to Canada once, but I was given an FA jumpseat, and the women at Swiss went out of their way to make me feel welcome (a bit too generous on the wine if I am to admit it). It's an incredible asset, and it's by far my favourite aspect of working for an airline.

[fliter]

I use the benefits multiple times a month. We set up our whole lifestyle around travel benefits combined with the flexibility of airline scheduling. Our family has three different home bases - one in the Caribbean (lucked out and got an amazing deal on a beautiful house 5-minute walk from the ocean during COVID, when there were no tourists and people were desperate to sell), on the East Coast and one in Toronto. Since my upgrade, my wife no longer needs to work, so she spends winters in the Caribbean, summers on the Atlantic, and occasionally visits me in Toronto as well. I work for 1-2 weeks straight and then go and be with her for 1-2 weeks on my days off. No other job allows for this kind of lifestyle flexibility and low-cost/free travel. And that's before we factor in vacation, where I can be off for nearly a month at a time, doing things like flying to France business class
for $150 a pop...

Like RoAF-Mig21, I too grew up behind an iron curtain and have always dreamt of travelling the world. I complain about the state of Canadian aviation industry as much as the next pilot, and salivate with envy when I see U.S. salaries posted, but all in all I recognize how good I have it. I actually am living the dream.

[Loon-A-Tic]

I'd trade then away for a salary increase in a heartbeat, useless as tits on a bull as far as I'm concerned

[ant_321]

I use the benefits multiple times a month. We set up our whole lifestyle around travel benefits combined with the flexibility of airline scheduling. Our family has three different home bases - one in the Caribbean (lucked out and got an amazing deal on a beautiful house 5-minute walk from the ocean during COVID, when there were no tourists and people were desperate to sell), on the East Coast and one in Toronto. Since my upgrade, my wife no longer needs to work, so she spends winters in the Caribbean, summers on the Atlantic, and occasionally visits me in Toronto as well. I work for 1-2 weeks straight and then go and be with her for 1-2 weeks on my days off. No other job allows for this kind of lifestyle flexibility and low-cost/free travel. And that's before we factor in vacation, where I can be off for nearly a month at a time, doing things like flying to France business class
for $150 a pop...

Like RoAF-Mig21, I too grew up behind an iron curtain and have always dreamt of travelling the world. I complain about the state of Canadian aviation industry as much as the next pilot, and salivate with envy when I see U.S. salaries posted, but all in all I recognize how good I have it. I actually am living the dream.

Where in the Caribbean did you find the good deal? I want to buy a property in the Caribbean once my covid debt is paid off

[flyingstickman]

Haven't been in the industry super long but use them fairly frequently. Its half the reason I got into this job in the first place. Special lady is an FA so its pretty easy. Did the math once and to pay full fare would have costed us roughly 15k each for the year for our travels. Might change once kids are in the picture, and if some of these places become work destinations for me. But until then pretty sure it'll continue to be frequent use

[lownslow]

I'd trade then away for a salary increase in a heartbeat, useless as tits on a bull as far as I'm concerned

Stop. Giving. Shit. Away. Cheap standby for commuting is how I can afford a house and it’s not like putting a butt in an unsold seat is costing the airline anything.

[hithere]

this entire thread is hilarious- for every person that says " passes are awesome!" , the next says " passes are sh!t!'. The original poster must be like so confused. I imagine those that say passes are great are mainline AC folks with their upgradable B1/ C1 passes and those that think they are sh!t are Jazz folks with their non upgradable C2/C4 passes. Make no wonder Jazz pilots use Transat(or basically any other carrier with whom they have a jumpseat agreement) where they are treated like gold and upgraded whenever possible.

[fliter]

Where in the Caribbean did you find the good deal? I want to buy a property in the Caribbean once my covid debt is paid off

I don't want to reveal the exact location. But it was only a good deal because we bought off some desperate-to-sell expats in the middle of covid. The prices have since gone up again.

[RoAF-Mig21]

this entire thread is hilarious- for every person that says " passes are awesome!" , the next says " passes are sh!t!'. The original poster must be like so confused. I imagine those that say passes are great are mainline AC folks with their upgradable B1/ C1 passes and those that think they are sh!t are Jazz folks with their non upgradable C2/C4 passes. Make no wonder Jazz pilots use Transat(or basically any other carrier with whom they have a jumpseat agreement) where they are treated like gold and upgraded whenever possible.

No, I understand both sides. If you're the type of person that will go to any length to travel, even having lower priority with AC, you can make things work. Like I said earlier, I will seldom travel during peak season, especially with my family. I also seldom use Air Canada and instead choose to fly Lufthansa, LOT or Austrian (out of YUL) that offer me connections to Eastern Europe. Air Canada is also great to travel stand-by if you go off season.

The thing is that travel has gotten expensive lately. Hotels, especially in Canada and USA, are now averaging $300 CAD a night. That's outrageous. That's why I stopped traveling in North America. It's cheaper for me to go to Portugal or Ireland than BC or California. People are seeing an huge increase in the cost of living and even I had to cut down on traveling, or having to work overtime if I want some extra cash for a trip.

I personally love the passes and they're the #1 reason I'm still in this industry, but that's just me. I know lots of people don't see their value, which is perfectly okay.

[pelmet]

Used to use them a lot commuting to work. Back then, I was the lowest priority standby on AC and they would put all those super-annoying higher priority standby's(relatives and buddy pass types) in the remaining economy seats. Then I would be the last one and the only seat left would be in business. Gave me a good laugh several time as snoozed comfortably, enjoyed a good meal and some tasty cashews. Eventually, they caught on and changed things(probably the super-annoying higher priority types whined).

Also flew around the world on airlines like Air France to Reunion Island, Aloha, and AC to Australia among others such as lots of Europe stuff. But then AC started getting more efficient with smaller planes and other efficiencies making bookings more difficult. American carriers seem to have loads of standby's. One might end up sleeping at the airport.

Lately, I have been using up Aeroplan points I have accumulated over the years. I have even gotten some eUpgrades to business with it.

[Old fella]

As someone on the outside looking in , airline travel benefits is certainly a decent perk as part of your airline employment. Knowing a few current and retired airline employees, not all take advantage for various reasons. I know I certainly would as many places in the world I would love to see and experience and no doubt there can/ will be issues with benefit travel but I would accept it wholeheartedly. I am certainly envious but not in a jealousy way towards airline folks, you worked for the airlines so do enjoy your reduced travel and have a fun time .

[Crewbunk]

This thread made me chuckle. It’s a concept that only a few outside of the airline industry understand.

On my time off, the last thing I want to do is get in another airplane to go stay in a hotel. Given a choice, I’d rather pack up my truck, grab the dog and go fishing for a week …. without having to choose, Chicken, Beef or Vegetarian.

[garfield]

A lot. When random people ask me how often I travel they think i'm multi millionaire
Priceless.

[RoAF-Mig21]

A lot. When random people ask me how often I travel they think i'm multi millionaire
Priceless.

Yeah, I get that too. When I tell them I go to Europe 4 times a year, they think I'm loaded. Little do they know that some trips are short. I fly to Heathrow for the weekend, stay at my buddy's place who's 10 mins from LHR and go drinking with him at the local pub.

Other times I go around the world and end up taking 4 flights back instead of 1. Oh well. That's life, but I'm addicted to world travel and I can't tell you how much joy those travel benefits bring me. Sure, it can be hard sometimes, but I learned to play the game. I don't travel in peak season and I always have plan B, C and D, should plan A fail.

I also understand those who say "I don't want to be near an airplane and I'd rather do a road trip". Sure I also think that many times, but I've seen Canada from east to west, south to north; same with the US. I'm bored of it and I want to experience different cultures. Maybe a trip to Belarus is in the works, once things cool down