East side Non Rev ?

[Travelpro72]

This is very true. That being said, the HUB setup to list for your non-rev travel is one of the best things the company ever did for us. You can see the actual seating on the a/c then what the company can authorize the flight to. Then it shows seats available and how non-revs are currently listed. If you give yourself a few options as a backup your non-rev travel experience can be pretty well planned out and not a guessing game while at the airport. When commuting from the west coast I can look at the loads and how many non-revs are listed for red-eyes to PHL,PIT and CLT. It's not as bad as some might think. As for getting bumped right before the 30 minute window, it can go both ways. Do I like it when it happens, no but I have been in the position trying to get home that I made it on. It doesn't always seem fair but it has it's advantages and takes a lot of guessing out of non-reving.

 

[BoeingBoy]

There is also something else people should know. Lets say you are going to FLL from PHL. Flt 123 is PHL/CLT/FLL, (thru flt). You board in PHL, when you get to CLT you cannot be bumped by another non revenue passenger regardless of their seniority because you boarded at the originating station of the flt.

This is another of those that won't be decided before I retire and it looks like I'll be behind everyone here arguing about it then anyway, so I can afford to look at the pros/cons of both ways.....

The flip side of your example is making a connection instead of a thru flight. When you get to the connection point, you can be "bumped" from your connecting flight by a more senior employee who walks up (or lists) while you're making your way between connecting gates - you could get to PHL, CLT, PHX and be stuck.

As I understand the West method, you know your place in line for connecting flights when you list and can make a decision then - do you take your chances if it's tight or look at alternate routings?

Not a bad feature of the West method for those that don't live in or commute from the hubs....

Jim

 

[proudf/a]

This is another of those that won't be decided before I retire and it looks like I'll be behind everyone here arguing about it then anyway, so I can afford to look at the pros/cons of both ways.....

The flip side of your example is making a connection instead of a thru flight. When you get to the connection point, you can be "bumped" from your connecting flight by a more senior employee who walks up (or lists) while you're making your way between connecting gates - you could get to PHL, CLT, PHX and be stuck.

As I understand the West method, you know your place in line for connecting flights when you list and can make a decision then - do you take your chances if it's tight or look at alternate routings?

Not a bad feature of the West method for those that don't live in or commute from the hubs....

Jim

I have yet to find an agent who will not tell me my place in line for a flt that I am standing by for. Yes when you make a connection there is always that possiblity. I can honestly say in the 20 yrs of non reving, I have only not gotten on a flt 1 time. I do not commute by plane to work, however we take 3-5 vacations a year. Mostly cruises out of Florida. Its never been a problem. You check bookings, go down the night before if need be. Its always worked.

I personally do not think its fair that retirees have a lessor priority boarding. However, if someone is trying to commute to work, then I can see a non-active employee stepping aside to allow the commuter to get to on. Professional courtesy goes a long way.

 

[BoeingBoy]

My all too subtle point was that either system can be praised or faulted depending on the situation or the perspective. What it boils down to is a lot of individuals arguing for the system they like best for their personal situation and dismissing critism of that system as "Almost never a problem (for me)."

Jim

 

[SegmentKing]

Hula , How can DOH be the best way ? If you have been waiting for an hour to get on a flight and have a boarding pass in your hand and a employee walks up that has been hired a week before you and they let him on...... Sounds like a gate cluster to me and potential delays while the gate trys to change names etc.

If I am working Flight 1234 and give Hulagirl a seat assignment and boarding pass, I can NOT bump her unless its for a revenue passenger *booked* on that flight and she is the LAST on the standby list.

Basicly, if a flight has no more open seats, and you got the last NRSA seat as a S5-HP (US-West emp flying on US-East), I can not, as an S3, demand your seat. Even if I was listed and checked in under 30 mins before departure.

Once you have that seat assignment, yer on (for the most part).

 

[rjh]

My all too subtle point was that either system can be praised or faulted depending on the situation or the perspective. What it boils down to is a lot of individuals arguing for the system they like best for their personal situation and dismissing critism of that system as "Almost never a problem (for me)."

Jim

Well said, BoeingBoy. I will live with either method that is chosen--hey, at least I have the privelege to fly for free! My worry is the people that are unhappy enough with whatever decision to become more negative about the company overall.

 

[ChrisUS]

Should some one gain seniority by sitting in an airport for a couple of hours?

In that case, I'm REALLY senior! Spent nights at cities I didnt want to also.

I personally do not think its fair that retirees have a lessor priority boarding. However, if someone is trying to commute to work, then I can see a non-active employee stepping aside to allow the commuter to get to on. Professional courtesy goes a long way.

Thanks for the support friend! I'm one of those retirees that got screwed by ther policy change. I looked forward to being able to travel once i retired and enjoy what my 33 years of work earned for me. I spent many nights at enroute airports, got crappy seats, didnt make flights etc. and figured at least I'd have my seniorty once I retired. HA!!

 

[ChrisUS]

As I understand the West method, you know your place in line for connecting flights when you list and can make a decision then - do you take your chances if it's tight or look at alternate routings?

Not a bad feature of the West method for those that don't live in or commute from the hubs....

Jim

And what if someone decides to use one of those higher priority passes? That bounces you down. It's still a chance if a flight is tight, no matter which way they decide. Revenue standbys show up ALL the time, especially on fridays. All the business people are anxious to get home after being away several days.

 

[BoeingBoy]

You're right - if a flight is tight there are no guarantees no matter which way the powers that be decide this. There's the revenue standby's, as you mentioned. There's the upper management and board members with their positive space benefit, plus their family members and an unspecified number of non-family members that partake in the VIP's positive space passes.

As for your specific question, I don't know the finer points of the West system well enough to know - do they have to indicate positive space when they list and want to use a flexipass or can they change from non-rev to positive space status at the gate? At any rate, I understand the West flexipasses are going away, replaced by the guest passes we'll all have. The only thing similiar will the the 2 per year vacation passes which we'll all (active) get, which I understand will move the user up the list (but don't know if that will have to be specified when listing or can be specified at the gate).

All I was saying was that the West system allows you to know where you stand, in your nov-rev catagory, better and further ahead than the East system.

Let's face it, in the East system a non-rev really doesn't know where they stand till they have a boarding card in their hand - someone can come along till then with a higher seniority and bump them. Pulling up a PNR only gives a rough idea since someone more senior could list themselves (and their family of 4) 30 seconds later.

In the West system it's kinda hard to go back and list earlier. The most another non-rev can do is change boarding priority status to move up the list, if that's allowed after listing.

Jim

ps - actually, I've been toying with ideas for a perfect non-rev priority system that'll take into account all the concerns mentioned in the various threads on the issue. Maybe once I get the rougher points firmed up a little better it'd be a good subject for a thread. Everyone could add ideas/catagories to finish perfecting it.

 

[john john]

I live on the east coast and have a good friend on the west coast who will check me in to circumvent first come first serve

 

[BoeingBoy]

I certainly don't know, but suspect that the local time where the person checking in is located won't make a difference (other than maybe not having to get up in the middle of the night to do it).

I suspect that the check-in window opens based on either time in Tempe or time in the flight's daparture city.

If I'm wrong, it'd work the other way around - the window would open on the east coast before the west coast.

Anybody from West have the answer?

Jim

 

[flytchick]

I certainly don't know, but suspect that the local time where the person checking in is located won't make a difference (other than maybe not having to get up in the middle of the night to do it).

I suspect that the check-in window opens based on either time in Tempe or time in the flight's daparture city.

If I'm wrong, it'd work the other way around - the window would open on the east coast before the west coast.

Anybody from West have the answer?

Jim

It is based on the time in the flight's departure city.

 

[PhxRanchHand]

I certainly don't know, but suspect that the local time where the person checking in is located won't make a difference (other than maybe not having to get up in the middle of the night to do it).

I suspect that the check-in window opens based on either time in Tempe or time in the flight's daparture city.

If I'm wrong, it'd work the other way around - the window would open on the east coast before the west coast.

Anybody from West have the answer?

Jim

I think he meant his "Buddy" will check him in so he will not have to be there in person, which is technically not allowed. Keep in mind on the West Way, if you check in , say in HNL to Phx and are connecting to JFK. when you ckeck in at HNL you will automatically be checked in for the connection, regardless of the 4-hour window. with that being said, it does not guarantee you will get on the connecting flight, but you will be at the top of the list by your boarding priority. the big drawback is if you are listed as a normal SA2P, then while in flight someone bumps up to SA1P( Vacation Pass) then you will fall in behind them at the top of the 2P's.
Hope that clears some of it up for you..

 

[BoeingBoy]

OK, I think I see what you're saying. If so, I misunderstood the previous post - not sneaky enough to try to think of ways to beat the system, I guess.

Assume you want to non-rev CLT-MCO. You have a buddy check you in for a LAX-CLT flight when that window opens with a connection to the CLT-MCO flight. That would put you at the top of the list for the CLT-MCO flight.

Is that how it would be done, though technically not allowed? If so, it raises another question. In the above example, would you have to be shown as actually being on the LAX-CLT flight to retain your position on the CLT-MCO list, or is checking in (even thru the web, which I understand is available) enough?

Jim

 

[allunionsdeceive]

I have worked under both systems and have found that both have good and bad points. You just have to learn to work within that system. I
I have commuted from PHL/PIT on the east and PHX/CMH on the west. Only one bad time on the east from PHL to PIT over Christmas.