Non Rev Travel Planner

[jimntx]

RES is the Sabre Reservations System that you just joined last Saturday.  For many years it was the gold standard in the U.S. for airline reservations systems and for all IT installations involving distributed processing.  Not so much anymore.  And, I doubt very seriously that they spent the time and money to modify CATCREW to access it.  If CATCREW is a U.S Airway app for crews for non-rev travel, it is more than likely going away at some point.  NRTP works for all employees, not just a subset.

 

[nycbusdriver]

You can look at who is listed more than 24 hours. You just need a RES code. It really isn't hard folks. Super easy AND transparent. Works great! You people are putting too much into it.

 
Maybe so.  What exactly is "a RES code"?  Who gets them?
 
Showed up last week for a PHL-LGA flight.  The monitor put me #3.  The agent said I was #6 on her screen (transparency...really?)  I did get assigned a seat, but was told only 1st Class available and my paycheck would be debited $10 for the privilege.  I took it.  The watched 5 more non-revs board after me with coach seats.  Nice.
 
Suppose, too, I check-in 24 hours before on that PHL-LGA flight (I did, actually....but this is a hypothetical) and show up #3 again.  Flight shows 5 seats open at that point.  Wonderful!  Looks good for me, doesn't it?
 
While crossing the Atlantic to PHL, some family of 4 in Allentown decides, "Hey, let's go to New York for a few days!"   My 24-hour check-in is now totally meaningless since that family could list and check-in a few hours before their ABE departure and push me to #7.   "Well, Bucko, that's just the way it works," right?
 
Since most of our crew bases are in hubs, this makes for very interesting commuting.  Well, I must say I have had seniority based non-revving for 36 years now, and you won't have NYCBusdriver to kick around much longer.  At least I can always take the train home for $25...sorry about the hundreds (thousands?) of my crew colleagues who aren't so lucky.  
 
With AA trashing the retiree non-rev benefit, I will soon be a fare-paying customer when I need to go somewhere.  My airline of choice?  New York City's premier carrier: Delta Airlines.   (I have been using Delta for a few years now whenver I really need to go someplace.  Comfort Plus is really nice!

 

[nycbusdriver]

Travel US had useful tools such as the Passenger Boarding Total Tracker (PBT Tracker) and the ability to look at flights over multiple days using tabs. These two tools in particular were helpful for planning, monitoring and re-planning travel. These features are missing in NRTP and it's not quite clear that NRTP's interface could be easily modified to support these features. Other than that both Travel US an NRTP allowed booking and check in for flights. NRTP gets the edge in click depth required for check in.

 
Yup.  Another typical loss of a better system in favor of a very inferior system for expediency.  It's all about corporate culture, isn't it?  "We've been feeding 2/3 of our combined employee cadre cat food and they think it's caviar.  Why wouldn't the other 1/3 think the same when we take away their hamburger?"

 

[dfw gen]

 
Maybe so.  What exactly is "a RES code"?  Who gets them?
 
Showed up last week for a PHL-LGA flight.  The monitor put me #3.  The agent said I was #6 on her screen (transparency...really?)  I did get assigned a seat, but was told only 1st Class available and my paycheck would be debited $10 for the privilege.  I took it.  The watched 5 more non-revs board after me with coach seats.  Nice.
 
Suppose, too, I check-in 24 hours before on that PHL-LGA flight (I did, actually....but this is a hypothetical) and show up #3 again.  Flight shows 5 seats open at that point.  Wonderful!  Looks good for me, doesn't it?
 
While crossing the Atlantic to PHL, some family of 4 in Allentown decides, "Hey, let's go to New York for a few days!"   My 24-hour check-in is now totally meaningless since that family could list and check-in a few hours before their ABE departure and push me to #7.   "Well, Bucko, that's just the way it works," right?
 
Since most of our crew bases are in hubs, this makes for very interesting commuting.  Well, I must say I have had seniority based non-revving for 36 years now, and you won't have NYCBusdriver to kick around much longer.  At least I can always take the train home for $25...sorry about the hundreds (thousands?) of my crew colleagues who aren't so lucky.  
 
With AA trashing the retiree non-rev benefit, I will soon be a fare-paying customer when I need to go somewhere.  My airline of choice?  New York City's premier carrier: Delta Airlines.   (I have been using Delta for a few years now whenver I really need to go someplace.  Comfort Plus is really nice!

had the same treatment in phl. the agents there will board the buddies first and screw everyone else.

 

[nycbusdriver]

had the same treatment in phl. the agents there will board the buddies first and screw everyone else.

 
But our LAA "buddies" assured us that their FCFS Sabre non-rev system was bullit-proof and that could never happen.
 
They wouldn't lie to us, would they?

 

[dfw gen]

 
But our LAA "buddies" assured us that their FCFS Sabre non-rev system was bullit-proof and that could never happen.
 
They wouldn't lie to us, would they?

never. that was before the switch over and the clown jumped all over the list when i looked over his shoulder he told me that what i saw wasnt the real list that it changes all the time......

 

[AANOTOK]

Did I miss the announcement on Non-rev service charge changes effective Oct.17?
 
Example: D3 Son flew DFW-BNA Coach...Cost $49.59 ($99 round trip)  BNA-DFW First...Cost $63.02 ($126.04 round trip)
 
So, no more one price for coach and first for D3?
 
Pulling up a "pre" Oct. 17th NRSA Charge sheet, it was 101.84 charge in either class round trip

 

[jimntx]

News to me as well.  But, I checked a couple of routes in NRTP, and there is, in fact, a difference in price between D3 coach and D3 F/C.  Not much, but a difference nonetheless.
 
The pricing is interesting.  The cost for F/C is now slightly higher than the previous "one price fits all" D3 cost, but the cost for D3 coach is slightly lower.
 
For instance, my brother flew to Killeen this summer to see his son who was based at Ft. Hood (now in Afghanistan).  The cost for the DFW-GRK leg with the single pricing scheme was $24.11.  I just checked.  F/C GRK-DFW is now $26.35.  D3 coach on that flight is now $19.73.  Since there is no F/C between DFW and GRK, that represents a cut in price for D3 travel.

 

[EastCheats]

Yup.  Another typical loss of a better system in favor of a very inferior system for expediency.  It's all about corporate culture, isn't it?  "We've been feeding 2/3 of our combined employee cadre cat food and they think it's caviar.  Why wouldn't the other 1/3 think the same when we take away their hamburger?"

I'll bet the agent would give you a cat treat to stop whining

 

[AirLUVer]

Jetnet has a feature that tells you how many non revs are listed on a flight and their classification, including thru status.

 

[dash8roa]

Fair enough. We'll adapt, and as I said, I don't think it will change.
 
I don't have a problem with FCFS, I just don't like the system and procedures that run it.

i used the NRTP to check some flights and found it to be slow and cumbersome. Wings allow one to checks loads 2 days before and after the chosen date. Also being able to do the same on the return staying on the same screen.Airways was behind in some areas but the wings site was far superior. I hope some of the features on wings can be added to the NRTP site.

 

[jimntx]

Agreed.  I particularly like the idea of checking multiple departure dates on the same page.  Changing the date and getting a completely different set of load data can be a pain at times.  However, employee convenience has never been a high priority issue for the programming folk.

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

News to me as well...

was based at Ft. Hood (now in Afghanistan)

Ft. Hood moved to Afghanistan? ;-)

Had to give a knock to an English major...

 

[usabusdriver]

It's a CF, and a potential safety issue. Having airline personnel set their alarm clocks to make sure they check in at exactly the right second, disrupting their sleep, is nuts.

Why can't we us an app to do it for us? I'm guessing people actually do?

 
 
So you want the jumpseat to go seniority too?

 

[Rogallo]

Me, me, me!