Originally Posted by QRC3288

A number of mistaken assumptions here.

First, they are not on ID (what the OP is calling, somewhat incorrectly, "non rev"). The fact they had identification badges mean they were on duty travel.

Personally, this doesn't sound bad to me. Essentially one of the crew who got up a lot and had a middle seat. Right?

Second, even if they were on ID benefits travel, instead of duty travel as it seems, the assumption they were op upped due to empty seats is not right....staff pay for class of service (if they were on ID benefits travel, which these crew clearly weren't). To fly J is considerably more than Y class. ID staff do have a position on the op-up priority list, but it is somewhere behind Diamonds. Anyway, op ups weren't happening here.

Staff on duty travel are supposed to fly J, fyi, unless J is full. Then they overflow to PEY. And finally, Y. All space available. This is per their contract, and for me - my opinion as a fellow traveler - definitely what I want. Duty travel as I understand it can be God Awful. Think fly to SFO working, come back 2 hours later as a pax, in an extreme example. Irrops, sick staff, and other unplanned issues can cause a lot of duty travel needs, although ther issues can trigger it.

​​​​​​One final assumption is wrong here, even though it's not applicable because of the duty travel. To use the term "non rev" for CX pax is misleading and not actually correct. Unlike some US airline, where staff are truly non-revs paying tax and portion of fees only, CX charges a percentage of the full fare to its staff. To give perspective, before the recent rate changes, a FA flying on standard ID benefits would pay just under $300 USD for a J class ticket HKG to LAX. Delta Airlines would charge around $50 for a similarly length itinerary ATL-HND *regardless of class of service flown*, so if you're a non rev flying J you pay the same as non rev in Y. On CX, there's a $250 difference here vs Delta if comping J class! It's not unsubstantial. CX ID prices in some cases were actually not far off what Alaska reimburses CX for award tix. Alaska Tix are "revenue" tix. But anyway, this paragraph isn't applicable because the staff have CX badges, so they're clearly on duty travel.