NotHamSarnie

I agree with your sentiment but for the most part on this thread that smearing is absent and the thread is full of people asking and learning about non-rev travel, which, personally, I found very interesting.

SuperG1955

This is probably the most positive and constructive thread about nonrev travel that I've seen in this forum.

There is so much erroneous information promulgated that's it's refreshing to see decent explanations and statements of fact with the usual vitriol. There is still a lot of information which has not been covered since it is only published for internal use and Delta prohibits the posting of internal data in public forums.

One thing that hasn't been explicitly mentioned is that nonrev travel is only for personal pleasure travel or official Delta company business.

There are many who posted in the thread who are Pass Riders (the official name for nonrevs) who have high level DL status from the revenue flying they do because of schedule, fare class desired, non-DL business purposes, or they just don't want to deal with the uncertainties. For example, I'm a PM about to be a DM and my wife is a PM and we are Pass Riders.

Also, unless I missed something, the thread has dealt strictly with NRSA (Non Revenue Space Available) pass riding. There is another category, NRPS (Non Revenue Positive Space) where the Pass Rider is on official company business and has priority over revenue passengers. An example would be a mechanic or technician travelling to or from an out station to repair an aircraft.

CMK10, Ny76 and NotHamSarnie, thanks for your comments and I'm glad that you got some good information.

SuperG1955

The East Coast WX after New Year's was a killer. We were in AMS and had to get back due to other travel commitments, so after a day we got Award Tix in Y for 62,500 miles + $$$ each (at EU fee levels). AMS-ATL in Y is no fun. No EC were available at the last minute.

DYKWIA2014

Any TATL in Y is no fun.

We went to London last October to see the Falcons play Detroit in one of the NFL Europe games. Flew non-rev over for the game. I had to be back at work on Tuesday, and we flew home on a paid Y ticket. That was painful as I'm 6'4".

DYKWIA2014

What he said.^^^

DHalltheway

1) Non Revs riding up front is fine with me, so long as folks who have upgrades as a perk or use tools to upgrade are not encroached upon by non-rev.

Example, if I ran the airline, I would want DM/PM CPU to clear and place non-rev in Y for domestic segments.

This doesn't apply to DL as much, but at UA I've seen occasions where the passengers with applied GPU have their upgrade fail to clear but non-revs are riding in J.

These actions shows that the company cares more for it employees than its customer imo. That makes me less loyal to the company as a whole.

2) Non Revs riding up front should be as incognito as possible. Too many of them flaunt their perks.

DYKWIA2014

Totally sucks sometimes. Sometimes you get a seat, other times you get a long wait in the SkyClub and get to sleep in your own bed that night.

DHalltheway

I know a few internationally based non-revs, and they told me they don't have access to J on partners. However, I was told they can fly other carrier, including non-alliance partners with the discounted airline prices if DL is unavailable.

baccarat_king

But, you were quite lucky to have miles as an option. (even with the ex-EU taxes)

NRSA travels require an infinite amount of patience and flexibility. Very few realise, as you have elaborated, just how complicated and stressful it can be.

Last two post-Christmas/New Years in AMS have been very difficult. Lots of flights going from 100% wide-open to zero'ed out a day or two prior to departure. (due to weather and cancellations, among other reasons) I know, since I am always watching flights that family/kids (revenue) are booked on.

MSPGabe

Ouch. I've been incredibly lucky (and I need to knock on wood now) to avoid having been stuck overnight anywhere internationally yet. Detroit once, Atlanta once, Boston (with family) once.

Hoping to bring a friend on a buddy pass to Thailand next week. It was going to be Australia, but I can't chance her not getting back. Last minute tickets to another DL destination aren't exactly cheap from Thailand...but certainly less expensive than Sydney.

And it's still a week away, so maybe we'll end up somewhere entirely different.

ChiefNWA

I fly nonrev, it's space available as many have said. We look for flights like that, not the packed full ones. It's not all it's made out to be though. I just got bumped off three TPA-ATL flights and just bought a ticket on WN. We're not always partying in First/One...

Justin026

At least part of the conversation above includes Delta employees waiting in SkyClubs for flights to clear? In years past, when my family travelled with Delta families flying nonrev, they were not allowed to enter Crown Rooms. They wouldn't enter with our family when I offered as my guest.

Maybe it's different now.

Also, I agree that non revenue flying doesn't look like any kind of picnic. On both vacations we took, our friends left the trip a day early to make sure they could get space back to Atlanta.

SeattleiteTelavivian

not just back the US..
I was stuck this year (on my first and so far only non-rev experience) in NYC for 4 days, trying to fly back to TLV. the flight was oversold (not even full..) every single day. and everyday I took the train from the city to JFK, only to find myself heading back for another night. One can complain on worst things than being stuck in New York, but it was nevertheless a very unpleasant experience. Since then I decided against a non-rev ticket, unless it's off season. The whole thing was nerve recking, and only on the 5th day I was able to get back home (and was cleared into Y, by the way, since J was sold out). It may also be my fault, trying to fly back to TLV just as the high holidays were ending.

Edit: one of the other issues, is that you can ONLY fly on DL metal (which is completely understandable), so for these types of destinations like TLV or other places with one operated flight a day, I couldn't be rerouted on AF/KLM or AZ and head back to TLV with a stop in Europe. I almost flew to Athens and bought a ticket to TLV from there, but luckily I found a seat on the 5th day..

SuperG1955

Here's the current rule:

We don't spend as much time in the club when we're nonreving. We try to get to the gate as early as possible and ask the GA to let us know if it looks like we're closed out so we can head to our next choice. We only non rev INTL and don't try from 1 flight a day locations. We have a JFK-ARN-JFK with no date flexibility in July, so that's on revenue tickets. One can't be stupid about it.

SuperG1955

If we didn't have the RDM's in reserve, we wouldn't even try to nonrev. It's a nice perk but you need to have options and the right attitude.