Akulashark

Land Shark
Card Shark
Shark Shark, what's the big deal?

Yes, Akula is Russian for Shark. It is also a type of soviet era Submarine.

majorwibi

Be flexible about your flights. Be friendly to GAs and FAs. Identify yourself to the GA and tell her you will be around the gate area if needed. Dont go wandering off around the airport. Stay near the gate area and be ready to board ASAP once the GA calls your name (or you clear on the screen).

Right now things look okay but I would personally watch the CVG-SEA flight on the 3rd closely and keep other routing options in your mind.

woody125

Just found out here at an ATL check in counter that Delta S3B and higher pass riders can fly free now on NW! It can't be ticketed online (yet) so you gotta go to a Delta ticket counter and they'll issue the ticket there. Taxes apply on int'l itineraries for all riders regardless of status. Buddy Pass riders are not included in this offer for domestic or int'l travel.

Not sure if NW folks have the same rights on Delta flights but I would sure assume so.

Interesting...

Winkdaddy

Whats does this mean...or stand for? "NPSA v. NRSA"

majorwibi

Gotta figure that this would occur. Since they havent allowed this for connection carriers (S3C) its doubtful they will be allowing it for Buddy Passes (S4) until they figure out the connection carriers first.

NPSA is positive space available which usually means employee traveling on company business. A person traveling on NPSA will be getting on a plane.

NRSA is a just space available which is what 99% of employees travel on. It basically means that if there is space then they can get on the plane but only after ALL revenue PAX are on the plane.

LastSurvivor

I'll have to wait until the system is worked out. I can fly S2 with my companion privs but at the moment not on NWA.

LS

SkyTeam777

Do CRC agents get the same flight benefits that crewmembers get? How many international buddy passes do they get?

pjpoker

I know its an old post, but I'll answer anyway...
The NRSA means nonrev seat assaignment. This is the normal boarding priority for nonrevs traveling for pleasure. You are assigned a seat behind all paying customers, in order of seniority with the company. If you are on a buddy pass you are behind all paying customers and all employees, employees families, and spouses.
The other is NRPS. It stands for nonrev positive space. This is used for traveling for company business. You are guaranteed a seat. If the flight is oversold, you can still have your seat. Generally the gate agent will ask if its OK to give a paid customer your seat. Usually more employees are OK with this unless its the last flight of the day, or they have already been stuck for a few hours.


One thing is for sure... it isn't like it used to be, even 6 months ago. Seats are few and far between, especially in the smaller stations to ATL or CVG. Getting stuck is to be expected and planned for...

pjpoker

I am pretty sure on this one, but not 100%...
As long as you are employed by Delta (or Comair for that matter), you get the same benefits, no matter your title.
In a nutshell, this is free travel anywhere Delta, Comair, all other Delta Connection, and Northwest flies. On international routes, you pay the countries/airports departure tax. You get 8 buddy passes a year. I generally try to persuade people I know not to use mine. It just isn't worth it anymore. Its more expensive, and your at the bottom of the nonrev list, so its almost impossible to get your preferred itin. For instance, today to HNL there were 68 nonrevs from SLC. This was for approx 10 open seats. The ATL routes were similar, except the flights were even more full. Buddy passes needed all 30+ nonrevs before them to be assigned seats before any of them got seats. Well with 0-10 open seats on all routes, this didn't happen. Looks like another night in LAX, ATL, or SLC, and try again tomorrow, just like yesterday. Once again, it doesn't look good.